Dec 13, 2023 07:00:00

What should we be careful about when using psychological issues such as PTSD and depression to characterize characters?

When characterizing the characters in the story, we often use characters who suffer

from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is a condition in which someone has experienced some kind of traumatic event that interferes with their daily life, or who suffers from depression due to work or family issues. It may deal with psychological or psychopathological issues such as putting things away. It feels like using words like this can solidify the character's nature and create a sense of reality, but it can also create difficult problems that limit story production, says Jeremy, a writer who teaches creative writing.・Explained by T. Wilson.

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Wilson says her students often want to use psychopathology vocabulary, such as PTSD, depression, bipolar disorder , and obsessive-compulsive disorder . Mr. Wilson points out that these words can help motivate the writing because they characterize the character and give a direction to ``how to move it in the story'' and ``what kind of lines to say.'' I am. However, many students do not base their writing on these words from personal experience, but simply use them as terms. In cases like this, Wilson says, instead of adding realism and depth to the story, it can go terribly wrong.

First, a major problem with the approach of representing characters using psychopathological traits is that a clear psychological diagnosis becomes the ``basic characteristics'' of a character, and it becomes too easy to explain behavior, thoughts, and emotions. You might think using difficult words would add complexity, but instead, Wilson says, it 'confines the character to a bulleted list of symptoms.' As a result, it limits both the writer's creativity and the viewer's ability to empathize.

According to Mr. Wilson, in the creative writing class, students were asked to create

characters in order to pass the Advanced Placement (AP) program, which explores and analyzes difficult classical and contemporary literature, as well as analyzes and interprets literary themes. There was a tendency to narrow down the focus to 'easily identified main axes.' Mr. Wilson had doubts about this method, but he was able to notice a different approach when Bosnian writer Aleksandar Hemon gave a seminar as part of his creative writing class. . When discussing the story, when someone makes comments such as ``the man is an alcoholic'' or ``she has obsessive-compulsive disorder,'' Mr. Hemon responds with contempt and anger, ``That's psychological.'' It's about science, not literature.'

In response to Hemon's words, Wilson said, ``Psychological discussions veer toward literary interpretation, which attempts to fit a character's actions into theories, morals, and themes.As a result, the entire story and text abstracts behavior from its complexity. And if we are trying to understand sentences in order to practice them, this kind of approach can be counterproductive.'' Malice and crime can occur even without a pathological diagnosis that determines a character's personality or background, and anyone can do something stupid. However, when we use psychopathology as a motivator, we can 'distance' ourselves from those who have no experience with the condition. Wilson points out that this tendency to 'make characters 'other'' can narrow the story.

Wilson's advice for creating characters is to take an 'inside-out approach, rather than an outside-in approach.' Even when writing a character with symptoms such as PTSD or depression, it is not a good idea to use these characteristics to determine the character's thoughts or actions. When you come up with an idea for a character, in many cases the 'outer characteristics' have already been formed, so it's important to always ask 'Is there something else?' and not get bogged down in superficial characteristics. Wilson advised.