Just to get it out of the way, I foster no opinions of prom queens (or prostitutes) in general, so please don't take offense:) I like writing about characters no one else writes about; people who aren't necessarily good-intentioned, and who, in spite of justice saying they need a break, don't always have happy endings. It adds to the suspense, since you don't know how it's going to end, and I think it gives my plot lines more of a "real" feeling.
I started out writing this chapter as more of a shocker than anything else. I wanted to present a character that people don't like and then make her likeable. The best stories are borne out of conflict with extreme resolution, and I couldn't think of a better vehicle for showcasing this. Sandra is angry, bitter, corrupt, yet self-confident. She's honest about who she is and what she does, and she expresses little shame over it.
She's crass, rude, vulgar... everything a lady isn't.
However, she's also been in love and is able to redeem a little of her humanity by allowing herself to believe in love again. I was happy when, on my final read, I found myself touched by her revelation. This one, more than the others, truly goes the distance, and I felt everything from disgust to hope in listening to her tell me about herself.
In my travels, I've found that a person's character presents itself in it's purest form only when there's a tremendous struggle involved. For example, I've hung around people that were in Sandra's situation and found that some were broken, while others weren't. I wanted to write about a woman in this situation who wasn't broken... yet. I wanted to show a person so intent on NOT being in denial that she falls into the greatest denial of all: The denial of her own humanity. In fact, I don't even give her a name until halfway through the piece, because until then, she doesn't even view herself as a person, but as a piece of meat.
In closing, I'd have to say that the biggest challenge in writing this chapter was to stop writing this chapter. I could have told the entire novel's story just from her point of view, so I had to force myself to end it at 20 pages and let one of the other characters pick up where she left off. I may change this strategy in the final draft, but for now I think that it works. Leaving some loose ends isn't necessarily a bad thing in storytelling, and I do hope people will discuss the love triangle between Sandra, Kyle, and Billy long after I'm on to my next book:)
-JJ McMoon
2/27/09
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