A couple days ago, Talli Roland made a really great blog post about writing, and the TV show Friends. It reminded me of a post I’d meant to do a couple weeks ago about something similar-ish, namely, how I solved a characterization problem by watching the show Bones.
I have a character who is not particularly emotional and who prefers to look at everything rationally–not unlike Bones/Dr. Brennan (though my character doesn’t have the social weirdness that Bones has.) I realized while watching the show that even though Bones isn’t very emotional, she’s still a sympathetic character, and in each episode, the viewer is able to see emotions in Bones that she may not recognize herself.
I thought, why can’t I do that with my writing? I’d (pretty idiotically) thought that my only option was to make her more emotional, but now I see that instead, I just have to display her emotionlessness in a way that makes the reader identify–because everyone has had feelings that we didn’t want to recognize or admit to, and everyone has been in situations where not feeling anything was just easier than feeling whatever unpleasant emotions were there. And when she does have emotions that she can’t stomp on (which happens more frequently as her situation gets more dangerous) I get to make those into something special. 
Also, has anyone heard the new Taylor Swift song? I feel like I’m turning my back on my metal and classic rock fandom by admitting this, but I sort of love it… 
By the way, the paranormal YA anthology Kiss Me Deadly just came out a few days ago and one of my friends and one of the nicest people I’ve met in the writing field, Karen Mahoney, has a story, “The Spirit Jar” in the anthology. I urge you all to check it out, because Karen is a fantastic writer, and EVERY author featured in the book is just amazing.
Do you get your card-board cut-outs made at the same place as Carolina?
Ohhh I love Bones
I adore Dr Brennan because she acts like she has no emotion but you can see it. Great post!
Great post. thank you.A well written script is a joy, and can certainly give new insight in how to approach writing.
I watched a Bones episode twice! (once when Motley Crue was on and another when the lead singer of Buckcherry was a guest star). Love the author pics on the right side!!
Hi Alexandra,I'm glad you wrote about this topic.I think most of us struggle creating a believable and sympathetic female character. I wrote a post on July 25 on how to create a great female protagonist. Although I've succeeded with a lot of my female characters, I think I have to work twice as hard to create a great heroine to avoid having similarities with my previous ones.Keep on writing!Cheers!Claudiawww.claudiadelbalso.blogspot.com
Thanks for the link love!
It's so funny – sometimes watching TV shows, my mind just tweaks and I have an 'aha' moment. I think we can learn a lot about story-telling from television. That's my justification and I'm sticking to it!
I know this is late, but thanks so much for the KMD shout out.
You rock!!Kaz <3p.s. Great post. I love BONES!