Purple Prose:
psychology

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As writers, we spend a lot of time getting to know our characters. We know their traits, their interests, their fears, their backstories. But while we’re doing this, we’re developing a deeper understanding of human nature (especially if you’re not a psychologist).

Several weeks ago, I had to deal with a mother at my kids’ bus stop who went postal (without a gun) on me. This was right after she came close to hitting a kid with her SUV as she tried to park at the stop. Literally at the stop. She forces the bus to park further away because she is determined to be the one to park next to the only stretch of sidewalk (much to the parents’ and bus driver’s chagrin). It happened on the Monday, and then again on the Wednesday.

On the Wednesday, she wanted to talk to me after the kids got on the bus. But she was already agitated and there was no way in hell I was staying around for round two. This is when she started screaming and acting irrational in front of another parent, a toddler, and nine elementary school kids.

I ended up reporting her to the police. It was obvious the woman is dealing with issues and she needed a wake-up call to get help (although it’s highly unlikely she saw it the same way). Her son isn’t liked in school (as my kids have been pointing out for months), and her behavior made things worse for him. But it gave me an opportunity to explain to my kids that they shouldn’t judge him. It’s obvious he’s dealing with a lot in his life right now. His actions are guided by things they don’t know about, including his backstory.

Have you found that being a writer has helped you understand people and their actions better? When you’re in a fight or flight situation (or any highly emotional situation), do you mentally catalogue your body’s visceral reactions for use in a future story? (Yes, I did actually do that!)

©Stina Lindenblatt

Normally, when I do a writing/photography post, I can write about one idea and apply it to both crafts. Not this time.

Writers:

Contrasts are a great way to add dimension to your character and increase conflict, both internally and externally. The interplay between the light (good) side and the shadow will make the character unique from the other characters in your story. Maybe she’s smart and witty, but she fears being betrayed by someone emotionally close to her [insert backstory here]. Can you imagine the conflict (both internally and externally) this can cause if she attract the attention of the hero who is turned on by smart and witty?

Do you develop the light and shadow sides of your characters to make them dimensional and add conflict to your stories?

Photography:

The interplay between a dark background and a single light source on your subject makes for great dimensional photos. However, by the nature of the camera design, the picture might not come out as you had intended. Because the light meter in the camera is designed to assume the average gray scale of the scene is 18 % (don’t worry if you don’t know what that means), a scene composed mostly of dark colors will end up looking much lighter than in reality.

There are several ways to avoid this:

• Use an external light meter.

• You can place the palm of your hand between the scene and the camera lens. This only works if the skin on your palm is not dark. I did this method for the above photo because the battery for my external light meter was dead. *face palm*

• If your camera has a spot meter, determine the exposure based on part of the scene that doesn’t fall in the two extremes.

• Adjust the exposure with a photo editing software.

How many of you have beta read for someone and received a thank you from the person even though your suggestions caused her to do massive rewrites? How many of you received, instead, a nasty email telling you how wrong you are?

We’ve all heard the sage advice that you should wait at least three days before responding to a critique. What you don’t want to do is criticize the person who beta reads your book and undermine her opinion. If you don’t agree with it, then simply ignore it.

I recently sent feedback on a novel I was beta reading. For the most part I had been enjoying it, but there were a few clichés and aspects that I felt were cruel or hurtful to certain teen readers. Also, there was a character type I’d seen in the teen movie Easy A (who came off as a cliché/stereotype even in the movie). The similarities between the two were too close for comfort. I emailed the writer to warn her. Unfortunately, the writer felt it necessary to send me a nasty email. Once it became insulting, I stopped reading it, for both our sakes.

Fortunately, I’m not a vindictive person. If her book is published, I’ll still buy it to support the author. But not everyone is like me. What would happen if her book was published one day, and it had been someone else who received the nasty email? Remember, what happens in Los Vegas doesn’t always stay in Lost Vegas. You don’t want your unprofessional attitude to someone’s feedback to hurt you down the line.

The other problem is that if you keep berating your beta readers you disagree with, you’re setting yourself up for learned behaviors that are inappropriate when you are published. You’re more likely to respond to negative reviews in a non-professional manner, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.

So remember, if you want your beta readers to only gush about your book, great. Just warn them first. And if you don’t like what they have to say, then just thank them and ignore it. Don’t justify why you did something a certain way, unless you’re hoping for additional feedback.

Has anyone else had a similar situation?

The premise behind The Writer’s Guide to Psychology by Carolyn Kaufman is brilliant. I don’t know about you, but my psychology background consists of three university courses: introduction to psychology, abnormal psychology, and social psychology. And when I took them, it wasn’t because I wanted to be a writer. I might have taken better notes had I know I’d eventually be one.

As the second part of the super long title indicates (How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior), this book is perfect for anyone who’s writing a novel. Okay, maybe the title doesn’t actually show that, but it’s true. In chapter two (Why People Do What They Do), Carolyn discusses the different therapist stereotypes portrayed in films and novels. She then goes into the five different therapy orientations (e.g. psychodynamic therapy) and describes how each would be used to help a client overcome whatever issues he’s dealing with. But she takes it one step further by explaining how each therapy can help you understand your character (even if your character doesn’t require therapy).

Another benefit of the book is that Carolyn explains the realities of therapy, and helps you create realistic scenes in which your main character is either receiving therapy or conducting a therapy session. Again, novels, TV shows, and movies often misrepresent this, so it’s not a good idea to use them as a guide when you write your story.

Carolyn also describes the difference between someone who needs therapy to help them deal with some aspect of their life verses someone who has a diagnosable disorder. A large chunk of the book then covers the different disorders, including:

• Mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders
• Childhood disorders (autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD, conduct disorder)
• Dementia
• Eating disorders
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Dissociation
• Personality disorders

And let’s not forget the chapter on psychopaths and villains. Here you get insights into what makes a psychopath and how to makes yours believable. This also includes the corporate psychopath, the individual who’s hungry for power. And finally, there’s a chapter on drugs and treatments, such as electroconvulsive therapy, and one on emergencies in psychotherapy (suicidality, homicidality, and hospitalization).

The idea behind the book is to help you avoid making the same mistakes so many lay writers make when writing a novel that requires some insight into psychology or therapy. Throughout the book, there are little tidbits called “Don’t Let This Happen To You” that will help you avoid the mistakes that will weaken the credibility of your writing. Plus, Carolyn has a great suggestion in chapter one for coming up with plot ideas. I’m not going to tell you what it is, though. You have to read the book.

Overall, I’m thrilled that I bought the book. It’s open me to a huge range of plot ideas for future projects. You’ve got to love a book that can do that.

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I’m blogging today on the Query Tracker blog on Deepening Your Character’s Needs