The Powers of Observation

[Whispersecret]

I admit it. I'm an armchair psychologist. I often analyze people and try to figure out why they act a certain way. I think that this tendency is valuable to me as a writer. Are you this way too? Are all writers natural observers of human nature? Can you develop realistic characters without the ability to examine human goals and motivation?

Just curious.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

I do, I know. Esp body lang.

If I were to go back to college and get a degree, it would be in Soc. and my major focus would be body lang.

 

[Killswitch]

Whisper,
I too am an "Armchair Psychologist". I love that decription by the way.
I've analyzed peoples behaviors and issues ever since I can remember.
People say that I am wrong somehow....to do that. My reply is that I am more analytical of myself than I am with anyone else. My problem is I tend to tell others what their problems are.

I also have an uncanny vibe about people. I know whos lying and who is telling the truth. This must be accomplished in person and can not be accomplished thru written word or even seeing someone on tv.

I dont claim to have esp of any kind. But because I have been interested in Human nature, and have observed, and noted specific behaviors for most of my life.....I am pretty tuned in so to speak.

That combined with a small amount of understanding of "Body Language" that "Polite" mentioned, makes it possible.

As for goals and motivation / character developement.
Its my opinion that most people do not have goals. They have wishes, but not goals. Thats most people mind you.
In order to have motivation, you need a goal, or at least a strong desire I suppose.
The lack of goal setting and motivation is what keeps people down. Causing depression and negativity. And the world goes round and round. Whoa oh Whoa oh oh ohhh ...and it comes out here. Its perpetual.

That being said.....I have not written any stories that required a real amount of character developement. My characters have been either based upon myself and those around me, and or, flat out fantasies.

I am however writting some sequels that are allowing the characters too develop personalities......

I have also allowed one personal online friend so far to read one of my stories. I have only been writting for two weeks. She does not believe me when I tell her that the story is fiction. So.....thats a good thing.

What that has to do with the price of apples. I dont have a clue......and I am rambling here......

So in closing I will say......good bye


.....Killswitch

 

[damppanties]

originally posted by Whispersecret
I admit it. I'm an armchair psychologist. I often analyze people and try to figure out why they act a certain way. I think that this tendency is valuable to me as a writer. Are you this way too? Are all writers natural observers of human nature? Can you develop realistic characters without the ability to examine human goals and motivation?

I don't observe people consciously. In fact, I am told that I 'live in a world of my own.' But when I'm writing something, I find that the little instances of human nature and specific actions do manage to creep in. So I think its what I take in without my being aware of it. Sometimes these insights manage to suprise me too. It's a nice kind of surprise.

 

[karmadog]

I was a psych major in college so I had a little training in human behavior, but I was on track for basic research and spent a lot more time with rats and pigeons.

I observe people all the time, especially in bars. After a few drinks, it is difficult for most people to be as guarded as they normally would be. Body language becomes exaggerated, conversations are much easier to overhear, and people are often more honest, but not always.

I highly recommend drunk watching. I meant watching people who are drunk, but the other way is fun too.

 

[ronde]

Absolutely. I'm an inveterate people watcher and armchair psychologist. Like some who have commented on this thread, I also have some formal training via an education degree and many years of human resource management training. Both help figure out the driving forces that cause people to act and speak as they do. It's interesting to see the conflict between body and spoken language that often is present. Such observation furnishes characters, or bits and pieces of character, for my writing.

I think it is impossible to write a believable and interesting story without consideration and development of logical goals and motivations for your characters. People almost never do or say anything without some reason, and they never change without either conscious or unconscious motivations. If you tell me the mousey little librarian suddenly becomes a lust-crazed seductress, I'll smile at your naivete as I hit the back button. Tell me she's found a volume of erotic literature in a hidden compartment, read her little heart out, and awakened the desire to explore. Now, you've pulled me into the story because I know how she was and why she's changed.

Karmadog is very correct about the bar thing. A bar is one of the best places to people-watch. You get to see how people want to be seen when they first come in. After a couple drinks, they start to act like they really are, and after more, they lose most of their facade. It's amazing how much some people change.

 

[Sabledrake]

I had intended, throughout high school, to take the classic writer's path -- major in English, then become a teacher while I wrote. An elective course called "Humanology and Psychology" my last semester of senior year changed my mind.

I ended up majoring in psych, and in retrospect, I think it served me a lot better. I'd see my English major friends spending all their time reading whatever the professor happened to think was great literature, and ours was a school that offered exactly one creative writing course (I took it three times anyway, under three different instructors).

In my various psych courses, I learned things that turned out to be vital to my writing. Behavior. Motivation. Basics of personality. Abnormal personality. Jungian archetypes. Conditioning.

I also learned that my lab partner in Behavior Analysis and I got stuck with the world's stupidest chicken.

People fascinate me. What makes them tick, why do they do the things they do, how do they react to situations? Society fascinates me too. Cultural anthropology. Good stuff like that. Human interaction, whether on an interpersonal or societal scale. I really do think it gave me greater insights into creating characters and scenarios than I would have gotten from an English major.

Though, having a rather eclectic magpie mind, I also loaded up on whatever electives sounded cool, which is why I took five years to graduate and came away with a bunch of extraneous courses in earth sciences, history, drama, and foreign language.

As it turned out, that B.A. in psych has been a tremendous boon to my writing in another way. Straight out of college, I got a job in a residential psychiatric facility. I've been with the same agency 12 years now, though I've switched sites, and working the night shift gives me ample time to write.

On a more personal note -- my FIL is a psych professor at my alma mater, so when my husband and I got married, a good chunk of the guest list included my instructors. Good thing I got decent grades!

Sabledrake

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Everything we do, everything we see, everything we feel, everything we wish, everything we dream, everything we love and hate is food for the pen.

I'm sure someone famous has already said this better. Shakespeare maybe.

Doesn't make it less true.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I love people watching and armchair psychology...one of the reasons that living in NYC has been so useful for my writing. But sometimes my desire to analyze has led me down some paths (like staying in a relationship too long) that haven't always been healthy.

My favorite places to people watch are central park (when it's warm) the subway, and in Washington Square in the Village.

 

[damppanties]

Ok, now I'm doing my post grad in Psyche and I still don't watch people consciously or think about motivation and stuff. Something wrong with me?

 

[Un-registered]

Ok, now I'm doing my post grad in Psyche and I still don't watch people consciously or think about motivation and stuff. Something wrong with me?

Well ... probably ... there's something wrong with most of us (Chicklet excepted). However you are not describing anything odd in your post. By the time they reach post-grad, people have generally grown out of people watching. Those who haven't go to work for Langley.

My bill for this consultation follows.


PS> That bit about Chicklet is an in joke from another board.

 

[PaulX35]

Observation and the rest

My characters are all fictional, even when I do notice I'm having real life people (friends, acquaintances, collegues) or parts of their personalities in mind when I write out a character.

I agree that "real" details can perform magic in making a story come alive.
They are often overlooked too, in hasty attempts to let the clothes start flying. Imperfections in characters can make stories perfect.

Paul

 

[TheEarl]

Everything we do, everything we see, everything we feel, everything we wish, everything we dream, everything we love and hate is food for the pen.

That is such a great sentence. And very true. Although I'm very unobservant, so most of my character development comes from bits of my psyche.

The Earl