Author Topic: Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks  (Read 4222 times)

Offline KayKay

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Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks
« on: July 15, 2018, 07:13:48 pm »
I was unsure of where to post this, but this'll be helpful I hope.

DISCLAIMER: I am no professional, and as such I will ONLY be listing ones I'm familiar with, if anyone would like to add on its fine to do so, and feel free to correct me. anyway, moving on.

--
Mental illness is interesting to write into a character, but it is also really difficult to pull it off effectively without getting a few odd looks from others. Here's my tips and tricks to avoid awkward moments both in and out of character.

-
- Show don't tell


This is a rule in a lot of types of writing, but more so helpful here. It's executed in a better way when its shown through a few actions the characters do. If they lash out, don't outright explain it as "he did this because of his PTSD", make it subtle. make them a ticking time bomb, and don't over do it.


- Be respectful.

This is a no brainer, mental illness is really serious, and shouldn't be a joke at any given point. If you're roleplaying a character with any mental illness, it is not correct to say they're "crazy" or "insane", or a "nutjob." not only can it offend others who may actually suffer with any form of mental ailment, it can also ruin your chances of getting anywhere in an rp. don't do that. its not cute.


- Censor triggering topics when asked by an rp partner

This is a must in every situation. If a character is going through an episode and is supposed to end up harming themselves and your partner says they'd rather skip it, then please do. it can hinder the roleplay and almost tarnish the bond you two have.


- Do your research.

Again, a no brainer. A lot of mistakes I see people do is to go balls to the walls with it, make them want to kill people straight off if they have anti-social personality disorder, or make their character constantly be in a state of depression. its important to read up on a mental illness before picking it up.


- They're allowed to recover.

Not every rp or story  has to have a bad ending when it comes to this. Make them recover from their issues, make them be happier and able to trust others better. Make them smile once in a while and have them have episodes of euphoria! Recovery is a great and emotional story line to write and will hook the readers!


- Relapsing does happen

Its also okay to have them relapse DURING recovery, but don't over do it.


- Don't make it the main plot point

A story that's entirely centered on a mental illness is only good when its written correctly, but without that its just not as good. make it part of a character, not the whole story.


- Don't over do it

Don't make it over dramatic and by god don't make them use it as an excuse for what they do. Unless the character is the kind of person to use that excuse, its a good idea to steer clear of it. Don't make a depressed character constantly end up to the point of a breakdown. Make it fluctuate, depression is something that comes and goes, and it varies on levels.


- DO. YOUR. RESEARCH.

RESEARCH IS NEEDED!

So many characters with mental illnesses are written poorly and used as jokes in stories, and its really important to take into account the issues and try not to glorify something that alters peoples lives every day.


- Last of all, have fun with it and learn from it

Writing it is difficult, yes. but you also learn a lot about yourself and your character when writing it, and its important that you enjoy writing it, otherwise it wouldn't be as nice to read.


Feel free to add to this, and correct me if I'm wrong at some point, happy writing

𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 - 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦
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Offline Kerriki

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Re: Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2018, 07:32:29 pm »
Moving this over to the character/roleplay tutorial board~

Nicely written, too! I think this will be helpful for people
Farewell everyone<3

Offline KayKay

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Re: Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2018, 07:33:44 pm »
Moving this over to the character/roleplay tutorial board~

Nicely written, too! I think this will be helpful for people


Cheers! I was debating on putting it there, thank you !
𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 - 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦
                               ▬▬▬
                                            𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢  𝑺𝑪𝑨𝑹  𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵, 𝑰𝑻 𝑯𝑼𝑹𝑻𝑺.

Offline Kastilla

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Re: Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2018, 05:45:31 pm »
I have personal history with mental illness, even implementing my own guide on my website (that may or may not become a roleplay, tbh I do not know). Here is my guide to this touchy subject.

Quote
  • As cliché it is to say, bullying of any kind is strongly forbidden. We have all been bullied, or even been the bully. It's a touchy subject and sometimes overlooked. Bullying can mean anything to anyone, but here and to me, bullying is calling someone derogatory names, shaming an interest or creation, deliberately stealing and claiming something that isn't yours, making a member feel scared to express themselves in some way or another, feeding or starting rumors, and even something as little as criticizing for spelling something wrong. We may be a semi-literate to literate roleplay and community, but some writers aren't good spellers or even grammarians.
     Everybody has a strength and a weakness, but the fact of the matter is they try. Just, be nice. It isn't that hard to do, and it costs nothing. (It's okay to flame in-character, but please not out-of-character.) We are not a rag-tag loony bin, we are mature human beings that love weird creations. We can all learn to take a joke, but if it's passed the point of funny, just stop.

In-Character vs. Out-Of-Character Behavior
  • We are not a rag-tag loony bin, therefore it is not okay to make your character a run-of-the-mill psychopath. For one, that is not original and two, it's super annoying. Yes, we have all went through that "edgy character" stage, even myself. You learn to grow out of that, usually when you get annoyed of yourself. Your character can be the pitch-iest black of them all, but add some flare to it. Why is their coat dark? Dark as night? Dark like fresh soot? Is it a layered, thick coat? Take the lovely Burn for example, Burn appears to be but a figment of one's own imagination. That he is, but his coal-colored coat can spread like ink in water. This way, he is able to eavesdrop on various conversations if desired and remain completely undetected.
  • Some people portray a psychotic character as a rage-filled, bloodlusty killer. Hahahahaha, no. Not all psychopaths are criminal, it is a personality that is attached to criminals. It is a lack of deeply-felt emotion such as love, a failure to learn from one's mistakes, and antisocial behavior due to the lack of emotion. If you have depression, you are not a psychopath. You feel emotion, you are not a psychopath. You have mental outbreaks where you kill everything in sight...news flash, you aren't a psychopath.
  • It's okay to have a character who is mentally ill, I have a handful myself. Just don't get too crazy with the amount of mental illness they have, and without clear triggers for other users to know of. Everyone has a breaking point, but we need to know what makes them tick. It helps a lot with planning plots, not mentally spontaneous combustion. That's too messy to clean up.

I will permit you to paraphrase what I have said, not copy it yourself to use as an example.
I support those who know that mental illness is a touchy subject and that there are misconceptions about disorders. It's like the saying, "It takes one to know one."
stinky dog coming through, don't mind me!

Offline KayKay

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Re: Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2018, 06:39:16 pm »
I have personal history with mental illness, even implementing my own guide on my website (that may or may not become a roleplay, tbh I do not know). Here is my guide to this touchy subject.

Quote
  • As cliché it is to say, bullying of any kind is strongly forbidden. We have all been bullied, or even been the bully. It's a touchy subject and sometimes overlooked. Bullying can mean anything to anyone, but here and to me, bullying is calling someone derogatory names, shaming an interest or creation, deliberately stealing and claiming something that isn't yours, making a member feel scared to express themselves in some way or another, feeding or starting rumors, and even something as little as criticizing for spelling something wrong. We may be a semi-literate to literate roleplay and community, but some writers aren't good spellers or even grammarians.
     Everybody has a strength and a weakness, but the fact of the matter is they try. Just, be nice. It isn't that hard to do, and it costs nothing. (It's okay to flame in-character, but please not out-of-character.) We are not a rag-tag loony bin, we are mature human beings that love weird creations. We can all learn to take a joke, but if it's passed the point of funny, just stop.

In-Character vs. Out-Of-Character Behavior
  • We are not a rag-tag loony bin, therefore it is not okay to make your character a run-of-the-mill psychopath. For one, that is not original and two, it's super annoying. Yes, we have all went through that "edgy character" stage, even myself. You learn to grow out of that, usually when you get annoyed of yourself. Your character can be the pitch-iest black of them all, but add some flare to it. Why is their coat dark? Dark as night? Dark like fresh soot? Is it a layered, thick coat? Take the lovely Burn for example, Burn appears to be but a figment of one's own imagination. That he is, but his coal-colored coat can spread like ink in water. This way, he is able to eavesdrop on various conversations if desired and remain completely undetected.
  • Some people portray a psychotic character as a rage-filled, bloodlusty killer. Hahahahaha, no. Not all psychopaths are criminal, it is a personality that is attached to criminals. It is a lack of deeply-felt emotion such as love, a failure to learn from one's mistakes, and antisocial behavior due to the lack of emotion. If you have depression, you are not a psychopath. You feel emotion, you are not a psychopath. You have mental outbreaks where you kill everything in sight...news flash, you aren't a psychopath.
  • It's okay to have a character who is mentally ill, I have a handful myself. Just don't get too crazy with the amount of mental illness they have, and without clear triggers for other users to know of. Everyone has a breaking point, but we need to know what makes them tick. It helps a lot with planning plots, not mentally spontaneous combustion. That's too messy to clean up.

I will permit you to paraphrase what I have said, not copy it yourself to use as an example.
I support those who know that mental illness is a touchy subject and that there are misconceptions about disorders. It's like the saying, "It takes one to know one."


Thank you for this! I'm sure this'll come in handy too, you put it in my better words than I could.
𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 - 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦
                               ▬▬▬
                                            𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢  𝑺𝑪𝑨𝑹  𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵, 𝑰𝑻 𝑯𝑼𝑹𝑻𝑺.

Offline Kastilla

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Re: Writing a character with mental illness - tips and tricks
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2018, 01:39:49 am »
Thank you for this! I'm sure this'll come in handy too, you put it in my better words than I could.
You are quite welcome!~ And thanks, I am glad it was coherent.
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