Day Six

Inner Turmoil.

It is crucial to understand the psyche of your characters – I can’t stress this enough. This goes beyond our earlier exercises. Take your time with this one, because without rich characters, you have no story.

No one cares about a boring character – at least, not in a good way. If your goal is to have your story meme’d on and made fun of, then by all means, leave this post.

A character needs flaws to be relatable. In order to reach a satisfying end, they need to achieve their outer goal OR evolve as they overcome inner wounds that may hold them back.

If you read through some of your favorite characters yesterday, you surely must have noticed their inner turmoil. What held them back in the beginning? What drove them and their actions? How can you make your version of inner turmoil original and interesting?

Try to answer these questions for your character, with a more introspective eye.

Do they trust people? Why or why not?

What person had the biggest impact on them (positive or negative) and why?

Where did they learn their coping mechanisms?

What makes them cry?