Table of Contents
How do you write a good character?
6 Tips for Writing Great Characters
- Develop characters who reflect your interests.
- Reveal their physical world through detail.
- Give them the right skills.
- Create memorable characters.
- Give the reader access to their inner conflict.
- Subvert your reader’s expectations.
How do you write an emotionally damaged character?
Include some of the character’s back-story in your first draft of the character, even if you will remove it or just make glancing references to it in your final draft. That is, let your character tell us why they are broken in sufficient detail that you begin to feel it.
How do you write an emotionally unstable character?
To avoid stereotyping and caricature—and to keep your story believable—try these five strategies and tips:
- Make the character relatable.
- Keep the narrative front and center.
- Balance internal and overt symptoms and behavior.
- Specify the disorder, at least in your head.
- Get the details right.
How do you write about mental illness?
A belief system must be created, and then coincide with a person’s later experiences. Character consistency is once again required, and authors find themselves writing deeper and more fully rounded characters. In real-life, mental illness is just one part of a person’s life experience, and is far from the sole arbiter of their personality.
What makes a good mental illness author?
While no-one is born with an encyclopedic knowledge of mental illness, it’s a sensible author who keeps abreast of the latest developments in the field, both in the interests of writing compassionately and authoritatively, and of not alienating an increasingly knowledgeable and engaged reader base.
Is mental illness Ruining Your Story?
The logic goes that the character is fueled by their mental illness, and this explains any actions which logic or previous characterization don’t. While this is problematic in terms of how it reflects on real mental illness, it can also ruin a story by providing insufficient backstory for a character.
Should literature examine Mental Illness?
The temptation to examine the human condition through characters who think or behave in ways we find strange is a common theme in literature, and yet more and more of society is waking up to the fact that frivolous depictions of mental illness can have serious real-world implications.