On Storytelling: Character Development

Hello!

As a writer, I realized a while back that a helpful tool for quickly identifying the complexity of a character would be a value matrix. However, as I tried to start it, I noticed it was actually quite complicated to make due to the many dimensions and intersections. So since a tool would be too complicated to build, use, and maintain, I decided to share my insights instead.

First off, when developing a character, here are some things to keep in mind

1. People want to be Happy (even if that means by being sad).

2. People are complicated.

3. People have different perspectives.

4. Everyone has a valid point somewhere in their argument.

5. When people object, it’s because they see a fundamental human right being violated.

6. Most people want society to succeed.

7. People have trouble accurately communicating their values.

8. Everyone has cognitive dissonance. Very few people have fully thought out their values and the logic behind them.

9. Conflict is perpetuated because people listen to respond not to understand. This results in people who should be on the same side fighting each other instead. The end goal should be progress, not winning.

10. People care more about others when their love tanks are filled. In other words, when they receive love and respect.

11. Respect is crucial and needs to be given regardless of receiving. Respect is how dialogue is maintained, sides are won, and peace is achieved. Check out the conversion story of a KKK leader by Darl Davis, a Black man. This is an important but often overlooked aspect of a character arc.

12. No one can keep everything in mind.

After that is taken care of, at the root of anyone’s philosophy and values are their answers to two questions. However, keep in mind most people have not yet fully formed their answers.

1. What is the meaning of life?

2. What does it mean to be happy?

Now a certain group of people will likely answer these questions with “To know, love, and serve God and be happy with him in the next,” but still don’t know what that means. What we will discover is that their real answer is still forming but is shaped by their prioritization of the following human rights.

1. Pursuit of Happiness

2. Be Good

3. Love

1. Friends

2. Family

1. Marriage

4. Religion

5. Growth

1. Rest

1. Living Wage

2. Peace

1. Security

2. Justice

1. Rehabilitation

3. Job Security

4. Shelter

1. Home

5. Property

2. Life

1. Health

1. Good Nutrition (e.g. Clean water)

2. Emotions

3. Exercise

3. Learn/Education

6. Contribution to Society

1. Work

2. Free Speech

3. Charity

Something to keep in mind is that these rights indicate the core values of a person. However, their allegiances can impact how they operate and their priority. In addition, it’s good to recognize which levels a person trusts and distrusts. The various levels of allegiance are as follows:

1. God

2. Ideology/Philosophy

3. Religion

4. National leadership

5. Political Party

6. Community

7. Company

8. Friends

9. Family

10. Self

Similarly, we must recognize that people will place the bar for morals just above what they are doing. This can be to justify an addiction or vice, but something important to recognize is that it can generally be something that they tie to their identity or something they believe they need (hearkening back to human rights). However, to help guide the discussion, it will generally fall under the 7 deadly sins.

1. Pride

2. Greed

3. Lust

4. Gluttony

5. Sloth (Not doing what you are supposed to do)

6. Anger (e.g. Revenge)

7. Envy (Remember that envy would destroy the object of affection if cannot have it while jealousy just desires it)

Important to this recognition is everything together can result in cognitive dissonance. Some people have not truly and fully thought out their values and ironed out the contradictions. In this case, respect and rapport are more necessary than logic for working through this. To identify these, it’s important to go through an exercise of answering hypothetical situations which bring values into seemingly conflict. One example, “Would you open the border for trade with a nation in the midst of a pandemic?” The answer to this could help show if a person cares more about the economy or life. However, keep in mind that even this is not a 100% accurate test because a person may care about the economy only because they are worried about death and suffering caused by economic collapse more than a disease. This can be even more the case when a nation is in a desperate state to begin with.

I hope that helps everyone with their character development. Now for the twist. This applies to real life as well including yourself. Perhaps going through this exercise can help with creating peace in areas torn due to political blindfolds.

Dream On,
J. D. Nyle