I had the unique opportunity to let the heroine in my (unpublished) supernatural-thriller series go crazy. It wasn’t easy because she’s such a
strong character, but I had a lot of fun doing it. She even stayed in a
psychiatric ward, which is where she actually became crazy.
Exploring a character with a different mindset is a neat
experience. If you ever have the opportunity to do this, embrace it and keep
these tips in mind:
1. Let
your character gradually lose his/her sanity. People in real life
don’t go in sane suddenly, with the snap of a finger. It happens overtime, so
don’t rush this process. Ease your character into the depth of insanity as if
you’re dipping into a cold pool.
2. Reveal
what causes your character to go insane. You can do this by showing glimpses of
your character’s past, a sequence of events, or a medical diagnosis.
If you character is diagnosed with a
disorder, please see this post: Writing About: A Character with a Personality or Psychological Disorder
3. Show
the moment your character has his/her psychotic break, pushing him/her into
full insanity. In my book, my heroine’s evolution is slow, but the moment she
breaks is monumental. Your character’s break can happen due to rejection,
heartbreak, or anger (a fight).
4. When
your character is in this state of insanity, his/her thoughts are important
because they reveal mental disorders. Give your character strange thoughts by
letting your own thoughts get a little twisted.
TIP: Watch movies with these subject matters and read books to help you get into this frame of mind.
5. Body
language and how your character moves is also a great tool to express a
character’s sanity. Once, when I was trying to get into my heroine’s shoes, I
started to rock back and forth and tap my feet while repeating, “I don’t
know, I don’t know.” It felt so brilliant that I wrote exactly what I did and
said into my book. So, let your character fidget, chew his/her
lip, or pull his/her hair.
6. What
a character says is as important as what he/she thinks. Let him/her randomly
recite poems, babble, and repeat words/phrases over and over.
7. Emotions
are everything! And when you have a mental disorder, they are heightened. Show
your character’s emotions whenever you can, such as anger, depression, sadness,
but make them extreme to fit his/her sanity.
8. Someone’s
appearance can explain a lot about them. For this unique role, you can give
your character long, uncut fingernails; oily, knotted hair; dark under eye circles
with red eyes; and mismatched or dirty clothing
9. Eyes
can be very expressive. Along with under eye circles and red eyes, look for
moments when you can describe your character’s eyes as wild or blank. Wild eyes
are wide and are perfect for when a character is having a psychotic episode.
Blank eyes appear devoid of expression, emotion and life, and works best for
when a character is feeling lost or in the clutches of major depression.
10. People
with disorders have outbursts, so you can’t write a story about a character going
crazy and not have them go through outbursts of hysterical laughter, screaming,
or crying.
TIP: Make sure that what your character does and how he/she acts fits with your story line and genre. For horror, your character could have frightening hallucinations or become murderous. For romance, love could pull your character back to sanity.
QUESTIONS: Have you written about a character who could
be defined as insane? Do you have a favorite book or movie on this subject?
Two of my all-time favorite movies are Girl, Interrupted
and Gothika.
I don't know if the last comment was submitted and just went into moderation or not. If so, please just delete this one.
ReplyDeleteMy husband says I have too many insane character. I might be a bit fascinated by them. The one most off the deep end is Cera's dad in book 3 of the Ninier series. Then again, he is my favorite...
huh, guess the last one just didn't submit.
DeleteI guess not, so thank you for submitting it again. :)
DeleteI am fascinated by insane characters, too. I actually have two in my series (my heroine, but only for a short while and a character she meets in the psych ward). I loved the second character so much that she stuck around for the rest of the series. :)
Great tips, Chrys. Thank you! My character goes crazy from abuse in an institution. I'm having a hard time writing about the abuse though, as I want to make it graphic. One of my favorite films for this example is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Frances (starring Jessica Lange). p.s. I voted for your book cover :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for voting for my book cover, Lisa! Those a great films. I hope you can get the abuse right, something like that needs the right amount of care and detail.
DeleteTrying again to leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteOne of my secondary characters is a midwife who goes insane in the camps, between the time the reader has last seen her and when she's next seen again, after the liberation. She was forced to do the worst thing a midwife could do, over and over again, and refuses to listen to everyone who tells her she saved those women's lives and gave them the chance to someday have other babies in freedom. Eventually she's committed to an insane asylum, though I won't give away what might or might not happen with her in the second book (slated for release next year).
You're the second person to have trouble posting a comment today and I have no idea why. Darn, Blogger! :P
DeleteYour book and your characters sounds sooo good. I want to read that book now!
I haven't written about insanity, exactly, but I do like to write about mental illness. There are plenty of different routes you can take and different disorders to explore, which can make characters more complex and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree! I blogged about how to write about characters with mental illness. The ideas and things you can do are limitless!
DeleteIf I were to continue in the series I'm working on now, I'd have to explore that, because there is a good chance the character could go nuts later on.
ReplyDeleteFirst movie that comes to mind is the Abyss.
That would be good, Alex. Well, not for your character... haha
DeleteOh, yes, The Abyss...
Hi Chrys!! From a reader's perspective, I think my favorite example of a character going crazy is Jack's character in The Shining.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great example!!! Epic!
DeleteI voted your cover. I saw that you are now on second place, so I was thinking to vote again tomorrow. Speaking about this, something funny happened.
ReplyDeleteI am doing daily my "To Do" list. It includes at least 5 actions and for tomorrow I just finished to do it... I had only 4 actions and in my mind couldn't find any other thing to do.
After voting earlier the book cover I had that kind of "wow" moment... this is my 5th thing to do.
So, Chrys... count on me :)
By the way... I really like your cover!
LOL! Aww! Thank you so much, M.C.! I am honored that voting for my cover is your 5th thing on your TO Do list. :D
DeleteI have written about characters who go insane and also a character who is (wrongly) put into a mental institution. And I definitely have to agree with Optimistic Existentialist: Jack from The Shining is one of my favorite examples of a character going crazy. It's so well done! I especially love the part where we find out what Jack has been writing. That really gives you insight into his state of mind!
ReplyDeleteI agree with both you and Keith. Jack from The Shining is an epic example. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy..." ;)
DeleteThe Shining sure does stick out for me too. Voted away for you. I've had some go insane due to other worldly things, but not actual real life nuts.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your vote, Pat! :D
DeleteCongrats on the poll! Great info again, Chrys. Your blog is a great resource for writers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kelly! And coming from you that is a great compliment. :)
DeleteHi, Chrys,
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a character lose their mind as yes, but your tips sound very handy.
I'm glad you like my tips, J.L. :)
DeleteNot sure if any of my characters would qualify as insane, but many of them are definitely on the far side beyond "normal".
ReplyDeleteThis collection of points sounds like good advice for writing about any mental state beyond your normal experience, e.g. psychopathic, autistic, obsessive... You've covered a lot of ground around evolution and expression in terms of internal and external cues that would make an invaluable checklist.
Having characters on the far side of normal is fun. ;)
DeleteWow! That's awesome! I love to hear that my tips could work in other cases than what I initially created them for.
Great tips! I can't say any of my characters went/were insane, per se. Of course, if we're to believe Catch-22, only people who think they are sane are the true crazy ones.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, Cherie!
Deleteooo, what a cool idea. I've never driven one of my characters crazy, no, but I just might now, LOL!! These tips are great :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Liz! I'm so happy you might drive one of your characters crazy now. I'm thrilled that one of my posts can do that. :)
DeleteI've never actually driven a character insane, but I've forced them to change over time. I guess that's pretty much the same thing, except you slant it in such a way that they take a different turn.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is pretty much the same thing. Thanks for commenting! :)
DeleteI voted for your cover. I've never had to write a story with an insane character, but these are good tips for writers who do.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sherry! I had dropped down to third place, but hopefully I'll be able to get back up. :)
DeleteI'm glad you liked my tips. :)
#5 is how I tend to write most of my characters. If I'm stuck, I'll often strike the pose and write what I'm doing. All these points are really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you think my tips are interesting. :)
DeleteOh yes, yes, I WAS thinking of Girl, Interrupted throughout this post! Love your tips here, especially the example of rocking back and forth and repeating "I don't know. I don't know." That was brilliant. (Heading to the site to vote on your cover now. Good luck with the contest!)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for voting for my cover, Claudine! And I'm so gald you liked the example that I wrote into my book. :D
DeleteI actually have the bipolar disorder with psychotic features so I write from firsthand experience. Even though these are great ideas, and are in fact some signs of having a mental illness. Sometimes, unfortunately there is no clear reason of going manic, or having depression. And someone can snap at any moment. Yes, there is a build up from within. But with some people, they can be perfectly normal from the outside, then snap instantly. So the mental and physical won't always match up. Interesting post though. I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand, and appreciate your comment, Lisa. I know that in some cases there is no clear cause for disorders/depression/mania and a writer can certainly use that in their story for their character.
DeleteWe all have a touch of madness we can draw from. Getting it down on the page is still a challenge. Interesting ideas you've presented here today.
ReplyDeleteWe certainly do, C. Lee. Thank you for commenting! :)
DeleteAn interesting idea. And all around good basic writing tips. Off to go check out your cover at the contest! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ava! :)
Deletegreat tips. but it's hard to write from the first person perspective of a crazy person, because it wouldn't make sense. They would have incoherent disconnected and darting thoughts that are intelligible. They would say nonsensical meanderings then pop up with maniacal epiphanies like "time to take a bath, pelicans toe nails soup! I knew the wind was broken when I accepted squirrel nuts! that's how time travel is done! Oh my garden hose!" How do you write from first person insanity and communicate with clarity? Without going crazy yourself?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, Bo, which is why I didn't say to write in first person. I did say to share his/her thoughts though, which you can do from third person, even if it is the kind of maniacal meanderings you mentioned. Adding that to your writing every once in a while would show your readers just how crazy your character really is.
DeleteThe main character of one of my books is rather obsessive and at one point becomes very unstable. It was a weird experience getting inside her head at that moment.
ReplyDeleteIt is a weird experience, I have to agree with you, but I also thought it was a little fun... Hmm... lol
DeleteThat would take some planning before trying to write. I like how you let the persons actions dictate the illness though--the reciting poems or a disheveled appearance is what I would expect to see as a reader.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the cover--off to vote now.
It does take a lot of planning. You're right about that. And it take a lot to get it right.
DeleteThanks for voting for my cover! :D
Excellent tips! I think body language is so important as many writers tend to leave that out. I also voted for your cover. :) Have a terrific week!
ReplyDeleteBody language is extremely important, especially for something like this.
DeleteThank you for voting for my cover!! :D
Hello :)
ReplyDeleteObviously REALLY late to this party. While you deftly advocate for a careful consideration with with the topic, I still think it is very easy to drift into camp--or worse, offensive stereotype when writing a mentally ill character. There are myriad varieties of clinical classifications--each with distinctive behavioral traits. On this topic, like the subject of substance abuse, I prefer to reference "real" life: Robert Lowell and John Nash. Both men's tragic illnesses reflect the toll madness takes on the individual--and if you get beyond the spin of "A Beautiful Mind" on their loved ones as well.
ReplyDeleteBetter late than...you know. ;) It can be hard not to drift into a stereotype while writing about a character with a disorder. It's important to stay aware through the whole process. But a simple sentence or phrase can be seen as offensive to others but not to the author, so it truly is impossible to write a story under this subject that everyone will be happy with.
Delete