I put out some audio from a piece of paper I wrote when I was mentally laying out the tools that I had identified, this one is called Wilting the Flower. Without recounting everything I said, you're devolving a character by taking things away from them one at a time, probably in moments where they need them. It seems simple and obvious, but turning it over in my head again, it isn't.
If you have a character, say a police officer, and through the events of the story they loose their weapons, then their badge (Perhaps they are placed on leave for some infraction), then their partner, and then whatever else the story needs to take from them in to break the character down.
If that character now has conviction that force them to continue their journey, that can show determination.
If losing those things puts them into a corner they can't escape, perhaps they become emotional.
Take this rule and only apply it one act, say the first. what does the character do for the rest of the story? even if they got those things back? suddenly they're very protecting of what they have.
But the point of the rule I may have been trying to get to all those years ago might not have been written down with the rule itself, but what comes right after. It sets up the character to react, or respond. Emotional or clinical.
This is a great chance to build up your character, or change them for the rest of the story. But since we are writers, we torture our character down to get the reaction out of them we need.
Wilting the Flower is a tool that can be used in however many ways you can apply it, but what I failed to write down, and later realize when I did the audio, was the end point. the character is going to change because of it (If you don't down right kill them).
I'm kicking myself for not remembering the point I was trying to get to, but it has been over a decade.
Below, I went through that paper, but without realizing the point. If you have thoughts, add them in the comment down there.
If you have a character, say a police officer, and through the events of the story they loose their weapons, then their badge (Perhaps they are placed on leave for some infraction), then their partner, and then whatever else the story needs to take from them in to break the character down.
If that character now has conviction that force them to continue their journey, that can show determination.
If losing those things puts them into a corner they can't escape, perhaps they become emotional.
Take this rule and only apply it one act, say the first. what does the character do for the rest of the story? even if they got those things back? suddenly they're very protecting of what they have.
But the point of the rule I may have been trying to get to all those years ago might not have been written down with the rule itself, but what comes right after. It sets up the character to react, or respond. Emotional or clinical.
This is a great chance to build up your character, or change them for the rest of the story. But since we are writers, we torture our character down to get the reaction out of them we need.
Wilting the Flower is a tool that can be used in however many ways you can apply it, but what I failed to write down, and later realize when I did the audio, was the end point. the character is going to change because of it (If you don't down right kill them).
I'm kicking myself for not remembering the point I was trying to get to, but it has been over a decade.
Below, I went through that paper, but without realizing the point. If you have thoughts, add them in the comment down there.
