January 2025 …
One of the surprising things I have encountered through my evolving writing career, is how creating characters for stories has encouraged reflection about myself and those close to me.
Various courses providing guidance on creating stories, encourage students to draw on their personal experiences to support the development of plausible characters. Recalling how you felt at a particular moment or in a particular situation can be a starting point to considering how your characters might feel, behave or react. The challenge is to be honest enough with yourself to identify emotions that are more nuanced than ‘glad, sad, mad or bad’.
The writer’s skill is paramount, not merely in finding alternative adjectives or labels for ‘glad, sad, mad or bad’, but in writing dialogue and actions that show those emotions and feelings. In order to convincingly convey emotions rather than simply overtly naming them, we need to be able to identify them in ourselves and in others with whom we interact. This, in turn, compels us to develop greater listening and observational skills in the ‘real’ world; are people saying or doing things that contradict or hide what they genuinely think or feel?
Related to this exploration of feelings is a developing understanding of the motivations of the character. Darker feelings (sad, mad or bad) may emanate from frustrations around an inability to achieve personal goals. Such goals are derived from all manner of personal experiences and circumstances and may range from striving for basic needs (a sense of safety) to longer term altruistic goals. Lighter feelings may derive from achieving personal goals.
Good writing includes creating plausible, interesting characters. This is helped by taking time to understand the characters’ motivations, and even to write a biography for them; what is the history that has got them to this particular point? Such biographies may not be explicitly included in the stories, but they can help to ensure consistency and plausibility in the characters’ speech and actions.
For me, this has led to considering the ‘backstories’ of people around me – those whom I know closely, as well as those I meet through chance encounters. Such consideration allows me to recognise when tense, fractured relationships are the result of dark feelings and emotions of others clashing with my own.
It is too easy to make superficial assumptions when people behave differently from our expectations. Through engaging in the discipline of considering the motivations of others more deeply, creative writing is also increasing my understanding and tolerance for others in ‘real life’.