February 1, 2012 - Characters Cont.

What makes a hero a hero? Other than a cape and tights, they must put other people's needs before their own as described in the Hero Pyramid from the last post.

It's really a matter of the animal within us battling the spirit  we all have. The animal tells us to be lazy and selfish, and only do things that matter to us. It's like we're being tempted by our animal instincts.

Come on kids! Smoking is cool!

Then, there's our spirit. It's what separates us from the animals and makes us human. We have a conscience and morals and ethics. We like to do right by our fellow man and be altruistic.

Smoking is only to be enjoyed by adults.

Some call this the struggle between body and soul. Like Billie Holiday.

Another important thing to remember is the difference between a character and a characterization.

A character will not have all their traits figured out just by looking at them. You can't tell who they are or what they're about just by looking at them.

He appears to be just a caveman.

Their truly human characteristics will be revealed under pressure. Putting a character in a dangerous situation could bring out their heroic qualities.

Now imagine the caveman rescuing special ed children from a burning bus.

Characterization is like making assumptions. They are made up of cliches and judgments. Characterization is just the outside shell to the tasty riches that wait inside. Like the hardening chocolate syrup on ice cream.

So go for the vanilla, not just the magic shell.