I do most of my thinking in three places: my car, the shower, my bed. Today's thought was brought to you by... the bed. I was laying there contemplating characters and a thought struck me. There is a less lauded trait that makes a character real for me, that separates an average characterization from a masterful one: Fear.
I'm not talking Scooby Doo and Shaggy level fear, but a healthy understanding of a character's psyche. It's easy to fall into the trap of building a character around what you admire. I use the word "trap" loosely, this can result in some great characters. (I like to write what I know when it comes to personality. A character is often a portion or mood of me, amplified and distorted past easy recognition. But I digress.) We admire courage, fortitude and general kick-assery: the strong silent type, the mouthy woman who will defend her friends at all cost, the bold native who defies cultural norms, etc. But in perpetuating that I think we miss something.
Real people harbor real fears. Not phobias, not quirks, but lingering apprehensions. Even outspoken people who step beyond their boundaries have something they battle with. Otherwise their actions should not inspire admiration.
In past rp-ing, I have seen characters that don't bat an eye at strange occurrences, rare races or inhospitable lands. Sometimes it suits them, but mostly I feel they are missing something. There should be a greater wonder or awe if this is an adventure. You lose sight of how fantastic something is when you treat it with the same level of shock as a pair of socks. (Unless your socks are terribly exciting). And Mizahar is the kind of place that has maybe three safe havens. It's fractured, and the races are dangerous, old, rare or just plain strange. Now these are more general ideas of fear and surprise, where real rp-ing comes in are the internalized thoughts.
A rich inner thought life can give some amazing characters. I love to see a writer...
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