forum How do you write your characters with immense guilt after what horrible things they've done?

Started Nov 03 by lol5

tune

Im curious about how you write characters who are deeply remorseful for their past actions. Any advice?

Oooh boy, I’ve got a whole lot to say on this one.

Really, there’s two ways I’ve written this into a character.

On one hand, I have characters who tries their best to not think about it, and who’ll just break down if someone mentions it enough times.

On the other hand, I also have characters who constantly dwell on their past selves and pay for it daily. They want to apologize for their actions or make them up in some way, but for whatever reason, they can’t.

And for both of these types, they’ve usually become very meek and modest after the incident happens and the consequences set in.
They’ll be content to let someone walk all over them if it means that they’re “making up” their transgressions.

Just my two cents.

Another thing you can do is to use your own emotions as a reference point. I typically think of a time when I was faced with immense guilt and use that emotion to fuel that scene. But that's just me honestly

id suggest reading the Sea of Ink and Gold trilogy. both of the protagonists carry lots of guilt, so you can take pointers from that. and its a great series, the best ive ever read and ive read a lot