First of all let me apologize for my late blog. I usually write them up the night before and schedule them but it didn’t happen this time.
Like I said I was listening to the radio this sunday and heard this quote from Dwight L Moody. ” Character is what you are in the dark.”
That got me thinking, about writing and life. But for now on the life side I’ll just say I’m taking a closer look at myself and the people around me.
On the writing side: So many times we see showing someones character as showing their personality when really that’s just the window dressing. Personality is what everyone see’s on the exterior. Beneath that lies the character.
Character is based on the decisions we make. Not the personality we mask it in. You know that saying “actions speak louder than words.” That’s character.
Character can be eroded, by lack of action, or the wrong decision. We can slowly create a villain by slowly eroding character with a series of decisions and masking them with their personality. So slowly that by the end of a book the reader is surprised and when they go back they can see it but only after we’ve led them to the end.
We can create a hero in the same way except his decision must be the tough ones the ones that determine his character.
So tell me, have you thought about character lately?