Rodrigo is one of my favorite characters from the Serene Sundown Trilogy. When I first sketched him, I knew I wanted him to be biracial and have a Polynesian sleeve tattoo. This turned into multiple pieces of Hawaiian-inspired art, some of which I've sold on T-shirts.
My love for Rodrigo and his briefly mentioned background character brother, Julio, also spawned a short story.
Julio never came to light in the main plot of Serene Sundown, but this is what made him a prime target for exploration.
With Rodrigo being the fun-loving childhood friend of the MC, I pictured Julio being the polar opposite in almost every aspect. Almost. . .
My imagination took off. What about Julio's build? Similar. Hair color? Same. Pasttimes? And, and, AND!
And I continued like this until Julio found his place "on the page." At the time of the novel, he would be in his late twenties. When I started the short story, I backed up almost a decade. This gave me the opportunity to slide a younger Rodrigo in and entertain some tidbits of how he got where he was in the novel.
The experience was a joy.
For the short story, titled For a Scoop of Strawberry, all Julio wants is to earn an ice cream treat with a long jog through Central Park. Enter Rodrigo who veers him in an unexpected direction.
The theme was a goal-driven introvert obstructed by a well-meaning extrovert. This is something I've struggled with most of my life. When I was younger, I was shy to the point of gaining the "quiet" label everywhere I went. It often upset me because I worked to try and interject anything meaningful into conversations around me, but I had trouble relating. So, "quiet" I remained.
After a hefty social growth spurt in college and a few more years into my twenties, I realized I didn't speak much outside artistic and gaming circles because people often bored me. Women spoke of nothing but childrearing gossip, the latest face chemicals, and stretched leather bad costing over a grand.
Boring. Unrelatable. Anyone want to discuss wildlife conservation, healthy recipes, or kickboxing? Didn't think so. . .
I had morphed from antisocial to asocial. It's not that I can't converse, I simply choose not to. Partaking in vapid conversation still feels like a mental drain I don't need.
Yes, I realize how negative this sounds, but it's tricky when my own interests vary from the socially acceptable. For women, the three big "normal" connectors are kids, shopping habits, and relationship gossip. For men, it tends to be cars, sports, and work. Not everyone can relate on these levels. Those who can't often get labeled and/or ostracized.
Into my thirties, I accepted this as the norm. I won't hold it against anyone if they think I'm the boring one for not wanting to discuss daycare woes, hah We all have to find our people. This is where I felt a solid connection to Julio. He hasn't yet found his people outside his family. He loves his brother, but he can't relate to Rodrigo's ability to seek out and find a connection with anyone nearby. In fact, Rodrigo's social prowess often pulls Julio into awkward situations.
Bingo. I drew on that relatable dilemma. The resulting story involved Julio being taken on an excruciating ride with Rodrigo at the helm. I loved every minute of his discomfort—because, for once, it wasn't mine.
I posted For A Scoop of Strawberry to a critique site. Three critiques filtered in just in time for me to make some suggested edits before entering it in a contest. Two of the critiques had excellent feedback on clarity and tone. The third? Well. . .
Isn't it true that, in the face of a multitude of constructive comments and overall praise, that one negative review lands like an elbow to the jawline? I'm not even sure how the gist of a comment like this could be considered constructive: If your goal was to make me hate your character, you succeeded.
Enter a much-needed reminder from an unprompted source.
The entire time I've been on CritiqueCircle, I've never had a critiquer respond in depth to another critiquer's comments on one of my pieces. The first critiquer of Julio's story sent me a message of his thoughts on the other two critiques—and I needed his input to keep me from spiraling into a temporary rut of self-doubt.
The silly thing is, the message expressed what I already knew. The person who hated Julio had completely missed his well-laid justification for his pessimistic thoughts and actions. Could that one negative critique have had me changing the story before the contest, sacrificing a great deal of the comedy in the process? Possibly.
Point is, sometimes advice comes just at the right time. Be kind, and let that encouragement out. We never know if the delivery will help someone latch onto hope just a little bit longer.
And, above all else, remember that not everyone will appreciate a creation. This is normal and should be a part of the process. For those fellow introverts whose interests don't align with typical society, know that there are kindred spirits to be found.
Keep on smilin'!
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