IsaiahF
Dreamer
Greetings! Ok so, as the title points out, my weakness as a writer is writing protagonists that have their own psychology and arcs.
The problem is, I unconsciously keep writing myself into my protagonists - I think because the only psychology I can reliably judge as plausible is my own. (It's happened so many times now it’s honestly kind of freaky at this point.)
So, to combat this, I've tried breaking characters into their core dimensions - their wants and needs, their personas and shadows, their main traumas and life-choices, etc - as a way of finding some kind of formula that will point the way to creating psychologically plausible characters that aren't myself. Make sense? Only thing is, I haven't found such a formula as of yet, and don't even know if this is the way to go about tackling the problem.
I suspect forcing myself to be very explicit on the page with my characters' goals, emotions and stakes may help with this.
Is this a problem you face or have faced? If so, what's your take on it and how'd you get over it?
Thanks!
The problem is, I unconsciously keep writing myself into my protagonists - I think because the only psychology I can reliably judge as plausible is my own. (It's happened so many times now it’s honestly kind of freaky at this point.)
So, to combat this, I've tried breaking characters into their core dimensions - their wants and needs, their personas and shadows, their main traumas and life-choices, etc - as a way of finding some kind of formula that will point the way to creating psychologically plausible characters that aren't myself. Make sense? Only thing is, I haven't found such a formula as of yet, and don't even know if this is the way to go about tackling the problem.
I suspect forcing myself to be very explicit on the page with my characters' goals, emotions and stakes may help with this.
Is this a problem you face or have faced? If so, what's your take on it and how'd you get over it?
Thanks!