Best of Week: Finding a Character's Mind Through Language

In writing, language is paramount. The ideas in an author's head cannot be expressed without carefully selected words to craft an idea into a story. As discussed in class this week, language can also lead the author to discover a character's mind. 

Instead of figuring out a character and then using language to describe it, the language is played around with until the character is discovered. Relating to the question, "Can something come from nothing?" this idea takes small words on paper and webs them together to create a character. 

With this technique, I could learn to write from a different angle. Traditionally, I would try and come up with the perfect character in my mind and then form the language around that. Instead, starting with a few adjectives or thinking about what vocabulary my character would have gives insight into the character's mind. From this approach, I can begin to see inside the mind of an imaginary person. The way language is used in context of the character to show situation, setting, and thought process puts the character in relation to surroundings. The way the sky is viewed by the character shows how the character thinks. An emotional reaction or sparked memory from the sky could lead to insight and wondering about the character's past. 

Outside of writing, looking at a person through their language can reveal more than just what that person is saying. I now know to really focus in on a person's language while they are talking. Speech patterns, vocabulary, tone, and word choice can show what that person is thinking. For example, a stutter and nervous laughs may show a person is uncomfortable, while overuse of fancy words and awkward sentence structure may show a person trying to appear smarter than they really are. 

Language is such a necessary and amazing scope into cognition. This seemingly simple act communicates much more than just words out of mouths or read sentences on white sheets. This form of expression can be used to find out what makes and affects gears turning inside minds. It's even powerful enough to cross reality and be applied to fictional characters (almost with minds of their own).