Character ,
Five key Learnings from my work as a Psychologist
By Kingsley Pearson
Before I wrote Flat 401, I worked for over a decade as a clinical psychologist. I spent years learning to understand the human mind and people’s experiences, and training to be able to help people overcome emotional challenges. At the time, I didn’t think of it as ‘preparation for novel-writing,’ but it turned out to come in handy!
Below are five ways my clinical background has informed how I write; I hope you might use these ideas too.
1. Tension: threat, not just action
In Compassion-Focused Therapy, we talk about the threat system – the part of the brain that activates when something feels dangerous. Importantly, it doesn’t distinguish between actual threat and perceived threat. The same group of physiological responses can be triggered by a near car crash or by a passive-aggressive text from your partner.
In fiction, this means tension doesn’t require a gun or a chase scene. It can be built on what a character believes might happen: being found out, losing face, hurting someone they love. If your character feels threatened – socially, emotionally, psychologically – the reader will too.
Tip: Identify what your character is afraid of losing (status, safety, love, control), put it in jeopardy – and make sure the reader can see and understand this.
2. Complex characters often don’t act in their own best interests
In the therapy room, people rarely show up with clear motivations. Or, they might express a motivation (‘I don’t want to be depressed or anxious’) but have understandable difficulty getting on board with the path towards that goal – because it’s hard.
Characters don’t need to be likeable (it’s often said), but the more memorable ones do need to be layered. Often, the richest characters are the ones whose behaviour is coherent, but not always free of contradictions.
Tip: Ask yourself, what does this character do that inadvertently sabotages themself? Put some of that into action by showing the unintended negative consequences of them pursuing (or avoiding pursuing) their goals.
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By Kingsley Pearson
About the author
Kingsley Pearson is a Clinical Psychologist and debut author of Flat 401. His writing has been longlisted for the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers Prize and shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran and Joffe Books Prizes. You can follow him on Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, and Facebook.