Re: Motivations, Principles, and Personality Traits

On Mar 28, 7:13 pm, ShellyS <shell...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mar 28, 1:33 pm, "pat bowne" <no home email> wrote:



<CharlesRCap...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote

What does rec.arts.sf.composition think about these lists?

I can't speak for the group, but if I decided all that stuff about a
character before writing, I would feel as if I were just trying to display a
static artifact rather than telling a story about a living person. I
discover (and show) what my characters' principles, motivations and
personality traits are by observing their responses to particular
situations.
I am more likely to start my character-building off by defining the
character's problem and identifying a few of their more irritating habits.
That seems to be enough, for what I do.

Ditto. I start more with personality traits, a way of speaking
perhaps, habits, things I can quickly write while the character
develops on the page. And nothing is hard and fast. Sometimes, they
don't want to bite their nails or they'd prefer to tap pens on desks.
But I do have basics like Impatience, Talkative, Friendly, Suspicious,
etc. And the motivations are specific to the story and their role in
it. X is motivated to become president. Why? Because he's one of the
candidates I created. In the writing of him, the reason he's a
candidate hopefully will be come either clear or not matter. But what
it is I won't know til I write it.

-- Shelly

This whole thing is utterly alien to me.I learn about the characters I
write about much as I learn about real people by what they say and do.
Sometimes I know what they think, but only sometimes and they always
justify themselves to themselves and I don't always agree. I don't
have any lists. I don't make a decision about whether they are good or
evil ;mostly they are a bit of both. I can't write a person through
lists of characteristics. I wouldn't know where to start or how to
convey it. Nine and sixty...


Nicky
.

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