Video Essay (Headbanger Edition): The Psychology of Character

You may have noticed that I've been MIA the last couple weeks. I'd love to tell you that it's because all this great stuff has been happening with my writing, that I've been getting multiple offers from agents all while cranking out my next book. That would all be a lie.

No, the truth is far more mundane: I've been buried in Real World stuff. And when I have taken some time to work on Book #2, it's usually ended up like this:

Something's been holding me back, and I hadn't been able to put my finger on it until this evening. At first, I thought it was because I didn't have all the details of the plot ironed out... so I did some ironing. Then I thought it was because I didn't have a fully realized sense of the secondary characters... but I have enough of a sense, certainly enough to get rolling.

Leave it to Michael of Lessons from the Screenplay to point it out: I need to dig deeper into the psychology of my protagonist. Especially if I want the story I have in mind to work.

I'd usually say something more about the movie being featured here, but I've actually never seen Good Will Hunting (I know, I know...), so let's just agree I said something snappy and made a "how 'bout dem apples" crack and here you go: