The Psychology Workbook for Writers Read online

  The Psychology Workbook for Writers

  Tools for Creating Realistic Characters and Conflict in Fiction

  By Darian Smith

  ***

  All material contained herein is Copyright © Darian Smith 2015. All rights reserved.

  ISBN 978-0-473-33447-5

  ***

  For more works by this author, please visit:

  www.darian-smith.com

  ***

  Table Of Contents

  Introduction

  Blame the Parents

  Worksheet– Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Flip the Script

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Pieces of Me

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  All’s Fair in Love and War

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  There’s No Place Like Home (With the Family)

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  State of Being

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Conflict of Interest

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Personality Plus

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Giving Grief

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  There’s a Little Bit in All of Us

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Me and My Shadow

  Worksheet – Build the Character

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  About the Author

  Currents of Change

  Shifting Worlds

  Reference list

  Introduction

  Writing is a form of psychology. Writers – the good ones anyway – are keen observers of human nature and they capture it in their characters and storytelling. They show the behaviours, the thought processes, and the ways people make meaning out of their experiences and events and turn these into provoking entertainment.

  A lot of this is done by instinct or by the gradual build-up of experience and skill. But established psychological theories and counselling ideas can help short cut this process and enable writers to create compelling, well rounded, understandable characters, and interesting stories that make sense to the reader.

  My own interest in these two fields and how they might combine started at university where I completed a Bachelor degree with a double major in psychology and English literature. I followed that up with a Diploma in Counselling, became a member of the NZ Association of Counsellors and started up in private practice. I was already writing fiction in my spare time and soon realised that much of the success or failure of a story hangs on the characters it contains. A well rounded character with interesting relationships and complex conflict with other fully developed characters gives a reader something to connect to. It makes them care what happens next.

  I started thinking about how to use what I know about psychology to create more believable characters to draw the reader in. I released a novel, Currents of Change, and the reader reviews started saying things like “great characterisation” “the characters are very human” and “a really fun book to read.” It worked!

  I’ve presented on this topic to writers groups on several occasions and always get a really positive response from the audience. I think because it doesn’t take long to see how thinking about these elements adds depth to your characters and, consequently, your story. Realistic characters have internal monologues about themselves and the world around them, they have strengths and weaknesses, history, family dynamics, relationships, personality, conflict styles – they have psychology!

  In this book, I aim to outline several counselling and psychological theories with a view to how they help writers. These theories help therapists make sense of personality, human interaction, conflict, self-sabotage and more. For your characters to be realistic, they need to contain these attributes – just like real people do.

  Each chapter will outline a theory or concept as simply as possible. I’ll provide examples from literature and movies to demonstrate what is being talked about and two worksheets with questions to help you apply the theory to your own work – one to help build your characters and one to help build your story.

  “But I already know my characters and story!” you may say. Great. This will help you drill down into what really makes them tick and add layers to them. It will also help you bring out the elements that you know in new and interesting ways to show your readers.

  Even writers with a strong understanding of human nature sometimes find it a challenge to apply that understanding to their writing. By doing this in a conscious process, you will gradually integrate it into your instinctive writing behaviour.

  The difference between writers and therapists, of course, is that therapists are working to help clients resolve their issues and writers are creating issues for their characters! This is how they bring conflict into the story.

  This book is NOT intended as a self-help book or for therapeutic use. It will condense several years of training into a few pages designed to be useful for a writer, not a therapist. The focus here will be on creating trouble, not fixing it. To summarise: This is for your CHARACTERS, not your friends and family!!

  Use as much or as little as you are comfortable with. Most therapists settle on a couple of favourite approaches in the way they work and that’s okay for writers too. Some theories cover the same ground but a different path so find the one that suits you best. Use what makes sense to you and throw away the rest.

  But try it first. Practise and think about each of these theories and elements. I guarantee they will help add depth to your writing.

  Blame the Parents

  The Theory

  “Tell me about your mother” said in a Sigmund Freud accent, this is the second most clichéd quote from therapists. (Beaten only by “And how does that make you feel?”)

  Psychology has a bit of a reputation for blaming parents for things. It’s a little unfair, but there’s some truth to it. Human beings learn much of their understanding of the world and how it works well before their brains are developed enough to objectively evaluate what they’re learning. That means the influences of our early years have a huge impact on how we behave later in life. Parents and other authority figures, both intentionally and unintentionally, contribute hugely significant messages to our developing brains.

  So while a therapist will be quick to point out that it’s not actually about blame, but about identifying the root cause of an issue so the adult self can assess those early messages and beliefs with more rational logic, as a writer, it’s important for us to understand the kinds of early messages our characters were given so that we understand how they operate in the “now” of the story we’re telling.

  So what kinds of messages are there? The counselling theory known as Transactional Analysis has handily split these into two types: Injunctions and Drivers (listed in TA Today, Ian Stewart, Vann Joines).

  Injunctions are the “Don’t” messages. On a subconscious level, they tell your character that they’re not an okay person because they’re not allowed to do or be these particular things. These messages are rarely given intentionally but usually picked up through behavioural cues and absorbed into the subconscious. They’re a g
reat source of insecurity for a character. They include:

  • Don’t feel

  E.g. Don’t cry. Don’t have emotions or keep them to yourself if you do.

  • Don’t belong

  E.g. Putting down roots is a bad idea. You’re a loner and you don’t belong anywhere.

  • Don’t be you

  E.g. Who you are isn’t good enough and is wrong. You should be more sporty/academic/quiet/straight.

  You should be like your brother.

  • Don’t think

  E.g. Boys don’t like smart girls. If I want your opinion I’ll ask for it. Smarty-pants.

  • Don’t exist

  E.g. My life was great before I had kids. I had to give up my career to have you.

  • Don’t be close

  E.g. You shouldn’t get attached. People hurt you or you’ll hurt them.

  • Don’t grow up

  E.g. Children are cute, it’s a pity they have to turn into teenagers.

  • Don’t be important

  E.g. Stop trying to get attention.

  • Don’t be well

  E.g. I feel good when I’m looking after you.

  • Don’t make it

  E.g. Nobody in this family does anything worthwhile. Don’t get too big for your boots.

  • Don’t be a child

  E.g. You need to be the adult and look after me.

  Drivers, on the other hand, are more positive messages and often given intentionally. They are the messages that drive us to achieve and tell us we are okay as long as we follow their advice. These messages can become problematic if they are absolutes. This can mean we only feel good about ourselves as long as we can fulfil the Drivers’ command. They include:

  • Try hard

  • Hurry up

  • Please others

  • Be perfect

  • Be strong

  Internal conflict in a character can be built by selecting a combination of injunctions and drivers that function as a kind of psychological tug of war within the character as they try to meet the requirements of the messages in order to feel good about themselves. E.g. “I shouldn’t be important but it’s okay as long as I’m perfect.” Or, “I’ll only belong and have people care about me if I do what I can to please others.” Or, “I shouldn’t have feelings and I do, so I have to hide them and appear to be strong so as to be accepted.”

  Part of the character’s journey is to learn about him or herself in the course of the story. Creating an internal conflict to wrestle with keeps the character interesting to the reader. They may or may not resolve the conflict. In therapy, the objective is to help a client find a way to give themselves permission to let go or mitigate these messages in healthy ways. Your character could do this through their experiences in the story – or they may not. But their struggle with the messages and their implications for their adult life and behaviour will make for an engaging read.

  Example

  In the Disney movie Frozen, Princess Elsa picks up very strong messages from her parents after an accident involving her ice magic. She receives the injunctions Don’t be you, Don’t be close, Don’t feel, and Don’t belong. In order to feel good about herself, she also must adhere to the driver messages of Be perfect and Please others. These messages come from the adults’ fears and tell her to hide her powers and who she is, staying in control always or else she could do serious harm to her loved ones and her country. It is not until Elsa gives herself permission to let go of some of these messages that she can truly be herself, gain control of her life and her powers, and protect the ones she loves. This internal story arc for the character is a huge part of what makes the movie resonate with the audience.

  Further reading

  TA Today by Ian Stewart and Vann Joines, Lifespace Publishing, 1987

  Worksheet– Build the Character

  Answer the questions below to use the theory in this section to develop your characters.

  What messages did your character receive as a child?

  Below are some examples of messages – choose the ones that apply to your character:

  You come first.

  I won’t pay attention to you no matter what you do.

  Your needs aren’t important.

  You need help.

  If you beg and whine you can get your way.

  I’m afraid of your anger.

  You’re clever.

  You’re so slow.

  Make me look good.

  Be happy.

  Keep trying.

  You can never pay me back for all I’ve done.

  I don’t have time for you.

  It’s okay to explore.

  Mind your own business.

  You’re in charge.

  Parents never make mistakes.

  Don’t leave me.

  You have a big mouth.

  Drop dead.

  Don’t you ever learn?

  It’s always your fault.

  I love you.

  You’re a problem child.

  Work before play.

  What other childhood messages can you think of that your character received?

  Which of the drivers/injunctions do these messages relate to?

  How were these childhood messages delivered? What events occurred? What memories does the character have that relate?

  What beliefs do they have now as a result of each message?

  What behaviours do they have as a result of those messages and beliefs?

  How do they adapt when those messages are challenged?

  How do these messages contradict each other and what internal conflicts are set up as a result?

  Worksheet – Build the Story

  Answer the questions below to use the theory in this section to develop your plot and increase conflict.

  How can the events which delivered the messages be incorporated into or impact on the current story?

  What events in the story challenge the messages and subsequent beliefs?

  Who are the other characters in the story who challenge those messages/beliefs and how?

  How do the conflicting messages/beliefs of each character cause conflict in their relationship?

  What changes need to happen in the character for the beliefs related to their childhood messages to change? What events could precipitate this?

  Flip the Script

  The Theory

  Once a person (or character) has absorbed messages from their early development, it is up to them to decide how to interpret those messages and what they will mean for their own individual world view and understanding of life, people, and the way the universe works.

  In Transactional Analysis, this is called life scripting. The decisions that are made about the world get locked into a storyline in a person’s mind and are often very difficult to shift. People then behave according to their script – often ignoring the events of the real world that don’t support the scripted beliefs.

  Studies have shown that a person’s expectations shape what they see and remember about the world around them. People who expect to be lucky see and remember opportunities that reinforce the belief in their luck. People who expect to be unlucky do the same.

  Essentially, how we behave and react to the world is often less about what is actually happening than it is about what we already believe. If I think “the world is out to get me” then I perceive the checkout operator who short-changes me or the driver who stops a little too close to the pedestrian crossing as being deliberate attacks. As a result, I might react aggressively.

  If, however, I believe I live a happy, charmed life, then I will react completely differently to those events and be much more likely to write them off as insignificant accidents that have little or nothing to do with me.

  With this in mind, how our characters react to the events of the story will have a lot to do with their internal life script and beliefs about the world. A writer needs to have an awareness of what the character’s life script and beli
ef systems are – and find a way to communicate them to the reader without info dumping - to make the character believable. (Remember the writer’s mantra: Show, don’t tell.)

  These life scripts often fall into similar categories or patterns. The script themes put forward in the book TA Today, by Ian Stewart and Vann Joines include:

  Until – the idea that something good can’t happen until something less good has happened. E.g. “I can’t have dessert until I’ve eaten my vegetables” or, on a grander scale, “I can’t be successful until I’ve paid my dues.” Or perhaps, “I can’t go travelling until after I retire.”

  After – the idea that any enjoyable thing experienced now will have to be paid for afterward. E.g. “I’m enjoying this walk but I’ll be sore tomorrow.” The person engaged in this script type has trouble being happy because no matter how enjoyable the moment is, they believe they will suffer for it afterward.

  Never – the idea that the person will never get what they desire. E.g. “I’ll never meet the right person for a lasting relationship.” This script type prevents a person from taking the steps they need to achieve their goal because they do not believe the outcome is possible.

  Always – the idea that you will always get the same result. “Why does this always happen to me?” This person sticks with a job or relationship that isn’t working and complains about it without doing anything to make a change. Or they change to another job or relationship that is exactly the same as the old one and wonder why the outcome is also the same.