The Psychology Workbook for Writers Read online

  Almost – the idea that one’s goal is never quite achieved. This person might sabotage themselves at the point of almost succeeding or they might simply change the goalposts when they arrive at their original goal, never feeling like they’ve truly “made it.”

  Open ended – the idea that they won’t know what to do with themselves after a certain point in time. “I’ll be great to be retired…but then what?”

  Think about how you can adapt some of these internal script ideas to fit your character and his or her background. The script needs to have a logic to it – even if that logic only makes sense in the character’s own mind. Often these scripts don’t make sense to an adult perspective because they were set down in our subconscious as children. Part of your character’s journey could be to challenge their script beliefs – thus creating internal conflict and generating an interesting personal dilemma for the character.

  Other characters will have different internal scripts and different ways of seeing the world and each other. This creates external conflict within the story. Think about giving major characters conflicting life scripts to keep things interesting and have them challenge each other.

  A character may have to confront the constraints of his or her life script during the course of the story. This could be a pivotal moment for the character’s development and for the plot.

  Narrative therapy takes a similar view on this but looks at it slightly differently. The view of the narrative therapist is that people tell themselves stories about the world, the people in it, and about themselves. There are many different stories that can be told from the same events, depending on what is focussed on. Again, how we perceive the world and behave in reaction to it is more about the story we are telling ourselves than it is about the actual events of reality.

  By retelling a particular story and highlighting the evidence that supports it, I strengthen that story. For example, a person can tell themselves the story that they are always unlucky in love. They repeat this to themselves, and maybe to friends, and they point to relationship break ups or disappointments to support this particular story.

  The same person could, if they chose, to tell a different story – one in which they had a good relationship experience. This alternative story might require more effort because it has been told less often and the evidence to support it is less familiar. However, by seeking out the evidence – that is, remembering events that support the notion that they have had good relationships – and retelling this new story to themselves and others, they strengthen it and thus begin to see themselves and the world differently.

  You can see that a character who tells himself the first story may be very hesitant to commit to a relationship because he expects it to fail. The same character who focusses on the second internal story will be braver in relationships. The results in that character’s life will be very different because he has behaved differently, because he believes differently, because he told himself a different story about his life and what to expect.

  Again, the different stories set up an internal combat in the character, giving them a strong personal dilemma to deal with and a lesson to learn. The character needs to resolve the conflict and figure out which story to believe – or whether there is another story that suits him better.

  His personal story about being unlucky in love may make him view a female character who is a potential love interest in a negative way and this could conflict with her own internal story about herself.

  Another character may have an internal story or belief that money is corrupting. As a result they dislike rich people, and have bad saving habits. These resulting behaviours may be completely subconscious and the character doesn’t fully understand why they feel that way.

  Think about the internal stories your characters tell about themselves, about others, about how their lives will play out, and about the world.

  Examples

  In the fairy-tale story of Cinderella, we see a version of the Until script at work. Cinderella’s life is a miserable one and, in theory, she could take action to change this – she could leave home, attempt to wrest control of her family holdings from her stepmother, get another job – but she doesn’t. Cinderella has a life script that says things cannot improve for her until she has somehow suffered enough and is rescued. So she waits and eventually her life changes, not from something she does herself, but from the actions of her fairy godmother and the prince.

  In the television series, Game of Thrones, adapted from George R. R. Martin’s book series, A Song of Fire and Ice, we can see another script at work in Tyrion Lannister, particularly early in the series. Tyrion has, through a series of very strong childhood messages, developed the life script of Never. He believes he will never gain what he truly wants – the acceptance and love of his father. As a result, he refuses to try and spends his time (and money) on alcohol and brothels. It is when he begins to change his desire and aim to please someone more worthy than his father, that he manages to let go of this script and achieve moments of greatness.

  Further reading

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

  What is Narrative Therapy by Alice Morgan, Dulwich Centre Publications, 2000

  Worksheet – Build the Character

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

  What scripts does the character have?

  How do they behave as a result of their internal script beliefs?

  What behaviours will show change in these scripts as the story progresses?

  What internal monologue stories are the strongest for this character?

  Does the character have to challenge their script? How do they do this? How does the character grow 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 do the events of the story follow or challenge the script?

  Which character has an opposite script?

  How do these opposing script characters interact as a result?

  What plot events challenge the primary internal monologue stories and strengthen alternative ones?

  Pieces of Me

  The Theory

  Another way of looking at human personality that can be useful when developing characters is Systemic Theory. This is essentially the “No man is an island” philosophy. The concept behind this approach is that we are all part of a greater bio-psycho-social system and how we behave, in some degree, connected to the people and world around us. We impact others and they impact us.

  We can see how this concept works easily in the world around us. As individuals, our behaviour accumulates to create social norms. Societal behaviour impacts on the environment in terms of pollution, construction, destruction of habitats, etc. And in turn, those environmental changes impact us on a biological level via our food, climate, etc. I.e. we are all part of a global system, affected by and affecting all other parts.

  A person’s family, community, gender, etc are all individual systems that are a part of the whole and each impact on how that person behaves. For therapists, this means that the best chance of success in helping someone change their behaviour is to engage as many parts of the system as possible – other family members, support people, etc. I’ll talk more about this in the section entitled There’s no place like home (with the family).

  The same interrelated system model can be applied to our internal workings. Using this point of view, a person can be seen to be a system of many interacting parts of themselves. These parts can often behave in contradictory ways, resulting in the individual experiencing confusion and behaviour they do not like in themselves.

  For example, a businessman who has to make a presentation to his colleagues may have a part of himself that finds public speaking scary because of the threat of embarrassment, and another part that is good at research and is con
fident that he is well prepared for giving the speech. Still another part may know that the speech is important for advancing his career, and one that finds his boss intimidating. There may be a part that logically knows there’s no physical risk involved in delivering a speech but another part could be fearful that the symptoms of anxiety either are or could lead to a heart attack. There could also be a sneaky part of himself who can see how he might manipulate one of his colleagues into doing it for him or fake an illness and a more moral part that wants to live a life of integrity.

  How he reacts when faced with this stressful situation will depend on which of these parts manages to take over the driving seat. Some of the parts may group together to achieve what they think is the best goal. Because each part is only a fraction of the whole person, it is unable to see the bigger picture and may engage in behaviour that advances the small goal but does more harm to the whole person as a result.

  If the scared and sneaky parts get control, he may avoid the speech but do damage to his career as a result and maybe even lose his job if he is caught. If the confident and logical parts take control he will do well. The scared and anxious parts working together could produce a panic attack.

  A therapist’s job is to help the person acknowledge these parts and accept that they all have a positive intention but not the full capacity for making good choices that the whole person has. By choosing to access certain parts of himself while soothing the fears of other parts, he can become more in control.

  For the writer, this presents an opportunity to give the character a pivotal moment in their development. The events of the plot require the character to dig deep, access and strengthen parts of themselves they had previously ignored or been unaware of, and behave in a new way to resolve the crisis. The character grows as a result and learns that he or she can be brave, strong, clever, etc.

  This is also a really good way for a writer to develop a good understanding of the character’s flaws – particularly for the villains. Nobody truly has the intention of being evil. A realistic villain has motives that are understandable and relatable and they feel justified in what they do. This means there are parts of the villain that may take control from time to time and have their own motivations/logic that are, in some way, for the best in terms of the villain. They may want to be loved, or to be safe, or to prevent the loss of something they care about – and the part of them that feels those things believes the way to do this is to gain power and influence and manipulation. Perhaps there is another part that thinks differently. A villain with an internal conflict is an interesting character. Remember to develop more than just your main character!

  Examples

  In the movie Notting Hill, Anna Scott is a world famous celebrity who is dating an ordinary man. Part of her loves the limelight and thrives on the attention it brings her, but part of her craves something normal as well. It is this part that needs to feel normal that truly appreciates what Hugh Grant’s character, William Thacker, brings to their relationship.

  While out for a meal, Anna and Will overhear the men at the next table discussing celebrities in general and Anna in particular in an unflattering and chauvinistic way. William tries to defend Anna and fails.

  Anna is then caught in a dilemma. Part of her appreciates William’s effort, but part of her believes it will make no long term difference. Another part of her has learned it is better to ignore such comments and this part is joined by a part of her that fears what the media will say. Part of her is hurt by it. And another part is strong and wants to put the men in their place. This part, joined by the part of her that has an excellent witty sense of humour, eventually takes over and she does speak to the men, very deftly deflating their egos. Afterward, the part that is aware of her public persona comments, “I shouldn’t have done that.” But we can see she is pleased she did. And, as an audience, we are pleased she did as well!

  Further reading

  Metaframeworks, by Douglas C. Breunlin, Richard C. Schwartz, and Betty Mac Kune-Karrer, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2001

  An Introduction to Family Therapy, by Rudi Dallos and Ros Draper, Open University Press, 2000

  Worksheet – Build the Character

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

  What internal parts does the character have?

  Which are the strongest parts?

  Which internal parts work together?

  Which internal parts are opposites or could be used to mitigate each other?

  Which parts fight each other for control?

  Under what circumstances to the different parts take control?

  What behaviours in the character show the reader which part is currently in control?

  What is the motivation for each of the parts? (Remember, a part will have a positive intention, even if the behaviour it produces appears negative – people make sense in their own way.)

  What happens when the internal parts disagree with what the character’s stated goal is?

  Worksheet – Build the Story

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

  When can an inappropriate part of a character take control of their actions and cause an increase in tension or extra problems?

  What internal parts of one character conflict with the internal parts of other characters?

  Which other character brings out a particular part? And why?

  What behaviours show the reader that the parts are clashing between characters?

  All’s Fair in Love and War

  The Theory

  Relationships are a huge part of any story. Writers need to have an understanding of how their characters relate to each other and how to demonstrate affection, dislike, and the myriad of other human emotions towards each other. Whether it’s a slow building romance or a buddy adventure, showing the reader how the characters feel about each other and how that relationship changes over the course of the story is vital to keeping the reader engaged. Plot may make the story interesting but engaging characters and their relationship to each other is what makes us care.

  Literature has a lot to answer for in the theory that opposites attract in relationship. There’s a good reason for this: Opposites make for good conflict! And conflict makes for a good story. So while you want two characters who will end up together to have enough in common that it seems logical that they would be happy, it can also be advantages to have them be opposites in many ways to increase the conflict between them throughout the story. Each character has strengths and weaknesses that are complimented by the other but which also clash enough to provide problems and drive the story forward. An understanding of relationship theories can help a writer bring characters together and tear them apart.

  Communication

  As any counsellor or relationship therapist will tell you, the key to a good relationship is communication. For a writer, however, miscommunication is just as important. What our characters say to each other is important but equally so is what they don’t say. Letting your reader see there is more that a character is not telling sets up tension and helps keep them engaged in the story. So think about how your characters communicate, what they are willing to tell and who they are willing to tell it to. What motivates them to keep a secret and what will make them reveal it?

  In relationship therapy, couples are encouraged to engage in a style of communication known as mirroring, where one speaks and the other re-phrases what they heard so as to confirm that the true message was received before they reply. In writing, of course, this would result in horribly repetitive dialogue that was boring to read. However, the essence of mirroring can still be used to demonstrate a strong empathic connection between characters. One character can observe to another what their impression is of his or her feelings/thoughts/situation. This shows that they are caring, paying attention, and have an understanding of the other character – if they get it right. If th
eir observations are incorrect, it can spark a hearty conflict dialogue between the characters which can reveal more about each of them or about their relationship, and this moves the story along. Any of these options will be useful to the writer.

  Love languages

  One of the key ways to build conflict between characters who actually do care about each other is to have a mis-match in the way they show their feelings. This is often a source of difficulty in real human relationships due to a phenomenon described by Gary Chapman in his book, The Five Love Languages. Basically, the ways in which people communicate affection vary greatly. Chapman describes it as being like five completely different languages being spoken. Each person in the relationship is fluent in one, maybe two of the languages but they may not be the same two as their partner and this causes a lack of understanding in what is being communicated.