There are many fallacies at the base of American culture, but in my writing I focus on two of the most harmful: “Everything’s fine” and “Suck it up.” People aren’t allowed to admit they’re struggling and, if they do admit they need help, are told either to get over it or to pull themselves up […]
A friend of mine tagged me on some kind of facebook thing where you’re supposed to list 25 things no one knows about you, or something like that. I’d forgotten all about doing this until a friend of mine posted a response to it today. I have no idea how he found it, but I’m […]
Your character’s relationship to shame is the most important psychological relationship to understand. Shame dictates more of our actions than any other emotion—more than rage, more than grief. As Dr. Brené Brown, who’s been researching shame and vulnerability for over a decade, found, “[w]hat makes shame so powerful is its ability to make us feel […]
In my October 1st article, I defined shame and described how it shows up. I outlined the shame spiral, which makes explicable characters acting in inexplicable ways. Now we move on to how to use this tool to craft character arcs. Shame is a powerful way to show character growth. Dr. Brené Brown, who’s been researching […]
From The Newsroom, a TV show: Will McAvoy: “I always wanted to have a full set of encyclopedias. Pull down ‘S’ off the shelf, flip to a page, read about, I don’t know, salic law and why a woman can’t inherit the French throne…” Dr. Jack Habib: “You can google it.” McAvoy: “That’s my point. […]