I think that characters with "psychological" issues are
always more interesting. That's probably why so many
characters (particularly in the PI genre) have
problems.
My own character "Colton Parker" was raised in a series of
foster homes and cannot form lasting attachments. That leads
to a short fuse and he tends to make poor decisions, always
opting for the expedient way out of his confrontations. In
essence, he is a violent, loner who thinks like a kid in a
man's body.
Brandt Dodson www.brandtdodson.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "Charlie Williams" <
cs_will@hotmail.com> To: <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, March 20,
2006 5:36 AM Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Psycho Noir
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "George Tuttle"
<noirfiction@...>
> wrote:
>> Question:
>> No doubt, psychosis is a great story devise in
noir fiction, but how
>> true is it to real behavior? Has there ever been
a critical analysis
>> of Nick Corey and other representations of
psychotic behavior from a
>> psychologist's point of view? Does this type of
fiction capture the
>> symptoms and traits? Having no training in the
area, I am curious.
>
> George,
>
> I can only speak for myself but characters just come
out like they
> do. Plus, a mentally fragile character is always
going to be more
> interesting than one who is rock solid up top. In
fact, if I find
> myself (as a writer) with a character who is
starting to look a bit
> too sane, I'll (subconsciously?) slip in a little
flaw that will
> ultimately lead to his mental unravelling, and by
the end he's
> crawling around in a puddle of his own urine, making
hyena sounds.
>
> As far how "real" this behaviour that behaviour
might be, I don't
> think it matters. You don't need a syndrome label to
describe how a
> character is. Then again I'm not a great one for
research. My mum was
> a mental nurse - that's enough for me.
>
> Good question.
>
> Charlie Williams.
>
> -------
> charliewilliams.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
>
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