Hailey Morrison

Follow up post to Your Character’s Personality

Character growth is when something about your character’s personality changes.

Why might a character change?

A character might change if something about their personality has been challenged so many times, or so profusely, that they are forced to question it. It can happen gradually over a period of time or after one, significant event. Growth can be either positive or negative.

For example, there’s Lucia who values communication and honesty. She’s been in a relationship with Kenny for a few months now and whenever she goes to him when her feelings are hurt to talk it out, he reacts negatively: her values are being challenged.  She begins to question them, “what’s the point in me trying to communicate if it always ends with us screaming at each other?” So, she eventually stops going to him when she’s upset and lies about her feelings. This is negative character growth.

Maybe there’s Ling who believes that work comes before play. He takes this belief very seriously and works all the time, even working on his own time at home. He has a sudden, near death experience and realizes that he could’ve just died without doing a single thing he’s actually wanted to do. His belief is challenged, and he questions it: “is working from the time I get up to the time I go to bed really how I want to spend my life?”  He stops working so much and spends time doing hobbies that he enjoys and socializes more and makes friends. This is positive character growth.

What about static characters?

While a character can change for the better or for the worst, they also don’t have to grow at all. These are called static characters, and they are just as interesting as dynamic characters.

Im gonna try this out n see if anyone actually participates…so ask mckenzie anything down below in the comments or follow the link in my bio to go ask her and Hall things there. Thanks!

Show vs. Tell 

When I was a young writer, I thought details were there for the sake of being details. You enter a room, you describe the room so the reader can see it in their head, the end.

But in fact, nothing is supposed to be so pointless as to simply check off a box next to “Imagery” in an English class workbook. These details are meant to give the reader something meaningful about the impression it makes on the perspective character, or what’s up with this world and its people.

As for the original post… I think either could work depending on context. If you were trying to have that awkward kid really own this story, making it a story about her perspective rather than a series of events we the readers are watching, you’d go with the left, because it captures a sense of the kid’s understanding of the world rather than appealing to ours.

Take a deep breath.

Another.

And another.

Now, say this to yourself, out loud: The anxiety I’m feeling about this is COMPLETELY NORMAL.

Because it is normal. It’s more than normal. It’s freaking super-normal. Often there’s a huge to-do made about just finishing a draft, just getting that book from start to finish and having something written. Many people start on that path, and many people never even get that first draft done. You’ve accomplished that, and that’s great. It’s an achievement. Pat yourself on the back. Seriously, do it. Or pat a pet or stuffed animal if you don’t like being touched. Or do a celebration dance.

Now, you’ve hit that second massive hurdle. That glorious thing you wrote? Probably 80% crap. And guess what? That’s true of practically every other author on the planet once they finish their first draft. How does it get from being mostly crap to a finished book? A lot of work (A LOT). Hours and hours of time spent pouring over sentences and paragraphs, character analyses, plot hole noticing and filling, possible changes in setting or of protagonists or POV. It sometimes seems endless, and you have to constantly ask yourself: Why am I doing this? What do I ultimately want?

The answer that should satisfy? Because you have to — you need to finish, for yourself. If you don’t write this book, no one will. And if you’re taking the time to do it, don’t you want to do it right?

Anxiety, stress, fear of failure and/or just the daunting task of work to reach completion are things every writer struggles with, so the other thing you need to do? Get used to this feeling. It’s probably not going to go away with other projects and more experience. However, it can lessen a bit, and you can move past it, by realizing that you’re not alone, it’s normal to have these feelings, and that without your efforts, this story may never be told.

Take another deep breath.

This is your story. You can tell it, and if it’s the right story, you’ll find you need to tell it.

Hope this helps!

This is a great question, actually!  What you want to keep in mind is that, like relationships in real life, every author responds to and interacts with their characters in a different way.  Some people just go with what feels right, and get sudden bursts of inspiration that comes across as their characters “speaking” to them.  Some people rely more heavily on logic and chain-of-events reasoning to get a consistent understanding of their characters. 

I happen to be of the latter type, and to this day I don’t know what my characters’ voices sound like because they’ve never spoken to me directly.  However, they do communicate with me in other ways.  When I plot out their actions and reactions, I feel promptings, so to speak.  I can tell when I’m not portraying my characters right, because when I do, they stop feeling three-dimensional and start feeling…stale.  Sometimes, if I’m really off track, my mental image of them becomes washed-out or fuzzy.  That’s because, in my brain, there’s a correlation between sensory input and realistic character behavior.  The times when I feel as though I could reach out and touch my characters, feel the texture of their clothes, and smell the wood smoke clinging to their skin always coincide with the times when I’m portraying them the most accurately.  And that’s just one example of how characters might speak to a writer without actually speaking to them.  There are multitudes of ways.

In short, remember that you don’t have to “hear” your characters in order to have an intimate understanding of them.  If you can’t hear them unless you sit them down for an interview, that’s totally legitimate.  If you’ve never heard them utter a peep, like me, that’s also legitimate.  I wouldn’t worry, anon.  It’s quite possible that your characters are already communicating with you and directing you, and that you just haven’t recognized that communication for what it is.  Keep an open mind, and pretty soon you’ll start to see traces of where they’ve been, leaving clues for you.

Good luck and keep writing!