How you doing, Write Lifers!?!
This is my final post on characterization, and I’ll admit I think it needs some fleshing out. I appreciate any ideas y’all may have in regards to what I am about to unveil.
How does your character view life?
Is it a race? Is it a party? Is it dreadful and pointless?
Your character has, whether they know it or not, a philosophical view of the world around them. We all do! Most of us are as confused by it as our characters are. It isn’t a concept that is well understood and will probably take you a long time to develop for your character as it will be for yourself.
But think about it, your character has motivations that are congruent with their life philosophy. It truly is the essence of who your character is as a person and should be regarded.
You’ll probably receive hints on their philosophy by how they speak. Or if you’re a savant, you’ll model their speech by their life philosophy.
I know this is a bit short, but it really is a very complex concept that I don’t
Knowing your character’s beliefs about the world will help you shape their personality and reactions when dealing with their final conflict in your story.
have an adequate grasp of. Currently, I am reading through this post, How to Discover Your Personal Philosophy in Three Steps, but I doubt I will fully grasp it in 3 steps.
Like I’ve always said, what I write here is up to you on how and if you use it. I hope it at least gave you some ideas on how to approach your characters in your story.
I don’t expect anyone to discover their characters life philosophy in five minutes. That’s ridiculous. I just believe the idea has merit.
So this concludes my characterization series. I hope you liked it. I look forward to reading your comments and specifically what you would like me to discuss next. I want to do a series on plot and setting in the future, so look forward to that.
As always like and subscribe so you can be notified of my latest post, and comment because I would love this to be more than an echochamber. I want to hear your ideas so I can improve my writing as well.
