Self-Discovery

Today I made a self-discovery. I am extremely prone to bitterness before my first cup of coffee.

Funny how we suddenly realize something about our own personalities. I’ve heard that the hardest person to know is yourself; that’s true. We think we know why we do things, but do we?

Or do we lie to ourselves unknowingly to make ourselves feel better about the reasons we do things? Do we harbor little spiteful termites that come out in the form of mean thoughts, or purposeful accidental actions/words that we know irritate someone else? Do we act in such a way that puts a bump into someone else’s day only to hear them complain? Do we secretly wish to be vindicated over things that haven’t happened? Do we want people to say wrong things simply so that we can be right? (Do I need more things to think about?)

Can we realize this ourselves or does someone else point it out?

Fictional characters are just like people. They don’t realize they do or say things sometimes. They don’t realize they are tactless or rude, just like some people are that way. They say things that come across as hurtful or mean, but they don’t intentionally say/do things that way. The subconscious talk is a fascinating one for writers. Why do people do things? Why do your characters do things? It’s a twig in the burning bush of motivation.

Characters, like people, are different from one another. Character B has no tact while his coworker, Character A, does; Character B realizes this, but Character A does not. It’s a simple way to make your characters stand apart from each other, as well as sound like realistic people.