On the Issue of Laura
Added 2018-12-20 12:26:24 +0000 UTCLaura's part in Two Hundred Dollars, as some of you know, is not universally appreciated.
The trick with writing characters, though, is their interactions. If they don't interact with each other, characters are easier. When you have two characters, there is one relationship. Add one more, you have tripled the relationships to manage.
Without Laura, the meaningful interactions drop by two thirds. That said, I think she's important. Her religiously repressed sexuality, her creativity waiting to burst out, are vital to the plot. The fact that she pushes Bailey - even though she doesn't (seem to?) know she's doing it - makes things tense. This creates room for Bailey's envy (of Laura's body and creativity), and jealousy (as she tries to decide how she relates to Kent).
For those reasons, I'm definitely not getting rid of or sidelining Laura. But I'm also wary of overdoing her role. As one commenter pointed out in Ch. 11, I don't want to get into the erotic fiction cliche of just jamming three people into every possible sexual arrangement.
(Also, FYI, I started this story on a bit of a lark, so I'm as surprised as any of you that the character development is getting this complicated.)
