The Transformational Character Arc… Part 6 Personality Types
Posted on March 28, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized
Lots of activity going on with The Hyper but almost NO PROGRESS. I know of a lot of these types. Talk about OVERKILL… The Hypers of the world are always over-thinking and beating those dead horses into the ground.
A very self-centered individual, The Hyper is a careless, unstable thrill-seeker prone to bouts of explosive anger and excitement. They’re outgoing but moody. Energetic but unfocused (or is it unfocussed?).
Don’t try to get too intimate with The Hyper… They simply do not have the DNA to deal with your emotions. You’ll find The Hyper working in a job where things change on a daily basis. They normally like working in the outdoors in manual labor positions rather than inside using their head.
The Loner has absolutely no problem being engulfed in solitude… In fact, they prefer it… In fact, The Loner enjoys and prefers interests that allow him or her to be alone most of the time. They rarely look to other people for any kind of comfort so watch out if you’re trying to get close to The Loner.
The Loner definitely is NOT into social activities and rarely will you find them to be a JOINER of such. You’ll find The Loner disinterested in the approval of others. They simply don’t need or require it. The Loner doesn’t reveal himself or herself too easily with others because he or she simply lacks the interpersonal skills to do so. It just ain’t a big deal to them.
You won’t find The Loner hangin’ out with his or her friends… They rarely possess the actual skill to get too close to others but they often share at least one close relationship with a sibling.
The Loner is a reserved individual… Doesn’t outwardly express a lot of emotion and rarely gets angry… Rather, they just don’t give a shit. The Loner never really sweats the small stuff and always has the big picture in mind.
While The Loner may appear not to be an ambitious person on the surface, they often excel in generic activities i.e., sports, athletics, etc. and do quite well academically… You’ll just never know it unless you pay close attention because again, they don’t make a big deal out of it. They know they’re good and that’s pretty much the only acceptance they do need or require.
The Loner tends not to be satisfied as a member of a family and might appear to be self-absorbed and lacking in interest of family members but that’s not necessarily true because in reality, they are pretty damn harsh on themselves. This harshness helps The Loner excel.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t find your Loner brother or sister showing up to family events either… These events just aren’t as significant to them as they are to the rest of the family.
People don’t easily walk up to The Loner… Those around him or her can sense their requirement of solitude so they simply leave The Loner alone and that’s okay… The Loner likes it.
You’ll find The Loner working in a job that guess what? He or she is able to work ALONE.
The Man’s Man is exactly what the label entails… He’s extremely masculine to the point of overkill. In fact, their masculinity is damn near compulsive! A very demanding and hard individual, The Man’s Man is aggressive, ambitious, and adventurous. He has to win… No, HE MUST WIN NO MATTER WHAT! Just like a vampire winces at the cross, The Man’s Man winces at any kind of weakness.
Need a one-dimensional character for your screenplay? Consider using The Man’s Man. He’s the epitome of one-dimensionalism. The Man’s Man is so one-dimensional, that he’s inflexible when it comes to just about everything; ESPECIALLY masculinity. He lacks originality and steers more toward his own ideas of traditional male interests and pursuits.
Don’t expect to be able to work anything out with The Man’s Man because he only knows one kind of response… AGGRESSION. Because the Man’s Man is the epitome of masculinity or at least his idea of what masculinity is, he often seeks out the Ultra-Feminine female. Why? Because together, he looks even more like a Man’s Man! The only problem here is that just about every relationship The Man’s Man gets into with a woman becomes unstable unless she completely acquiesces to his every whim… And that’s what he’s really after anyway.
The Man’s Man can be found working in just about any career field as long as that career field gives them enough time off to pursue their Man’s Man activities.
Know anyone that always wants to dominate everyone and everything? That’s The Manipulator. You might not actually know this person to be a manipulator though… Why? Because he or she is extremely good at manipulating others i.e., it’s in their DNA (okay, not really but they manipulate so well that you’d almost think it was hereditary). The Manipulator is so charismatic at manipulating, you may never realize that they are in fact, manipulating YOU.
The Manipulator never reveals their true personality to you — that’s part of the manipulation. They strive to look good under any circumstances because this reinforces their charisma. To say that The Manipulator is cunning is an understatement… They are MASTERS at what they do. We could learn a lot from simply watching them work.
The Manipulator is so terrified of failure that they go to extremes not to take any kind of responsibility for their actions and can easily thwart blame on others and you’ll fucking believe it.
While The Manipulator will succeed at gaining small things out of you and others; that’s not actually their goal. Rather, they just want to be on top… In control. Total domination. Their antennae is always receiving the vulnerability signal of others and once they receive it, BAM! You’re caught in the web and you’ll never know what hit you until it’s all over.
The Manipulator is unbelievably skilled at getting others to doubt themselves even when circumstances surrounding that individual are obvious. The Manipulator isn’t afraid to resort to physical abuse to gain domination if all else fails; so watch out!
You’ll find The Manipulator working as an attorney, academia, sales, or just about any career field where negotiation takes place.
Unk
Tags: The Hyper The Loner The Man’s Man The Manipulator screenwriting characters character arc writing characters
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13 Responses to “The Transformational Character Arc… Part 6 Personality Types”
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But manipulators are hard to write because it requires being able to think like one.
MaryAn,
BUT IT’S YOUR JOB!
It really ain’t that hard… LOL.
Unk
One last thought on manipulators - because they, manipulate, they also assume the most innocent and sincere behaviors of other people have covert purposes. It’s very hard for them to accept any kindness at face value.
Nah, MaryAn, you can do it!
I write brazen hussies. But I don’t think like one do I, Unk?
Hey Unk–OT here, but I’ve been trying to hook up with this blog via feeds so I don’t have to check in here 20k times a day and both attempts have failed after the initial feeds (Bloglines and Feed Burner). I just stop getting updates.
I haven’t had this problem with other WordPress blogs, so I don’t think it’s them. Not sure what’s going on other than the fact that since you’re such a loner, maybe we can’t even get close to your blog. LOL. Anyway, wondered if others had this problem and figured if they did, you’d want to know.
Ann,
You’re not brazen! LOL.
Haven’t heard any problems with the feeds and I have a fairly large subscriber base…
I use the feedburner plugin to convert it but I have it set up in Google Reader and again no problems….
Try this url:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/UnknownScreenwriter
Unk
Your comment popped up in my inbox, so I guess it’s working now. Yay! Your hits are gonna plummet but that’s a small price to cure my blog OCD.
And hey, speaking more about the manipulator: I had the opportunity to study one minutely at my old job. The thing that makes them so transparent to the careful observer is that everything about them–from mannerisms to facial expressions to tone of voice–is a mimicry. They’re not really feeling what they’re trying to convey, so there’s always something a little off about them. Particularly around the eyes, and general body language.
So if you want to write one, these are some little signals the other characters can pick up. And Unk’s analysis of their motivations makes it easier to get into their heads. Hell, we’ve all manipulated something at some point in our lives–especially if we have children *gg*. So take that tiny piece of you, explode it and voila, you have your character.
Ann,
Not worried about the hits… They just keep growing. You’d be surprised at how many this thing’s getting now. Kinda cool though. Unfortunately, more traffic means more email… Most of that is good though…
I’m gonna have to start posting some of them as posts… Kind of like the other screenwriters I’ve seen do this out there except I’ll post the ones that threaten to hunt me down… Threaten to kill me… Tell me I’m an asshole… Tell me I’m wrong. LOL.
Then I guess I can answer them… Yeah, lots of post fodder there…
But you’re right… We’ve all manipulated somebody before… Even if not intentional but I know we’ve probably all tried before.
I hate to admit this but my mother is a manipulator… LOL. I’ve watched her literally get anything she wants and I mean ANYTHING and never ever paying for it. She works the sympathy angle… I’ve seen her go into someone’s home and walk out with whatever she wanted.
It’s fuckin’ crazy.
Of course ol’ Mom tries to manipulate me as well… LOL.
Uh… No. I see that shit a mile away because I lived it.
She’ll never come out and simply ASK for anything… She keeps at it and at it and at it until the person offers up whatever she’s manipulating them for.
Amazing. She literally has a manipulation network going.
Unk
P.S. Please… No emails about me talking about my Mother. LOL. If you only knew…
How dare you talk about your mother that way!
Now see, this is where I really have to sit on my hands ’cause every-freakin’-one knows my pen name and every-freakin’-thing I’ve ever said on the ‘net is cached in freakin’ Google.
I hear ya, though.
The guy from work I can talk about, however! He was the sociopathic kind of manipulator. I don’t think I ever saw a real emotion on him. He probably didn’t have any, or at least, didn’t know what they were if he did. It was a blast to watch, but I have to say also emotionally draining for me. This guy literally had a visible cloud of chaos surrounding him. I know that sounds like New Age shit, but he did. Wore. Me. Out.
My daughter has a club leader who’s the sugary kind *gag* All rainbows and lollipops until you cross her and then her head spins and her mouth foams. What fun! Especially since my personal independence bugs the shit out of her. We’ve put up with her so far because she’s the only one who’ll lead the group, but it’s a trial.
*rubs hands with glee* Post some of those emails! Come on! I’m between books right now so ENTERTAIN me. LOL.
Ann,
But does she spit green pea soup?
If so, I wanna see!
Unk
Ah… You want an email… Okay just one that’s been burning a hole in my inbox… LOL. I even answered it.
Unk
But does she spit green pea soup?
Film at 11:00!
Oh goody! An email! Now all I need is a beer.
Wow. I love coming back to this site after a few days instead of just checking it over and over. So much information.
Glee is I.
Thanks unk!!!
P.S. Why do I feel like a kid when I say that? “Thanks Unc!!! YOU’RE THE BESS!”