One of my character’s is a worm. Not a literal worm, but just an arrogant, controlling, coward. Mr. Worm is, from the outside, a handsome and generally pleasant character, and the main character’s resentment of him seems to be simply an immature reaction.

But I don’t like him. It’s hard to let nice things happen to him, hard to save him when he gets in trouble, hard to not scream from the rooftops what a jerk he actually is on the inside.

In talking with my friend who has read the book, she kind of understands why I don’t like him, but she’s shocked by the fact that I like the character that readers are supposed to dislike. In fact, the character, Mr. Broody (clearly not his real name), is supposed to be someone that we distrust immediately.

But because I’ve written tens of thousands of words outside of what happens in the book, I know the backstory of both of these characters. Even though those back stories don’t show up in the current book (maybe in a sequel???), they impact the characters’ actions in the present of the book. Which means I understand why Mr. Worm is so attached to his boyfriend (the main character’s best friend) and I understand why Mr. Broody is so haughty toward the main character. Not sharing these things is hard – because I want my reader to be as immersed in the world as I am, but that would ruin the book.