Just hear me out here. Of course we want our characters to feel human, but many writers make the mistake of crafting their characters modeled after “realistic human action” but humans are far too complex for such a thing.
Have you ever found yourself written into a corner but the multitudes of complexities your own character has? I know I have. I’ll briefly illustrate this to get my point across better.
Our main character is Bob. Bob is in love with Jessica, his neighbor, and has crippling anxiety, and is also a workaholic that can’t seem to rest.
These miscellaneous features, flaws, quirks, etc. feel very human, but when writing a character like Bob, writers often find themselves continuously going “and-” into perpetuity, mimicking the mess that humans can be.
While this is realistic, it isn’t compelling. If you want to write truly compelling characters, think “because” instead of “and”.
Let’s go out on a limb and say Bob has…a devastating lack of self worth and this is manifesting in various ways in his life. He could perhaps see Jessica as what he wants himself to be: confident, and self assured, chasing after her because of that.
He could perhaps be a workaholic because it’s the only tangible measure of his success. Something he can attach his value to. His anxiety could stem from his deep imposter syndrome.
See the difference? Viewing characters through a “because” lens allows a flexibility to writers without characteristics you can’t trace.
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