There is often a gulf between what a character says is their nature and the actions performed by that character. I am not speaking about plot-required deceptions, such as an agent who poses as a businessperson while traveling through hostile and dangerous territory but rather to gap between how a character perceives themselves and that the character’s actual nature.

In an introductory psychology course, I was exposed to the concept of the Johari Window. Take a square and divide it into four quadrants. One section is what that person knows about themselves that is also known by others, it is their public face and identity. Another sector is what the person knows but it is unknown to others, this is the person’s guarded identity. The third sector is what is unknown by the person but known to others, this is the person’s blind spots, aspects of their personality and identity that they are blind to. And the final sector is those aspects of the person that is unknown to both the person and to others, traits, identity, and personality facets that have yet to be discovered. The sectors are rarely even and their areas vary greatly from person to person. It can be a useful tool in character design to consider how the Johari Window applied to people you may create for any work of fiction.

The tension between what a character may believe about themselves and how thy actually act can be a great source of development and conflict. Consider a character that considers themselves to be a ‘progressive’ supportive of LGBQT rights and for drug legalization but if that character is also wealthy and their political energies are spent on the candidates and initiates to reduce their tax burden then the characters actions are in conflict with not only their expressed ideals but perhaps even their own sense of identity. Such a character may not even be a hypocrite as they may unable to even perceive the contradictions between their stated positions and their actual actions. Never under estimate a person’s ability to self-deceive particularly in order to protect a self-image that may be at odds with reality.

The old adage is that ‘actions speak louder than words,’ and we consider it a truism especially when we need to consider characters who believe that own words and yet defy them with action after action.

Sorry I have been away from my blog but last week I managed to injure my lower back and that pulled muscle made it fairly painful to sit at my work desk. I am recovered enough to return to my desk, both here at home and at my day job.

Last night I attended the twice monthly meeting of the Mysterious Galaxy Writers Group and some of the feedback and discussion has gotten my mind churning on the elements needed to successfully open a story.

Of course, you want something dramatic, something interesting capturing the reader’s interest and imagination. I have also long maintained that the opening scene must be one of conflict, presenting a character with an objective and something that stand between the character achieving that goal. There an often used example of starting off wrong by stating in combat that because we do not yet know who the characters are and what motivates them it is difficult to have emotional investment in battle right from the start. This correct more often than it is wrong, but skillful deployment of character beats can allow a combat focused opening as well.

What I have been thinking and pondering since last night is the importance of the nature of the conflict that you opens the story. It seems rather obvious but sometime the most important elements are only obvious when seen in retrospect. The exact conflict that opens the story informs the reader about the nature of the character and situation. It lays down a lot of foundation for the tone and style of the story that will follow. Why this character is facing this particular challenge and that choices that are forced upon them to resolve it informs the reader who the character is and the nature of their personality.

The challenge doesn’t have to be the central challenge of the story or novel, but it should be there is give us these vital insights.

Consider a character who needs to get to work but whose car is out of gas. Already we know that this character has financial troubles, has work troubles, and is teetering on the edge. A person secure in their finances can easily maintain their vehicle, and someone doing well at their job can afford a single tardy or missed day. So that little conflict has already shared a lot of information. If the character resolves this issue by stealing money from their roommate’s wallet that’s one sort of person if they wake up hours early to walk three miles to get to work on time that a different moral character and either choice gives the reader a taste of who this person is.

When opening a story you have a very special window for establishing tone and character, make the most of it.