Character Development For Authors Part Six: Character Emotions
I'm back, finally. It's been a few weeks longer than I intended, due to sickness and other factors, but I am back! And now we're moving on to your character's emotions. To give us a guide to go by, I looked up the most universally recognized emotions, and they turned out to be anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise. (I found that info here.)
To use these to help develop your character, you're going to decide what ways your character expresses and handles these emotions. Like everything else we've covered, there's a wide array of choices before you. And, like most things pertaining to personality and character, it's connected to virtually every other aspect of your character.
You've probably already got some idea of how this is going to work for your character based on the work you've already done with their history and the Big Five personality traits, but now's the time to really focus in on it. For each emotion we're going to cover how easily they're influenced by it, the most common triggers, and how they express it.
Anger
Amount of influence: How angry do they have to be before anger starts coloring their actions? Before they act on it? How much influence does that anger have when it does start affecting them? If you have a character that doesn't let anger influence them, what does it look like? If they let anger influence their every decision, what does that look like?
Common triggers:
What makes your character angry? Is it an insult to their intelligence? A slight to their mother? Why does it make them angry? Because they were told they were stupid when they were young and they never quite believed it? Do they get angry when something doesn't turn out the way they expected it to?
Expression:
When angry, how does your character express it? Do they hit things? Do they yell? Scream? Cry? Do they get very quiet or leave the situation? Why? What in their history causes them to react this way? These can be either voluntary or involuntary. A voluntary habit, or one that they choose to do, could involve slamming doors so people are aware of how upset they are. An involuntary habit could be something like picking at the hem of a garment, picking a spot on their chin, or tugging at the ends of their hair.
Disgust
Amount of influence:
How much do they allow a feeling of disgust to influence their choices? When faced with something smelly, for instance, would that cause them to abandon a goal, or would they wince and deal with it? How disgusted would they have to be to be persuaded to give up on an important goal? And what level of disgust would affect their interactions with people? Someone with a low tolerance for gross things, for example, might wrinkle their nose or cough in the presence of someone who is rather more...pungent...than ordinarily expected. Someone with a high level of tolerance might not be swayed at all by the prospect of working manure into the ground with their hands.
Common triggers:
What things make your character gag? The scent of rotting plant matter is a safe bet, usually, as is the smell of rotting meat or feces. But I've met people who are physically sickened by the smell and taste of tomatoes You don't have to stick with what's generally considered gross here; you could pick something that's normally considered good. Most people like mashed potatoes; it's considered a comfort food. But my best friend doesn't like the texture. Most people like the smell of flowers. Perhaps your character thinks it's gross. Perhaps feelings of disgust are provoked by a specific person, or the idea of walking barefoot through a house.
Expression:
Disgust is usually expressed with a combination of noise, ("Ewwwww!") expression (wrinkled nose) and action (stepping backward). Your character might do one of these things, they might do all three. Or, you can take the more creative route, and pick something else - or even a different reaction for every sense that's being offended. A bad smell might manifest as a runny nose. Something that looks gross might be a reflexive turning of the head. Something that sounds bad might cause a verbal reaction. Something that feels gross might result in shuddering.
Fear
Amount of influence:
Many people have fear as a driving motivation for most of the things they do or don't do. They don't take chances because of the fear of what could go wrong. The fear of loss, of pain, in some cases, even a fear of success. Fear is very prevalent, and also a potent motivator. The question is, how much does fear affect your character? Do they allow fear to get the better of them regularly? Does it influence them a lot? Maybe it doesn't influence them much at all. Maybe its influence is small, but everywhere.
Common triggers:
What does your character fear? Spiders? People? Heights? Something more complex, like abandonment? Make sure you reference your history notes; chances are, you included a number of things that could translate into believable fears. How potent is this fear? A fear of spiders, for example, might be a small fear, one that's easy to overcome, for one character. But for another it might be full arachnophobia. How much of a trigger are these things?
Expression:
When afraid, what does your character do? Do they shake? Do their palms get cold? Do they sweat? Fear can produce lots of different physiological symptoms, none of them controlled. It's important to think about what effects fear has that aren't conscious, as well as the ones that are. How do they handle their fears? Do they avoid them? Do they face them one by one in an attempt to conquer them? When afraid, maybe their jaw clenches. Maybe they ball their hands into fists, or pace.
Joy
Amount of influence:
Is your character the kind of person that jumps up and down for joy, or do they just smile and go on with their daily business? Would they need something as simple as blowing bubbles to make them happy, or something much, much bigger? How much does joy influence their actions? When they are joyful, do they completely freak out, or do they just quietly savor it?
Common triggers:
What makes your character happy? The aforementioned bubbles? A love letter from their significant other? A good movie or book? If you want your character to be happy in any part of your story, then you'll have to know what will make it so. If your character is a child, usually something as simple as a new stuffed animal, or getting to go to the park will suffice. For an adult, maybe a promotion at work, flowers from a loved one, a long-anticipated vacation. For day-today joy, perhaps just everything going right as they get ready for work in the morning. A beautiful day, a good night of sleep...it all depends on how easy it is to make your character happy.
Expression:
Do they like to dance in circles when they're joyful? Sing? Maybe they squeal, or clap their hands. Perhaps it's just a big smile. But your character has to express joy somehow, unless, for some reason, they hold it all in or just don't feel any. With children characters, they usually express joy in a more obvious, carefree way, whereas adults are more restrained. This isn't always the case (I know of an adult that still squeals loudly over cute kitten pictures) and an adult or child that is different can be an intriguing part of a story. Again, the history of your character may present you with ways that you can show joy and the reasons behind it.
Sadness
Amount of influence:
Is your character one that cries watching kid's movies? Or can they watch a tragedy and not bat an eye? Can they experience something very sad, and still go about their normal business, or does it incapacitate them for days? Maybe they're between the two extremes - their work is affected, but not overly so; they break down only at home. How much is their life affected when they're sad? Does their work suffer? Do their choices suddenly turn sour? Are their relationships changed?
Common triggers:
What makes them sad or depressed? A rainy day? A fight with a friend? Maybe a sad movie. Perhaps they have an emotional crisis over the dropping and breaking of cookies, because it makes them sad that all the work someone put into those cookies was wasted. Maybe the idea of starving children, lost families, wasted time or effort, get to them. You can pick almost anything and turn it into a sadness trigger if you want or need to. Even a sunny day, if your character associates sunny days with bad things, can make them sad.
Expression:
Is your character a crier? Do they cry to show sadness? Maybe they don't; maybe they prefer to go into some form of seclusion and avoid people. Maybe when they get sad, they get angry because they hate being sad, and therefore express sadness by being angry. Some people when they get sad turn to substance abuse. Some want to talk about their feelings, some just want to be left alone. In what way does your character express feelings of sadness?
Surprise
Amount of influence:
How does surprise influence your character's behavior? When surprised, do they gape at people and things? Do they stop processing information in the same way? If they're surprised, maybe by someone's behavior, are they then distracted at work, trying to make sense of it? How much does a feeling surprise affect your character's daily life? Maybe it doesn't affect them at all. Maybe it affects them so much they don't get hardly anything done.
Common triggers:
Surprise is almost always caused by things being different when we expect them to be the same. In other words, by expectations being thwarted. But what surprises your character the most in those situations? Is it when a person's actions are incompatible with past experiences of them? When there's a spider in their cabinet?
Expression:
Surprise is often expressed with gasps, or jerking (jumping), but surprise isn't just limited to things like surprise parties. Surprise can also include a friend acting out in a way never seen before, and in those cases, what will your character do? Will they talk to their friend? Will they watch and see what happens? Does this strange phenomena draw their attention? Some people withdraw when surprised; some people lash out. Some people laugh it off, and some get embarrassed. How does your character show feelings of surprise?
We've gone over a lot of stuff the last few weeks; a lot of little things. So here, I'd just like to let you know that you don't have to do every single one of them. Pick the ones you need, and tweak it to fit. That's part of the fun of being an author, you know? And remember to have fun with it, too. ;)
Guess what?
This concludes my series on character development! Yay!
The entire series, plus some extra content I'll be working on over the next few weeks, will be available as an ebook soon, and I'll be starting a new blog series next week, so keep an eye out!
To use these to help develop your character, you're going to decide what ways your character expresses and handles these emotions. Like everything else we've covered, there's a wide array of choices before you. And, like most things pertaining to personality and character, it's connected to virtually every other aspect of your character.
You've probably already got some idea of how this is going to work for your character based on the work you've already done with their history and the Big Five personality traits, but now's the time to really focus in on it. For each emotion we're going to cover how easily they're influenced by it, the most common triggers, and how they express it.
Anger
Amount of influence: How angry do they have to be before anger starts coloring their actions? Before they act on it? How much influence does that anger have when it does start affecting them? If you have a character that doesn't let anger influence them, what does it look like? If they let anger influence their every decision, what does that look like?
Common triggers:
What makes your character angry? Is it an insult to their intelligence? A slight to their mother? Why does it make them angry? Because they were told they were stupid when they were young and they never quite believed it? Do they get angry when something doesn't turn out the way they expected it to?
Expression:
When angry, how does your character express it? Do they hit things? Do they yell? Scream? Cry? Do they get very quiet or leave the situation? Why? What in their history causes them to react this way? These can be either voluntary or involuntary. A voluntary habit, or one that they choose to do, could involve slamming doors so people are aware of how upset they are. An involuntary habit could be something like picking at the hem of a garment, picking a spot on their chin, or tugging at the ends of their hair.
Disgust
Amount of influence:
How much do they allow a feeling of disgust to influence their choices? When faced with something smelly, for instance, would that cause them to abandon a goal, or would they wince and deal with it? How disgusted would they have to be to be persuaded to give up on an important goal? And what level of disgust would affect their interactions with people? Someone with a low tolerance for gross things, for example, might wrinkle their nose or cough in the presence of someone who is rather more...pungent...than ordinarily expected. Someone with a high level of tolerance might not be swayed at all by the prospect of working manure into the ground with their hands.
Common triggers:
What things make your character gag? The scent of rotting plant matter is a safe bet, usually, as is the smell of rotting meat or feces. But I've met people who are physically sickened by the smell and taste of tomatoes You don't have to stick with what's generally considered gross here; you could pick something that's normally considered good. Most people like mashed potatoes; it's considered a comfort food. But my best friend doesn't like the texture. Most people like the smell of flowers. Perhaps your character thinks it's gross. Perhaps feelings of disgust are provoked by a specific person, or the idea of walking barefoot through a house.
Expression:
Disgust is usually expressed with a combination of noise, ("Ewwwww!") expression (wrinkled nose) and action (stepping backward). Your character might do one of these things, they might do all three. Or, you can take the more creative route, and pick something else - or even a different reaction for every sense that's being offended. A bad smell might manifest as a runny nose. Something that looks gross might be a reflexive turning of the head. Something that sounds bad might cause a verbal reaction. Something that feels gross might result in shuddering.
Fear
Amount of influence:
Many people have fear as a driving motivation for most of the things they do or don't do. They don't take chances because of the fear of what could go wrong. The fear of loss, of pain, in some cases, even a fear of success. Fear is very prevalent, and also a potent motivator. The question is, how much does fear affect your character? Do they allow fear to get the better of them regularly? Does it influence them a lot? Maybe it doesn't influence them much at all. Maybe its influence is small, but everywhere.
Common triggers:
What does your character fear? Spiders? People? Heights? Something more complex, like abandonment? Make sure you reference your history notes; chances are, you included a number of things that could translate into believable fears. How potent is this fear? A fear of spiders, for example, might be a small fear, one that's easy to overcome, for one character. But for another it might be full arachnophobia. How much of a trigger are these things?
Expression:
When afraid, what does your character do? Do they shake? Do their palms get cold? Do they sweat? Fear can produce lots of different physiological symptoms, none of them controlled. It's important to think about what effects fear has that aren't conscious, as well as the ones that are. How do they handle their fears? Do they avoid them? Do they face them one by one in an attempt to conquer them? When afraid, maybe their jaw clenches. Maybe they ball their hands into fists, or pace.
Joy
Amount of influence:
Is your character the kind of person that jumps up and down for joy, or do they just smile and go on with their daily business? Would they need something as simple as blowing bubbles to make them happy, or something much, much bigger? How much does joy influence their actions? When they are joyful, do they completely freak out, or do they just quietly savor it?
Common triggers:
What makes your character happy? The aforementioned bubbles? A love letter from their significant other? A good movie or book? If you want your character to be happy in any part of your story, then you'll have to know what will make it so. If your character is a child, usually something as simple as a new stuffed animal, or getting to go to the park will suffice. For an adult, maybe a promotion at work, flowers from a loved one, a long-anticipated vacation. For day-today joy, perhaps just everything going right as they get ready for work in the morning. A beautiful day, a good night of sleep...it all depends on how easy it is to make your character happy.
Expression:
Do they like to dance in circles when they're joyful? Sing? Maybe they squeal, or clap their hands. Perhaps it's just a big smile. But your character has to express joy somehow, unless, for some reason, they hold it all in or just don't feel any. With children characters, they usually express joy in a more obvious, carefree way, whereas adults are more restrained. This isn't always the case (I know of an adult that still squeals loudly over cute kitten pictures) and an adult or child that is different can be an intriguing part of a story. Again, the history of your character may present you with ways that you can show joy and the reasons behind it.
Sadness
Amount of influence:
Is your character one that cries watching kid's movies? Or can they watch a tragedy and not bat an eye? Can they experience something very sad, and still go about their normal business, or does it incapacitate them for days? Maybe they're between the two extremes - their work is affected, but not overly so; they break down only at home. How much is their life affected when they're sad? Does their work suffer? Do their choices suddenly turn sour? Are their relationships changed?
Common triggers:
What makes them sad or depressed? A rainy day? A fight with a friend? Maybe a sad movie. Perhaps they have an emotional crisis over the dropping and breaking of cookies, because it makes them sad that all the work someone put into those cookies was wasted. Maybe the idea of starving children, lost families, wasted time or effort, get to them. You can pick almost anything and turn it into a sadness trigger if you want or need to. Even a sunny day, if your character associates sunny days with bad things, can make them sad.
Expression:
Is your character a crier? Do they cry to show sadness? Maybe they don't; maybe they prefer to go into some form of seclusion and avoid people. Maybe when they get sad, they get angry because they hate being sad, and therefore express sadness by being angry. Some people when they get sad turn to substance abuse. Some want to talk about their feelings, some just want to be left alone. In what way does your character express feelings of sadness?
Surprise
Amount of influence:
How does surprise influence your character's behavior? When surprised, do they gape at people and things? Do they stop processing information in the same way? If they're surprised, maybe by someone's behavior, are they then distracted at work, trying to make sense of it? How much does a feeling surprise affect your character's daily life? Maybe it doesn't affect them at all. Maybe it affects them so much they don't get hardly anything done.
Common triggers:
Surprise is almost always caused by things being different when we expect them to be the same. In other words, by expectations being thwarted. But what surprises your character the most in those situations? Is it when a person's actions are incompatible with past experiences of them? When there's a spider in their cabinet?
Expression:
Surprise is often expressed with gasps, or jerking (jumping), but surprise isn't just limited to things like surprise parties. Surprise can also include a friend acting out in a way never seen before, and in those cases, what will your character do? Will they talk to their friend? Will they watch and see what happens? Does this strange phenomena draw their attention? Some people withdraw when surprised; some people lash out. Some people laugh it off, and some get embarrassed. How does your character show feelings of surprise?
We've gone over a lot of stuff the last few weeks; a lot of little things. So here, I'd just like to let you know that you don't have to do every single one of them. Pick the ones you need, and tweak it to fit. That's part of the fun of being an author, you know? And remember to have fun with it, too. ;)
Guess what?
This concludes my series on character development! Yay!
The entire series, plus some extra content I'll be working on over the next few weeks, will be available as an ebook soon, and I'll be starting a new blog series next week, so keep an eye out!
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