Constructing Rich Character Psyches

Hi Alchemist, thanks for posting. I watched it. Well, what can I say? Nothing here was surprising. Maybe helpful for ab-initio writers. I drew back when she starts to talk about formulas and doing character development flow charts. This formulating of things gives me the creeps. I think it takes the art out of it. Maybe this works for many, but not me. I love the characters I do. They're like children to me. I know them intimately, yet sometimes they surprise even me. Yeah, like kids do.

I know where I want the characters to go, but I shoot from the hip. I never know what's going to happen exactly. Sometimes graphics drive dialogue, sometimes the other way around. For me the characters almost write their own dialogue. That's the fun and art of it for me. I get a lot of laughs from the characters when I'm writing. Yeah, I write comedy/satire, so I'm looking for humor, but I also create drama and events that test the character's morality and inner strengths/weaknesses, good or bad. But I never write from flowcharts.

I believe that the characters are gold. They should attract the reader's heart and hate. The story is the background, like a stage, important, but a good story without relatable characters makes a pretty picture of boredom.

Again thanks for posting. It might help many to get started.

It's something I think is useful when having to handle a whole entourage of character arcs so as not to forget who they are, per se- but It's definitely interesting to hear how others organize their characters - and I'm curious about how everyone else goes about it.

Followup Q: How do go about remembering them, their motivations, etc - if you have to handle 10+ personalities?

Followup Q answer: It's all in my head. I have a major work in progress. Graphic novel, not on here. It's sort of a space circus/opera. I have (so far) about 40 characters. About 6 are primary plot characters. About 14 are secondary, level 2, characters, supporting cast. The remainder are level 3 characters, like movie extras. They fill big scenes and have dialogue occasionally for added interest and to set background tone. I love them all. I have a lot of fun with them. I'm up to episode 9 presently out of about 36. That's only taken me 4 years part time so far. A long way to go at that rate. Regards.