JOHNNEEDSHELP!

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Sat, 2004-09-11 22:42

JOHNNEEDSHELP!

Yes i know, my first time on this thread. But i really am dead in the water trying to write this short and would appreciated any input you can offer.

I have a character 'Liesa', in a darkened room of a large house, containing what you expect of a Victorian nursery including a dresser with a mirror and where the story plays out.

The thing is, i have to bring to life three different sides of Liesa's personality and develop them as independent characters, in there own right.

Dose any one know of any good period examples by other writers that may give me a clue on how to do this well.

And do any of you taler's have any advices from you're own experiences of writing this kind of setting?

I tried this one several months ago and gave up on it in despair, so thoughts i would ask for you're thoughts before giving it another bash.

Any input appreciated.

Mon, 2004-09-27 17:47

andrew pack

Hmmm. As Charlie Kaufman says in Adaptation - "the only idea more cliched in writing than serial killers is multiple personality. Also, you use your story to explore the idea that the cop and the killer are two sides of the same coin, not that different from one another....See every other cop movie ever made for examples of this idea" Hard to do, very hard to do well. Think firstly about why your character has fractured. Insofar as MPD is accepted as a phenomenom (and it isn't, by about 75% of psychiatrists, other than as a hysteria or fake), then it is a mechanism of preserving the self from a situation it can't cope with. So the mind will come up with a character who is stronger, or can cope, or gets angry, so that the 'self' doesn't have to. Most MPD sufferers say that they have no idea about their other aspects, who take over when they are needed, and they just get blank spells. Sybil by Flora someone or other, is a good psychological study of the disorder, though it is widely believed now that she was faking. The other personalities have to have a purpose, beyond just being entertaining. If they exist, why? What are they there for, what do they want? They may want very different things to the core personality.

Mon, 2004-09-27 20:15

sherlock?

See response on Fist Person thread Andrew. Some very useful points made hear though. Thanks.

Tue, 2004-10-19 16:16

Ralph pleachley

Andrew. You've got some good points. But why does she have to suffering from a disorder to display multiple personalities? The girls in a dark victorian room. She's scared for Christsakes! That's one personality straight off the bat. Get my drift? Okay. So she's scared. Very scared. The phone rings. We're talking late Victorian, here. She answers. Puts on her best telephone voice.....There! Another personality. [%sig%]

Wed, 2004-12-01 09:19

Brownie_1

Buy 45 master characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt... She shows a different angle to several characters its helped me in the early days of writing to get believable characters... One you have the man/woman the rest is easy, coz you know what thier personality would do...

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