“People don’t change, they only get moreso.”
The above is a wonderful little personal axiom that was shared with me recently. It’s pithy, distilling a common bit psychological inertia down to less than ten words, yet broad enough to let each person color it as they will. I feel that in most cases unchanging personality traits are underscored by negative examples. The recovering addict always a bad day away from relapse, the abusive personality that you’ll never change or the bigot who’s a “product of their time.” All of these are true to a certain extent. If you are in an abusive relationship, for example, there’s nothing you can do that will change the other person (which is a much larger topic, but luckily one with expert support if it is a situation you or a loved one find yourselves in).
That doesn’t mean that those negative personality traits will never change, however*. It also doesn’t mean that positive personality traits can’t become corrupted over time. It just means that the underlying drive a person experiences will only become more fundamentally part of who they are as they get older. Beyond a physical dependency created by substance abuse, addictive personalities are driven by a psychological need for fresh stimuli. Craving new and exciting experiences and chasing dopamine release isn’t inherently a bad thing. As mentioned in this New York Times article, those same traits are also shared by impactful and successful leaders.
So what does this have to with writing to make it have a place on this writing blog? Character consistency. Whether it is a heel turn or a good guy who’s secretly been bad all along (at least until another retcon), having a character switch teams is a fairly common trope. When done well and intentionally, it can be a great character arc. When done for pure shock value or to put one over on the reader, it can ruin a story and a writer’s credibility.
At the base of poor character change is a loss of what motivates that character at their core (their cornerstone, if you’ve been watching Westworld). When a character changes because it fits the plot, rather than their personality, it’s jarring. On the other hand, a character evolution done the proper way can be very rewarding to the reader.
Take, for instance, Narcissa Malfoy. It would be fair to say that part of her main motivation is the protection and wellbeing of her family, particularly Draco. In the end (Spoilers? I mean, it’s been a decade…) she lies to Voldemort to protect Harry after learning that Draco is safe. This is at odds with her family’s actions for most of the story, but consistent with wanting to protect her son. It’s cathartic to see her not only defy the Dark Lord but also for her actions to filter down to Draco with them leaving the final battle. She didn’t swoop in as a deus ex machina to be plot armor for Harry, she acted in a way that was true to her core beliefs.
So when writing characters, remember to give them a personality and mindset and have it be consistent. Cartoon villains who are evil for evil’s sake, one-note heroes and cardboard cutouts don’t make for engaging writing. That’s not to say you need to fill out a DISC profile for all your characters, but you should give them a goal or desire and let their actions radiate from that. Just like people in the real world, they may change tactics and methods, but who a person is is who they are.
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*Can’t stress enough that, through no fault of your own, there’s nothing you can do to change an abuser in your life. There are things you do have agency over in those situations, though, and you can learn about them here: http://www.thehotline.org/
The Barberry Writers 