The Character Dynamic
The last step of toward writing your character is the creation of a character dynamic. The dynamic is a rough, grotesquely simplified, psychobabblish statement about the core motivations and goals of the character. Are these statements embarassingly simplified? Of course they are, and that's why they are useful.

 


SAMPLE CHARACTER DYNAMIC

Robert Emmett: mid 30's, dissatisfied with himself, his idle, angry verbal rebellion precludes effective action . . . as does his drinking and his irresponsibility. He is going nowhere in life. They will write on his tombstone: "He was a do-nothing, half-assed, drunken doctor." He is like Ireland: stubborn, angry, but dominated by the forces around him. He sees a new, more idealistic self in William [a young, dying revolutionary child] which catalyzes his resentment into rebellion. He openly will try to overthrow the system or die in the process. William's illness is the symbolic center of his rebellion. Will Robert become a dead martyr? Will he narrate a more complex identity where action, agency, and commitment serve both himself and his social commitment. Review Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces to clarify the convergence of these two tasks.