Tag Archives: character therapist

Technique, Works

Three questions to ask your characters (MC blogfest)

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Keep collecting your favorite posts on writing for Writing Wednesday next week!

When I saw Jeannie’s guest post on author Elizabeth Mueller’s blog (another friend!), I knew I had to play along. Normally I’m reluctant to post much about my works (aside from excerpts that have done well in contests), but I’m making an exception today. It’s just three questions, right? And since I’m still working on falling back in love with my story, this seems like a fun opportunity. Plus it’s just three questions.

The character I’m playing with today is Frank Walters. He served in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and when the story takes place, just after the war, he’s with the Central Intelligence Group (predecessor of the CIA). Physically, he’s based loosely on my husband’s grandfather Walter, who was in the Navy in WWII, pictured here. (Somehow we ended up with his WWII scrapbook. He traveled the whole world during the war, with pictures and postcards from Hawaii, Scotland, Iceland, Morocco, the South Pacific, and I know he served in Japan, too.)

And over to Frank:

What is your greatest fear?

Losing myself to the job. The peace might not be as assured as the general public would like to believe, but I’m here to keep things from falling apart again. At the same time, I need to prove something to myself—that we’ll prevail. That I’m on the right side. That we’re the right side because of our principles, and we don’t have to undermine those principles to do it.

What is your biggest accomplishment?

I don’t know. Standing up for someone who’s weak. Doing the right thing when it’s hard. It takes a lot of those little things like that to make it worth it—and just one failure to wipe it all out.

What is your biggest regret?

After the war, we had custody of a bunch of the Nazis’ POWs, including some Soviets. Some secret deal at one of the Big Three conferences included one little stipulation that we must’ve bowed to: all Soviets would be returned to the USSR.

Some of these men said they’d never even been to the Soviet Union. Some of them had come from there, and they couldn’t bear the thought of going back to the constant terror. After surviving a Nazi concentration camp, they’d be labeled as traitors and German spies. Maybe sent to Soviet labor camps. Maybe executed.

They begged us not to return them, to shoot them instead. Some of them even killed themselves before we handed them over.

But I followed orders. I sent grown men—and boys—begging, screaming and crying for mercy . . . to the slaughter.

Aaand back to me. Of these, question #3 was the only one I’d really worked on in depth before. #1 was there but this helped me refine and crystallize it a little. #2 was by far the most challenging. Isn’t that odd? Shouldn’t it be easier to think of something we’re proud of?

What do you think? What would your characters say? Which question would be hardest for you?

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Technique

Visiting the Character Therapist

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Remember: gather up your favorite articles on writing for Writer Wednesday next week!

I’ve been following Jeannie Campbell for a long time. Man, so long I can’t remember how I found her. So long that it’s been more than a year and a half since she analyzed my character on her blog. So long that I’m really excited for her new ebook, the Writer’s Guide to Creating Rich Backstories.

(Yes, backstory can be evil—but that’s more in how you stick it in your story. It’s a necessary evil. Plus, the guide is only $5!)

Jeannie Campbell is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California, and she’s an award-winning writer. She combined her two loves (brilliant!) with the Character Therapist blog, and she’s expanded those offerings with the new Character Therapist site.

Since I’ve been through the free blog version of the character assessment, I can tell you a little about how it works:

I wrote to Jeannie to explain the situation in my book, and asked how my character might react, and whether my planned reaction was psychologically feasible. We exchanged emails for a few days, and she gathered background information on my characters and their interactions. She asked for a lot of details to make sure her analysis was thorough.

Once my turn came up in the queue, I got to see just how thorough she was: very! She briefly summarized my character’s situation, the background and my question, then she discussed the various possible reactions, and the factors that would influence my character. Her advice was not only applicable to me and my characters, but they’re also general enough to help any character in a traumatic situation.

Check out her assessment for me here!

Tomorrow I’ll be participating in Elizabeth Mueller’s MC blogfest, using questions from Jeannie’s character assessment “intake form.” Why don’t you join in?

What do you think? What would you ask a Character Therapist?

Character therapist illustration by Elizabeth Mueller

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!