Picture from site production of The Power Within Reading Series, setting up for guests
I chose to write about my father's struggle with alcoholism, specifically centered around my perception of it as a little girl versus now. In my first draft of my TPW story, I did not say a single good thing about my dad. He was a drunk and aggressive father who put us, ME, in danger. Me, the angelic child. Me the victim. After looking for emotional honesty in several writing examples, especially in the Joy Luck Club excerpt, and getting extensive critique from peers, my teacher, and our professional author, Betsy, I learned that in order to make characters complex, that they have to have context. Like I mentioned before, making someone a “villain” or “hero” is too one dimensional. Humans have to be relatable by having a backstory. Their actions need to make sense. We aren’t perfect, so sometimes we contradict ourselves or slip up, and no one is completely guilty or innocent. When I read my story on exhibition night, my dad was not a bad man. He was a good father with an addiction he couldn’t control and a difficult past that led him to do things that didn’t represent his true love for his family.