So about Character Development Threads

I don't entirely agree. It depends on the character in question. Many of my characters are aware that travel between worlds is possible, and some have even travelled between them before. For Friendship, my character in the Cantina thread, unexpectedly finding himself talking to an alien in another universe is a bit like unexpectedly running into a lion roaming around central London - surprising, but not worldview-shattering.

In any case, given enough time, people can get used to an awful lot, though some adjust and adapt more easily than others.

Well, while I don't entirely agree with Q⁵ there, it is possible to modify characters in a way that lets you still practice writing an aspect of their personality. For example, when modifying a character for the (apparently already dead, sadly) Titanic thread, you may have to change their personality somewhat because they presumably grew up in a totally different culture, but their basic drives and goals can remain more or less the same, so it's just practice writing that character in an especially different set of circumstances.

edited 7th Jul '11 8:03:45 PM by BobbyG

Growing up in a totally different culture ought to make your character essentially an entirely different person. Their background should have influenced who they are.

Well, at the risk of derailing, do you believe that a person's entire personality is the sole product of their experiences? I don't, and AFAIK, the tabula rasa notion of human development is not widely accepted.

It's not a blank slate per se, but where we are and what happens to us does have a lot to do with who we are.

I think, when we are born, somebunall*

Other aspects of us - learned behaviours, thought patterns, memories — we take from our environment we grow up in. If I grew up in Bolivia, for example, I might be more fluent in Spanish (and Quechua) than my current English.

It's still a paradoxical mystery to look at. I've heard of some cases, where twins who've entirely grown up separated, have come to have the same tastes in clothing and hobbies.

edited 8th Jul '11 2:39:54 PM by QQQQQ

@ Gault: Absolutely not denying that. But nevertheless, there may well still be elements which are not derived from one's environment.

In any case, it may be possible, depending on how different the original setting and the setting of the Character Development Thread in question are, for the character to have grown up with similar (though not the same) experiences.

edited 8th Jul '11 2:49:31 PM by BobbyG

^ For example, if you have a knight from templar times, you can transpose him to be police, or a serving soldier. The archetype concept sought in this case is duty, integrity and to serve the kingdom/country.

Oh certainly, I'm not denying that either. But consider how differently you would think in absence of the political/philosophical/ethical issues you have had to consider your entire life. And that's just a small fraction of it. We can't help being largely the product of our environment, because it is so big and encompasses and involves so much of our lives.

@ Gault: True. And of course, people are not merely archetypes. QQQQQ, if you'll forgive me for messing with your analogy, a man who became a knight because his father, a nobleman, sent him away as a child to train in the ways of chivalry, swordsmanship and horseriding, until, as expected, he was knighted by the lord of the region, would not necessarily become a police officer in another world, one in which he was instead raised by an apatheistic coal miner who went on strike and lost his job.

Of course, as a writer, you get to choose the character's upbringing, providing it's setting-appropriate.

edited 8th Jul '11 3:49:35 PM by BobbyG