In Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict and the Build A Cast Workbook, I introduce sixteen character mannequins or prototypes based on personality types. I track them from cradle to grave and talk about their strengths and weaknesses and how to warp them. I use male or female pronouns based on the percentage of the population that fell in that category, but all mannequins can be anything you make them. The traits discussed are starting points. You can alter their temperaments depending on the purpose they serve. Their traits give them strengths to build on and weaknesses to exploit.
TAYLOR
As a hero, Taylor is fiercely protective of friends and loved ones and is a born leader.
As a villain, Taylor is an interfering busy body or toxic enabler. She makes the perfect stalker roommate or girlfriend.
Taylor is charismatic and confident. She assumes other people will follow her and they do. She favors cooperation and puts other people first. She is persuasive and believes her own hype. She views herself as a benevolent crusader. She is trustworthy, enthusiastic, and looks for the good in others. She fights on the side of what she believes is “good." She is drawn to activism more than income and likes helping people. She takes her values and beliefs seriously. She is good at reading people and assessing motive.
On the dark side, Taylor absorbs the characteristics, emotions, and beliefs of people around her. She is a master of spin and could be a zealot. She figures out other people's triggers and uses them to manipulate. Her boundaries are naturally fuzzy and she interferes where she shouldn't. She often ignores her intuition. She overextends and neglects herself to fulfill the needs of others. She can't say no and can't separate. She can be overpowering in her need to fuss. She idealizes people then is hurt when they let her down by being human. Transgressions are a deal breaker. She can become petulant, paranoid, and manipulative if opposed or when someone lets her down.
Taylor just assumes people understand her and is hurt when they ask questions. She excels at verbal communication and public speaking. She is better in person than on paper. She embraces paranormal explanations and refuses to listen to anything that counters her beliefs. She likes to talk things over as she thinks them through with her wide network. She is focused on feelings and sentiments and whether information is good or bad. When it comes to conflict, she wants you to agree with her, understand how it makes her feel, and acknowledge that she is upset. She has strong opinions but keeps them to herself to avoid conflict. When she speaks, she is clear. She can't handle criticism. She suppresses her own needs to make other people happy then sizzles and combusts. She is harshly self-critical but rejects outside criticism.
Taylor relies on other people's opinions. Her intuition is keen but reality won't get in the way of her feelings. She isn't hampered by evidence. She is swayed by emotional arguments. She follows hunches and convinces other people to overlook pesky facts. She relies on other people and listens to those she admires. She grasps the big picture, but is fuzzy on the details. She makes emotional choices based on how they affect everyone. She wants to keep the peace. She hates making decisions and lose-lose options. She often decides by not deciding, because she is focused on her integrity and reputation. Once she decides, she is done, even if new evidence arrives or the situation changes. She won't reconsider.
Taylor assigns a high value to those with status, title, and rank. She goes along with the prevailing tide and conforms. If she flouts authority, she persuades people to switch sides. She has no problem unseating a rival or someone who has lost her respect. She would cling to the system but remove the figurehead.
Taylor likes structure and group activities and hates solitude. She wants recognition for her effort. She makes plans and sees them through, meeting deadlines. She focuses on the problem at hand, not what is ahead. She is capable of innovative solutions and gains consensus. If one idea fails, she comes up with another one and implements the plan once everyone agrees on it. She prefers for someone else to make the final decision so she can't be held responsible. She likes being in charge and getting the credit though.
She can think on the fly and likes a challenge. She prefers having a schedule but hates monotony. She is organized without planning. She likes helping and rewarding people. When things go wrong, she can get stuck rehashing the emotional impact instead of solving the problem. She is not interested in what went wrong or whose fault it was. She wants to soothe ruffled feathers and move on.
Taylor's natural allies are Nevada, Lee, Dallas, and River. Her nemesis is Joss. She has many, but not intimate, friends. Relationships and responsibilities come before leisure or self. She enjoys intellectual conversations. She is neither competitive nor malicious. She is committed and loyal and usually well liked and tuned in. She joins clubs and causes. She is a social butterfly and the life of the party. She wants to make her friends happy. Because she shifts to accommodate other people, many different people consider her a friend. She is a good cross-pollinator.
Taylor does not handle constant fluctuations well. She turns against anyone she sees as a false friend. She has a real problem with characters who resist consensus or don’t work toward the collective good. Her self-worth is tied up in the closeness and quality of her relationships. She is needy and resentful when she does not receive the positive affirmations she craves. She is momentarily vicious if crossed, but returns to being all sunshine a moment later. At her worst, she is suffocating.
As a hero, Taylor is an activist and cheerleader, convincing people to follow a good cause. She will fight alongside others to win the day and has a wide network to draw on for assistance.
As a villain, woe betide the person who crosses her, violates her belief system, or takes her for granted. She will be vicious in retaliation and has the posse to back her up.
Next week we meet Cam.
You can download free character information sheets:
Character Worksheet
Mannequins Under Pressure
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