| On Writing Crazy Bitches / Motherfuckers |
[Oct. 26th, 2008|10:29 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party | ] |
In keeping with my last post, I thought that I should make note of the atypically high levels of sociopathy, psychosis, and just plain maladjusted tendencies that seem so prevalent in roleplaying games - or at least, the rpgs that emerge in the journal system.
I'm neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. But I'm pretty good with people, and generally, I'm not too bad at figuring out what makes them tick. Beyond that, it has to be said, nothing irks the shit out of me more than reading a character who engages in some kind of behavior that isn't properly explained. A lot of people seem to think that simply by writing down that his or her character is "disturbed" or even if they look up a psychological or psychiatric disorder and slap a word like "bipolar" or "schizophrenic" on a character, that suddenly, his or her entire personality is explained.
The problem with this is that all people - even people with psychiatric disorders - are really fucking complicated. While schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder or antisocial personality disorder or OCD will explain certain behaviors, they still require integration into who a character is when you're constructing this person. "WOO HOO, I'M CRAZY" is not gonna cut it.
Further, when dealing with issues of regression, or BPD, or sociopathy, there are almost always reasons for these pathologies in a person's past. Serious reasons. Trauma, often enough. Sometimes not - and that's fine too. But if you're not explaining why your character is the way he or she is beyond "OMG THEY ARE BADASS/SELFISH/DO NOT GIVE A FUCK/LIKE TO HURT THINGS," I ain't buyin' it. People can be badass, selfish, not give a fuck, and like to hurt things, but just like anyone who's a pussy, or selfless, or does give af uck, or doesn't like to hurt things, there are always reasons for being that way. These reasons are not excuses; they are not openings for your characters to be soft (or at least, they don't have to be if you don't want them to). They are anchors, they are what keeps them real. If you want your character to be an unrepentant antisocial fuck, that is totally feasible and great. People like that exist. But if you don't explain why, your character is going to come off as flat and juvenile in scope.
(Let me add that the explanation is not something you have to give to your readers - but you MUST have it written for at least yourself [and probably your mod], so that when you play this character, clues for the reasons will be evident, even if you're not trying. Trust me, it makes a difference.)
I've seen some deep, dark shit written in RP's - really good, deep, dark, shit. Stuff that could wake you in the night.
But there are always reasons. |
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sleepy