If any of you haven't read Crystal Clear: Prologue, stop reading right now and read it. It'll clear up plenty when I talk about this. If you did, keep reading. Or read the prologue again, I don't care.
Most of what was in the article I had already known, such as that psychosis is not, in fact, psychopathy and how people never snap after one event and have based that on Crystal's character. However, the one part of the article caught my eye (I'm just going through these stereotypes one at a time to talk about them individually):
Things that need to be avoided:
The pretty little "mad" waif. You know, the characters who sit around in pretty frilly dresses, sip tea (or blood), and make pretty little babble at people (or stuffed animals). These characters inevitably make mental illness look pretty and romantic.
In the beginning of the book (i.e., C.1, C.2, basically until she leaves America) I am writing how there's a bit of something off about her. She, at the age on nine, talks to thin air and to her stuffed animals to give foreshadowing to the ending. However, this doesn't occur throughout the entire book, so I think that I'm okay in that department, but I'm not sure.
The perfect innocent who snaps, goes "insane," and goes on a murder rampage. This is bollocks. Plus, it reinforces the misconception that mental illness or insanity automatically means violent behavior.
There is no nice way to say this: Crystal literally murders everyone in the world at the end of the book (and technically the beginning prologue). However, she is far from a perfect innocent. I inserted so many stressful, traumatic, and downright messed up situations in the outline and what will be the book it's not even funny (well, it wasn't funny in the first place, but still). These events lead her to snap from everything that has pressed on her. She also isn't
Characters who do bad things simply because they're mentally ill. Mental illness isn't a magic switch that flips a person's morality topsy-turvy or turns it off entirely. While mental illness can, in some cases, contribute to a person's harmful or destructive behaviors, there is still always an underlying motivation behind the person's actions...
Anything that implies that being "insane" is someting that people do simply to be irritating, difficult, different, or rebellious. Because it's not. It's the result of a mental illness. It's not something that one can simply up and decide to be or not to be.
I agree with this 100%. Which is also why her personality is quirky, sarcastic, and slightly dark. In violent situations, she tries to get away (when it's a mortal) or kills/maims it (if it's a supernatural creature that presents a problem to society). So if she gets cornered in an ally by muggers, she'll disarm them, maybe knock them down if needed, and get the Flowey out of there. Another thing she'll do is make small talk with them and twist the conversation around until the muggers get so confused that she can slip past them. If she's in an argument, she uses her observations and wits to win. Most of her comments are sarcastic or with an underlying tone of sarcasm, as you'll know if you've roleplayed with me, or something nerdy in general. And whenever she does do something bad, she has a very good reason (i.e., breaking a law to catch a criminal
Characters whose coolness, [etc.] is supposed to derive from their "insanity." This is a form of romanticizing mental illness...
Characters for whom being "insane" or "crazy" is pretty much all the character is about. People with mental illnesses are people with hopes, dreams, [etc.]
Characters who are supposed to have severe mental issues need to be three-dimensional people as much as any other type of character does.
Crystal is the main character. We all know that. I don't think that I do this, but then again I've never learned how to avoid it. This is the category that I really need help on.
Okay, I think that is it... if you got this far, great job. This took me about thirty minutes to write, haha. I guess what I am asking in my own long-winded way is how I can avoid these stereotypes but make Crystal seem like she is in my head and how to insert psychopathy in the book? I guess I better write Chap. 1 now. G-bye!
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