Evil Genius

Today at lunch, I said the following thing to Woofy:"Writing novels is like walking a tightrope over shark-infested waters, while juggling knives and fire."Later, I added:"While naked."To which, he then added:"Yeah, and with people down below pointing up at you and laughing."At that point, the metaphor kind of broke down. Because, at the very least, you don't have to go through the writing process in front of people.What got me thinking about this was one of the many intriguing challenges one faces while telling a story:The Counter-argument.Every good story has one. It's the enemy of The Argument, which is the thematic powerhouse that fuels the whole story. If you make your Counter-argument too weak, then your Argument doesn't get to flex its muscles and decimate it with righteous fury. But if you make your Counter-argument too strong, it can start feeling like The Argument. Hence the tightrope. Or is that the juggling of knives and fire? You decide.I'm caught in this trap right now on Novel #3 and I'm finding myself oddly persuaded by my own Counter-argument. Make no mistake, my Counter-argument is diabolical. It's just that it's also sort of true. In fact, it's kind of an Evil Genius.I guess I'll have to soup up my Argument somehow, maybe give it superpowers.