Last day to get your entries in and to sign up for the drawing!!

This is the last day to get your entries in and to enter into the drawing. Go here to read the rules and to comment so I know that you want to win. I have really enjoyed this past week of wonderful stories and comments. In fact the last month has been amazing. All of the comments and new friends that I have met has been delightful, getting to know old friends better, extraordinaire.  I can’t thank you enough for your support and kind words. I truly wish I could give all of you a $15 gift certificate but since I can’t, this will have to do (Maybe when I get published and make it big ;)

As a writer, one of the hardest questions I get is, “what is your book about?” I’m supposed to be able to give a one sentence response to this, especially in the query letter. So, for the last day, I’m asking you, “What is your blog about?” In your comment below write a one sentence blurb of why we should visit your blog. Go ahead, advertise yourself and make yourself shine.

Here’s mine:

In the blog “How to Diagnose Your Character” you’ll learn how to use psychology to truly understand your characters and make them come alive in your readers’ mind. 

Defense Mechanisms part 3:

Today we will be looking at half of the immature defense mechanisms. Remember to see this in adolescents is normal but in adults not so much.

Acting out is the expression of the unconscious without the conscious knowing the emotion that drives the behavior. Remember in kids we see this because it gets the kid what he/she wants. It can be attention to the ice cream cone. In an adult it is a different story all together.

Fantasy is when a person retreats into a fantasy world to deal with problems. We see kids act out their fantasies all the time and as writers we are doing this as well. The problem is when we live in the fantasy worlds we have created and no longer deal with real life.

Idealization is when we see others as being more than they really are. We see the other person’s qualities and see none of their faults. Relationships come to mind on this one. Think of those people that stay in a relationship even when their parents and loved ones are screaming no. Another good example is the superstars we idolize.

Passive aggression is an interesting one because the person looks sweet and kind to your face but expresses aggression in ways that can not necessarily be pin pointed, for example procrastination. It is caused because the person fears to confront or stand up for oneself and so the only way to express their frustration is by passive means.

Okay, I really enjoyed the stories and since this is my blog I get to do what I wantJ Now if you would rather link to your own blog I will read them there. So today you get to write flash fiction using one of the above defense mechanisms. The length and everything else is up to you. Remember if you post on your blog just put a link in the comment so I and others can check it out. This one is worth 2 entries as well. Have fun can’t wait to read them.

Defense Mechanisms Part 2:

Today we will start with the pathological defense mechanisms. Remember that these are extremes and do not generally happen. There is also the possibility that they happen in extreme circumstances under extreme duress.

Delusional projection: These are beliefs that are not true but the person believes in no matter what. They are held despite evidence against them, absolute conviction that they are true. Mac users come to mind J (All you Mac users know what I’m talking about)

Denial: The refusal to believe in external reality because of the extreme threat it poses to the person. Believing that something inevitable will not happen, I will never die.

Distortion: Reshaping of external stimuli to fit into own internal needs. These are irrational thoughts that a person may have about those things happening around them. My critique group doesn’t know what they are talking about. My story is wonderful. I’m sure I’ll get first place.

Splitting: Splitting is when we see things as being black or white. They think on the extreme, powerful or defenseless. We don’t see the continuum. We see people as good or evil we do not see them as a whole.

Here’s the challenge. Write a 50 word story or poem or something using one of these defense mechanisms and post below. You will receive two entries into the drawing for your stories and one for a comment. I will post mine tonight! And all you so called "non-writers" do it anyways it will be fun and a great mental exercise. Who knows you may even get hooked.

Defense Mechanisms Part 1

Defense Mechanisms are defenses the ego uses to protect the self. The ego uses these defense mechanisms when there is conflict with the super ego and the id. According to psychoanalytic theory they are unconscious behaviors.

When we become anxious and overwhelmed the ego steps in with certain defenses to protect self. It is important to understand that these are not always good defenses. The majority of people use good strategies to overcome difficult situations.

There are four categories that these defense mechanisms are placed. They are: Pathological, Immature, Neurotic and Mature. Pathological mechanisms are ways the ego uses to escape reality. We often view these people as being insane and crazy. Immature mechanisms are most frequently seen in adolescents. When seen in adults we view them as immature and undesirable to be around, in children it is considered normal behavior. Neurotic mechanisms are common in adults. They give short term benefits but often cause long term damage. Mature mechanisms are found in emotionally strong adults. These mechanisms provide support in short term and long term situations.

There are a lot of different defense mechanisms and over the next couple of weeks we will be going over them. I hope that this will help us in our ability to better understand the reactions that our characters have to difficult situations.

What do you already know about defense mechanisms?

Remember to sign up for the drawing coming up this Saturday. If you don’t comment on my 100 followers page you will not be entered into the contest. Comment here.

Unconscious/Suppressed Memories

Remember yesterday our friends the ego, id, and super ego. Today we will explain how Freud saw them in our mind. The ego is the conscious part of our mind. It is what we are aware of.

The unconscious mind has two parts where the id and the superego reside. In Freud’s view the unconscious is not all things that are unconscious but just the things that have been repressed. They are the things that the ego has deemed necessary to be "forgotten" so that a person can survive.

So there is a kind of war that is going on between the conscious and the unconscious. The conscious tries to keep memories, feelings and thoughts repressed so that they do not disrupt our lives. On the other hand the id and the super ego are trying to be heard and are at times, which is why we have moments of disruption.

The idea from Freud’s perspective is that the unconscious must be made conscious and dealt with. There were two other people who revised this idea of the unconscious Carl Jung and Jacques Lacan. There is also a lot of debate around the idea of the unconscious mind and suppressed memories, whether they are fact or fiction.

Now how does this relate to writing? Many times our characters may act out of character. They may do things that they normally would not do, just like we do. One explanation of this would be to help the reader see that there are other things driving the character that the character does not realize, until later. A suppressed memory of seeing a person getting murdered or of being abused as a child or…. You get the picture.

How would you, or have you, written about suppressed thoughts and memories? How could you write about the unconscious and reveal it to the reader but not the character?

Don't forget to enter the contest here!!

Id, Ego, Super Ego

Don't forget the contest you must put a comment here to sign up. You don't have to do anything to earn extra entries those are all optional. Also remember everyone is new to my blog so don't feel bad like you don't deserve it, because everyone deserves to win :)

Id, Ego, and super ego, what an amazing concept. The following is my interpretation of the Id, Ego, and Super Ego so feel free to disagree. (I may chastise you and tell you that you are wrong, floggings may follow and torture but don't worry it won't last long)

Id is the inner child of a person. It is the part of us that wants to feel good, it is the part of us that acts on the pleasure principle. It is the disorganized part of us. This part of us begins at birth.

The super ego is the part of us that is structured, follows rules relentlessly. The super ego aims for perfection. It is our conscious. The super ego represents our parents, teachers, religious leaders.

As you can see with the super ego and id there is constant conflict. It is a battle that rages within us as one tries to overcome the other. That is why there is also the ego. Without the ego nothing would get done.

The ego acts according to the reality principle. The ego tries to console the id while being rational and at times must mask reality for the id. (This leads us to the subconscious which we will discuss later.) It plays a balancing act of allowing the id to have pleasure but at the same time realizing that there must be order. It is being realistic about short term pleasure and long term goals. So it has a really tough job of serving three masters: the id, the super ego, and the outside world.

When creating our characters it is important to understand the inner conflicts the character is having and to help the reader see these inner conflicts. For example think of Boromir as he is trying to get the ring from Frodo. He loses control and is willing to do anything to get the ring (Id) afterwards he realizes what he has done and is crying, feeling as if he has ruined everything, no hope, in despair, hates himself (Super Ego). Finally at the end when he is dying and Strider is talking to him. He finds peace and realizes that there is hope and that he did not fail (ego). You see the ego balances the feelings of greed with the feeling of failure and self hate to gain a rational perspective and peace.

How do you write inner conflict? Is it important to have this inner conflict in the book? How can inner conflict help us show change in our characters?

Blog hop I Joined

I have never done this before so it should be fun!!