The Saturday Character Clinic: What belief about the world has most affected the personality of your protagonist?
Exploring the Questions that Bring Characters to Life
Characters are memorable only when the author has taken time to consider the whole person. Emotions, flaws, past experiences are important - details matter. While you can’t examine every aspect of a character’s life, each character must be considered carefully before writing your story.
THE SATURDAY CHARACTER CLINIC is dedicated to discovering how thoughtful questions help writers to better understand their character.
THE QUESTION CORNER
What belief about the world has most affected the personality of your protagonist?
WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS?
Beliefs screen how an individual sees the world, and how they react to every day experiences. When a character believes that everyone is evil, and everyone wants to destroy her, then she will tend to distrust and strike out.
Beliefs affect how the person interacts with others, and affects how quickly, or in what situations, they will change their perspective.
UNLOCKING THE CHARACTER - QUESTIONS BENEATH THE SURFACE.
Below are some of the basic questions when starting to plot a character. This is not a complete list, but it will start the conversation.
What does the character believe about others? Does she trust others? How does this make her treat others?
Why does she think people have power? Does she think she should? What does she think about the people who have power and their personalities?
What does she think about relationships and what kind of emotions does the belief invoke - love, hate, fear, desire, anger, etc.
What do they believe about themselves? Do they believe they are nice, friendly, kind, etc. or,do they believe that they are unworthy, useless and unkind?
When did they realize this belief? What caused them to believe this? Were they hurt? Did an amazing or traumatic experience cause this?
Is this belief hiding something behind it - loss or gain?
Does her belief cause them to despise others? Conversely, does it cause them to love others?
Is this belief holding the character back, or is it allowing them to grow? What would it take to get the character to change her belief? Is there a cost or gain for changing the belief?
POCKET-SIZED WORKOUT- TRY IT YOURSELF
Write a short paragraph describing the character’s core belief that caused them to choose their current job. and if they are happy or unhappy with the decision. Why?
CHECK IN
Is there a core belief that has affected your life? Do you think it has caused you joy or grief? Post if you like.
NEXT WEEK’S QUESTION
Does your character have a secret passion that they would like to pursue?
Today, may you have the chance to sit with the sun in your face, breathe in fresh air, and relax your stress away.
