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J D Lear's avatar

Every single person on earth has trauma in their lives and so should your characters. It doesn't need to be capital T Trauma, but things still happen that affect people negatively, even those who seem to have it all.

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James Powell's avatar

Well said. A dash of trauma can go a long way when developing a character.

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Karen Bayly's avatar

I’m somewhat surprised you had to write this. The things that drive us are often rooted in tragedy. Maybe we don’t talk enough about our personal heartaches in real life, so it doesn’t spill over to fictional life.

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James Powell's avatar

Some writers are a little too nice to their characters, at least in their early drafts. It usually manifests within the story, but often enough, it's a backstory with very little drama. I tend to point the writer to Game of Thrones as a way to shake them up a bit.

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