All my characters are train wrecks

"Your crazy matches my crazy." -- Deadpool

What a fantastic line. It has stuck with me ever since I saw that movie in the theater. It has completely changed how I write my characters, especially romance/erotica. Now when I write my stories I always start with a broken character and think about what kind of crazy would match theirs. Then I build a setting and plot that would throw these two broken people at each other and watch as their brokeness becomes the glue that ties them together.

This has lead me to write much more satisfying stories with richer characters and more real and organic dialog and interactions.

What quotes or advice has enriched your writing? How are your characters broken and how does this influence their stories?

I think the broken bits of people's lives make for great stories, erotic and not. But it doesn't need to be great, horrible traumas. Maybe the people aren't so much broken in a big way as missing something or dealing with some change of life. That's how I tend to swing at least. A widower lost in his grief who finds new love and hope. Two people alone for Christmas who connect with each other. A pastor's daughter struggling with her sexual feelings in a church that doesn't want her to have or express them. And so on.

I can't think of a quote that influenced my writing, but erotica is first cousins with the psychological thriller genre in my opinion. Sometimes, I love writing stuff along dark, unnerving lines. It's much more fun than the happy-go-lucky stuff.

The train wrecks are the most fun to write, for sure!

Spare parts, and broken hearts / keep the world turnin' round. - Bruce Springsteen

I don't think I've written anything where someone isn't broken in some way. Friction is always fun to write. The MC in my series is an absolute train wreck who actively pursues similar people and bad situations rather than confront his problems in a rational way. It's almost an exploration into The Ego and ID so I've delibriately used first person.

My characters are mostly normal people in extenuating circumstances. The sex may be spontaneous due to stress or spur of the moment, taking advantage of an opportunity they may regret giving up at some later point in life, or giving into the stress of their lives and finding an escape. If I could think of a movie line that most resembles how I see these people linking up, I would quote, “You’re going to be bad for business. I can tell.” -Satine

It's just more human when folks ain't Gary Stu's and Mary Sue's.