Little is as difficult as having an entire world swimming around in your head that you want to get out on paper. Especially when you just can’t find the proper medium. I’ve been wanting to do more with the Operative lately. I feel like he is a character people enjoy ( that’s what I’ve been told anyway ), but for the character to work best he needs to face a worth opponent, and that’s where I seem to be stymied. He has a vast history, and certainly I could manage all that with Encyclopedic Fiction, but one thing I have always enjoyed writing is the emotion of the character. Despite his afflictions, they play him like a symphony, and the story is best when that emotion comes out of the page in such a way that the reader feels what he should. In the past I’ve had plenty of ways to accomplish this; collaborative writing has provided fuel for stories that require very little adjustment, and good writing partners have breathed life into characters that have given me the opposition required for the Operative to shine.
Lately though, the dry spell has left me curious about his nature as a story device. I’ve never fooled myself into believing that the Operative is the hero of the story he takes part in. And I rather like the idea that you see a tale of this nature from the villain’s perspective, but the truth of it is that a villain is only as good as the hero they face. Whatever I come up with needs a solid foundation, because the character will be facing serious overwhelming odds, after all the Operative is a dangerous individual. But then I find myself wondering how do I write a character that in the end I am personally rooting for the failure of? Especially if they need to persist long enough for the story to be interesting? Spy vs. Spy is a wonderful take on two characters who will never stop being the bane of each other, though its comical tones are really the only reason it works so well. I’ve never really seen the Operative as being concerned with an adversary other than his own failings, but we don’t talk about what happens when you’re your own worst enemy too often. The subject has obviously been touched on, but making it original again can be difficult.
I suppose I’ll figure it out, but finding out where to start is going to take some time I think.
— Vid