Trust - A Human Observation Project Post

By
Most of us strive to see the best in people, and give them the benefit of the doubt.  Others live as sceptics afraid to trust anyone in case it backfires.  And then of course there are those of us who are balanced in their viewpoint.  We approach things cautiously yet with an open mind.


Thinking on these contradictions gave me the idea for this blog post.  Even those who say they would never be taken advantage of sometimes are.  On the flipside of that, those who say people are out to “screw” other people may find themselves pleasantly surprised when their trust is rewarded with an honest friend.

I believe in analyzing this aspect of human nature – trust – we can strengthen the characters in our books.
Even those who wouldn’t consider themselves trusting, or as they would term it “naive”, human nature allows for inconsistencies.  They may find themselves trusting when they had no intention of doing so.

So how does this aspect of human nature effect our books?

Dishonest people prey on taking advantage of those who are trusting.  All you have to do is think about the many schemes.  For example, you won a cruise and all they need is your credit card number to confirm your vacation.

Misplacement of trust gives us an interesting springboard to create a lot of conflicts in our books.  Characters relationships become complicated as people don't know who to trust, or strained when trust is misplaced.

We're complicated as human beings and by analyzing this aspect of our make-up we can add another layer to our characters.

What role has trust played in your writing? Is it something you can share with us without revealing a key plot point in your book?

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 1, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    My motto is "Trust the Process". This relates more the writing process than character or plot development, but it gives me the courage to write.

    Trust also gives us the courage to live. Love. Laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carolyn ArnoldNovember 1, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    Great input Anne! It's true...even we didn't give ourselves over to trust at some points, we'd miss out on a lot in life.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

When Family Doesn't Support Your Writing

By
If you can empathize with the title of this post, then you're not alone.  So many writers, myself included, can honestly say they have family members who don't support their writing.  Some may go so far as to tell you they don't even want to hear about what you're working on, what you've done, what your goals are.  That hurts. But think about it this way, in some ways is writing any different that an other life decisions your family may not agree with?  I'm sure, if you're like me, you get very defensive when it comes to your writing.  In fact, I'm not going to deny that it places an iron wedge in the relationships.  After all, if your focus in life is your writing, and they ask so what have you been up to ...what are you supposed to do lie, remain quiet, answer another way even though you're so excited about your current WIP you'd tell a stranger?  Ticking clocks are heard in the background while you decide.
Read more

A Big Decision...

By
Image
For those of you who know me, and follow me on Twitter, you may be aware that I’ve been debating whether to pursue publishing traditionally, or take the plunge and self-publish.  With all the “buzz” on the internet, and after great consideration, I have decided to go ahead and self-publish. I had asked myself, does this mean I’m giving up ?  And, the answer is irrevocably no.  Self-publishing used to carry a type of stigma that somehow labelled the work as adhering to a lower standard, but things have changed.  Authors are taking pride in their work like never before, and just because of the increasing ease to self-publishing, they’re not allowing this to affect the quality. In making my decision, I also considered the fact that just because a book is published traditionally it doesn’t mean that it will meet with success.  Many self-published books have received awards, honourable mentions, and have met with even more-than-modest sales.  In fact, there’s no real limitations on the su
Read more

A Promotional Tool that Makes Sense

By
Image
USB Memory Direct USBs make an excellent promotional tool. I was approached by a company called USB Memory Direct to sample their product and write a review. Lucky for me, they got my name from my partnership with Sisters in Crime. They were offering me a couple dozen customized USB drives--and all I had to do in exchange was write an honest review. Well, here it is. The drives are of excellent quality. They came in and were a lot bigger than I thought they'd be from the pictures online. (That was a bonus!) I've used them personally, but I haven't handed any out yet. When I do, I believe they'll make a statement. And who wouldn't love the fact that they are shaped like a book?! Let's face it: us authors are always looking for promotional items to give to our lovely readers, something just a little extra to stick in with that signed book in the mail. I'd say these USB drives would make an excellent option. Not only are they unique--and customized f
Read more