Pocket God — or How to Be a Mean Author

So, a while back I heard about this phone app called Pocket God.  I kind of wanted a smart phone just to be able to play this game.  Basically, the idea was you get this little man that you can torture in all kinds of fun ways.  You can strike him with lightning, or feed him to sharks, or any number of equally cruel and painful things.

We can learn several important life lessons from Pocket God…at least from a writer’s perspective.

First, as writers, we can and should inflict pain and horrific experiences on our characters.

Second, pain should never be frivolous.