Hey there princesskt, - it'd be interesting to look at someone who is hated by pretty much every one, and see the way that their mind works and how they justify (or regret) their actions. You should give him a personality outside his "wife-beater" status. Give him thoughts, emotions and all the rest of it. If you decide that he regrets it - and actually really hates bashing women, he just can control his emotions, then you could write about his feelings about entering into a new relationship. He loves the woman but he's worried he'll loose control again and end up hurting her etc... and if you wanted gore and violence then you could use flash backs, memories of his childhood etc
If you can do a really good character study you actually wont need too much storyline. I mean you'll still need one but not as much...
also- have you thought about third/first person? the stuff i'm talking about would probably only work in 1st person.
Anyways there's my 5 cents worth. It might not be what your looking for at all.
