Cyborg, you may not be a professional writer, but you sure are a good one! Thank you so much for your help, I'm definitely going to take your advice.
Elly, wow I'm amazed at how much thought you put into my story and characters, I really appreciate you taking to so much time to help me, it means a lot.
For the most part I think I have a pretty good handle on my characters' backstories and the reason for their attitudes and actions, but I realize it didn't actually provide that much information about their personalities above. So if you'll permit me, and I'll try not to be too long-winded, I'd like to introduce you briefly to my characters.
I'd love your opinion on if you feel as if their backgrounds are consistent with their dispositions.
But first I should set the scene and tone of the story. Even though it is a treasure hunt, the story takes place in a painfully realistic city in Missouri, it's one of those small towns that was once had charm but now is little more than big-box stores and dilapidated Victorian houses.
All my characters are a bit older, in their mid and late 30s. They all (expect Tom),reflect the town in the way that they too have gotten older and lost their sense of wonder. The treasure hunt is not so much about finding the treasure but more so about finding out if it's possible to have great adventures after your youth fades
Likewise, all of them have a fair bit of baggage that they carry around.
Haley is the only one who wasn't born and raised in the town, instead she came from New England and was born into an esteemed, academic, old-money family that has very old-world views on wealth and propriety.
Haley never had any sort of wild rebellious phase, but rather through the first 30 years of her life she tried diligently to fit into the culture. In her 20s she sought after men that would impress her parents, hoping that a socially profitable marriage to a fellow Ivy-leaguer would allow her to fit into her society.
Several lukewarm long-term relationships failed for various reasons, and these failures only widened the divide she felt to her family and her own self worth.
Being out of that environment and meeting the other main characters has allowed some healing to take place, however she still secretly holds the same personal insecurities and negative self-worth that she developed as a teenager.
Tom and Dawn have both been lower-middle class all their lives. and Jonh grew up on the other side of the poverty line. None of the three place any of the importance on wealth, higher-education, or family name that Haley is used to. The main reason behind her attraction to Jonh is that he is remarkably inert and steady. He is mild-mannered and predictable, but also reliable, warm, and a safe.
Haley is used to a world where "friendships" are more like mutually beneficial business deals, and where there is always an underlying reason for the relationship. So now being in a genuine friendship with no ulterior motive is foreign and wonderful to her.
Haley had no brothers or platonic male friends prior to this, so Jonh and Tom are two of the first healthy relationships with men she has had.
To be honest, because Haley has never had a close non-sexual relationship with a man, she's come to believe that that isn't a dynamic that's possible between single heterosexual people. She views Jonh's general friendliness and devotion towards her as a romantic affection, and the whole thing becomes a bit of a chicken and egg situation where what began as mutual-politeness turned into mutual-attraction and desire.
Deep down Haley understands that it's her that will need to fix her self-worth issues herself, however she believes to feel safe enough to do that she needs to first be a steady committed relationship.
Jonh like I said had an unideal childhood, He had no mother and a mostly absent father who struggled with subtense addiction and would often verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse his son. Of course this dramatically shaped the man that Jonh grew in to, Jonh avoids conflict at all costs, rarely advocates for himself, and feels deeply unworthy of affection. He's often afraid to make decisions and therefore is a passive participant in his own life. Jonh seldom experiences any feeling in its extreme, and is generally emotional numbed, seldom feeling very happy or sad.
However, he's incredibly gentle, thoughtful, and understanding. Part of this is a deep-rooted fear of abandonment, part of it is a genuine kindness that wants to ensure no one else feels as emotionally homeless as he does. Despite of, or maybe because of, a lifetime of feeling insufficient Jonh is intentional about trying to make his (admittedly few) friends feel worthy. Additionally he is loyal beyond a flaut.
All and he is a very safe relationship.
Which brings us to Dawn, poor dawn. As I said before, Dawn and Jonh were in a relationship about 10 years prior to the events of the first story. It was Jonh who ended things back then, essentially he didn't feel as if he was good enough or deserved to be with her and that she desevred better. It was a painful experience for both of them and they had had no connection since.
In the interim Dawn married one of her classmates, named Jackson, who had a very weak heart (physiologically, not metaphorically). Before they were married, they both understood that there was a real possibility that Jackson's heart could give out unexpectedly, and he wasn't expected to live longer than 10 mores years. This was part of the reason Dawn and Jackson married so quickly, they spent their marriage checking off as many boxes on Jackson's bucket list as possible and it was good. Sadly he did end up passing away, about 4 years prior to this story.
When we meet Dawn, she is responsible for the care of her two aging parents as well as both of Jackson's. Jackson had two younger sisters. Both are spendthrifts, one of whom has a gambling problem, both of whom also live with Dawn. Dawn is gravely in debt, she is constantly working and has no social life what-so-ever, her only companions are stress and loneliness.
Dawn also has a thorough knowledge of the Victorian-era history of the city, which is how she ended up involved int he treasure hunt story.
As you can imagine now more than ever, she needs a safe relationship. However original she didn't intend to actually try to restart a relationship with Jonh, even though the desire was there. She felt guilty over the idea of bringing Jonh into her mess of a life, ironically this this time around she is the one feeling that the other deserves better. Dawn is in conflict with her feelings verses the reality in which she lives.
Jonh recognizes that he has feelings for both women however he isn't able to actually comprehend that either of them actually reciprocate those feelings, he has convinced himself that they both are merely being polite. Jonh is a hopeless romantic with hopelessly low self esteem, he wants almost nothing more than to get married and rise children, but he's 36 and still a bachelor. He feels like he's running out of time and that things wil only get worse as he gets older.
On a symbolic level, in his mind he loves the idea of Haley because she represents how new beginnings, no matter how difficult, are possible. He loves the idea of Dawn because she's a reminder of simpler days, back when they had all the time in the world.
And that's kind of the gist of it.
All three in some way want a partnership/marriage because they think that is the platform on which they can heal from old wounds. And all three are hard-wired to instinctual think those relationship must be romantic and they view the situation through that filter.
Anyway, back to the original problem of girls fighting. Hopefully now you have an idea of what it is emotionally they want and how that could very easily manifest itself as a classic love-triangle like thing.
I dunno, I don't really have a conclusion to this post more like, yeah, that's how it be.
I'm trying to think of the best ways to give my characters what they need, even if it may not be what they think they want. I know that in real life deep issues like this don't have any magical cures and I'm not really looking for an emotional Deus-ex-machia but I do want to at least put do hope on the horizon for my characters, ya know?
I just don't know if the best way to do that is to have them couple off or what.
Anyway I know that was really long and I really appreciate the help.
Thanks again everybody.
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