Cats and character

[Weird Jim]

I visit a cat forum, and the other day a poster mentioned (or posted a link — I can’t remember) seeing a cat fight on TV. That was a genuine cat fight; two fourlegged furries going at it and not the other type of fracas often referred to as a ‘cat fight’. The poster had three cats. One, at the sound of the fight, took off to another part of the house to hide. Cat number two perked up for a moment and then ignored the fight and went about doing its own thing. Cat three became agitated and wanted to join in.

Now this seemed to me to be a good example of how different people might react differently to an incident they all experience at the same time.

Any comments?

[jschara]

I think it does illustrate very well how three different people, witnessing the same event, will interpret it and, quite possibly, respond in a different way.

[J.A. Marlow]

This reminds me of a true story Dean Wesley Smith told while I was on the coast. If anyone is in chat sometime, remind me to tell you the full story. It really illustrates the below comments.

Anyway, he used it to illustrate three main types of personality types and how to apply them to writing. These people are defined by how they immediately and instinctively react to a crisis. They are:

1. The runner-inners: Typically the heroes of the story. In real life these are the type of people that don’t tend to live very long.
2. The call-for-helpers: These are the people who have an immediate reaction of getting help. Either running for help, calling for help, or whatever. Good for side-kicks and some main characters. These people usually live the longest.
3. The freezers: You’ve seen these people. Something odd happens, something frightening, and they get that frozen deer-in-headlight look and reaction. Good for victims or casual small characters. Like the runner-inners, these people tend not to live very long in emergencies, but obviously for a different reason.

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

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