Negan is far and away my favorite character on ‘The Walking Dead’. My daughter and I watched the latest episode “This is Negan” last night after looking forward to this one for months. I'm sorry, I can't buy this interpretation of Negan's backstory. Where is the animal magnetism and alpha male charisma? Where is the demonstrated moral flexibility to get what he wants? Where is Negan’s built in need to control people at any cost? Maybe Negan did coach baseball, but couldn’t that be an after-work hobby? Maybe he could have had a roofing company or been a contractor or been a leader in some other evil enterprise like that, that involves a lot of conniving and ruthlessness.
Maybe Negan would hire illegal immigrants, then not pay them what he promised and threaten to have them deported if they complain. He’d then laugh about it with his buddies that work for him, (Negan is also pitting these hand picked nasty but weak willed guys against each other so that they don’t get together and challenge his authority.) Negan buys the beer, he owns the company, he owns the truck and he makes one of the lackies drive, etc.
I’m thinking that the writers of these shows likely face other considerations and challenges that we in the audience know nothing about. No fault to them! That doesn’t stop fans like us from coming up with ideas that seem right to us! I think to myself, "Ok smart guy, you don't like that story, what kind of story would you like?"
Here’s an idea for an expository scene that came to me as I thought of what kind of backstory a character like Negan might have:
Negan is just getting done demoralizing one of his illegal employees at a job site. The man goes back to work mixing concrete with his blistered hands as Negan looks on and grins as though he had given the poor man a raise. Negan's buddies sit in the cab of the company truck snickering and drinking beer while the profusely sweating immigrants toil in the hot summer sun building a garage. That’s when a couple of 10-year old boys who live in the neighborhood wearing baseball caps walk over and ask the clearly in charge Negan if his company would sponsor a little league team. One of Negan’s men, feeling the effects of drinking Negan’s cheap beer barks a drunken ‘Get lost!” . Negan stops, turns to the truck, points the sledgehammer that he’s leaning on at the heckler in the truck and says grinning, ‘I’ll be with you in a minute... Don’t you go anywhere.”. Negan then turns back to the 2 boys, and with magnanimous flourish tells them that he’d be delighted to sponsor their team. He finds out where they practice and promises to be there to watch. He says he wants to know if these two are the sluggers they look like. He's sure he will be backing a winner. The boys leave on cloud 9, giddy with excitement while the homeowner’s smoking hot wife has been watching this entire scene unfold. She smiles at Negan who gives her one of those 'I'll be seeing you later..." Negan grins. Then he turns his attention back to the truck. Now that the boys are out of earshot, Negan humiliates the loud-mouthed crony with one of his patented bizarre speeches. The kind that might make sense coming from a decent person, but are pretty awesomely confusing coming from this monster. Negan finishes by telling him that he needs to get the hell out of his company truck which is for "Homeowners' Saviors" employees only, and to go walk his jobless, broke ass home.
I’m starting to explore creative writing via a group called ‘shut up and write’ through Meetup.com. You hang around on a zoom call with a group of other writers and you just write for an hour in each others' silent company. There are groups from all over, usually about 4-12 people attend a group. These happen all different times and days of the week. One of the groups I attend has a highly dedicated group leader who takes the time to prepare really interesting prompts, and timed exercises that build skill! This one has breaks during which we share out writing with each other and offer encouragement. It’s another great creative exercise. These meetups have proven to be a great way for me to explore another creative outlets during the pandemic. I’m hoping the groups remain as strong beyond.
I started to explore creative writing as a means of making my art more interesting. Fan art is fun, but for me, I think I could find real joy in drawing characters from my own stories and maybe even find an audience for that work! I’d love to hear about what some of you are doing to get outside of your own well-trodden ground of drawing, painting, pixel pushing, what have you! Do you have some other passions that you indulge in order to keep it fresh? Leave a comment! All the best to you on your creative journey!