Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. — George Bernard Shaw

The Art Of Building The Character

Fiction is the art of showing related events that result in a character’s transformation. We are the result of our choices and our actions; that’s the lesson learned over and over both in fiction and memoir. As Heraclitus famously said, “Character is destiny.” In fiction, this is literally true. Characters make choices because they are the way they are. They only change because they want something—something that they believe will make them happy. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. The events in the story show why.

The Art Of Building Ourselves

Similarly, everything we do or choose to leave undone creates the person we are in the process of becoming. In this way, we aren’t so different from the characters we create. The first requirement to becoming something through effort is that it helps to want something specific. If you want to be fit, start exercising daily. If you want to be a better writer, the best thing you can do is to take action that will help you become one: take a class, write a fresh page, or read something. Take action daily.

Conscious Choices

If you’re ready to become the person you know you want to be, this week, make a small choice that will help build the future you see for yourself.

We can, of course, become something by not taking action. By not exercising, we’ll become less fit. By not writing, not reading, not learning, we won’t improve as writers. In fact, we may lose some of the facilities we already have. This is a choice we make every day reflected in a million small decisions. Each of those decisions leads to the ultimate outcome. If you’re ready to become the person you know you want to be, this week, make a small choice that will help build the future you see for yourself. Every step leads you closer to the person you are becoming.