Start with a person. Man or woman. Doesn’t matter. Gay or straight, anywhere in-between, that’s fine. Race? Pick a card.
Make them idealistic.
Give them an impression of what it’s like to feel loved. Make sure it’s incomplete - this is important. Make them gifted at something fun but worthless. Give them no idea what to do.
Set them loose in a world stuffed to the gills with too many problems to fix, too many dark holes to fall into, and too many people who want exactly what they want and are much better at achieving it. Make adapting troublesome. It helps if they think they’re alone. Or if you’d prefer, make them blame only themselves. Dealer’s choice.
Make them suffer, make them bleed at the cuticles and corners of their mouth and make them lose their voice screaming ancient nothings at a statue’s face on a cloudy day. Make them fantasize about gutting God on a hot street sidewalk and forcing him to watch his own dreams sizzle and die in front of that same hopeless blank sky.
Really, the important thing here is to have fun. Because if this isn’t fun, then what out there is?
Ryan Stevens
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
Hunter S. Thompson