Writing For Emotional Impact- Karl Iglesias

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9V4rEQnle8

I like to use the example of a sugar coconut pill. You

know, like the thing you give to a dog. The dog
needs the medicine but the only way the dog is
gonna it the pill is surrendered by sugar. Stories are
sugar coconut pill. As the core of the story there are
the meaning, the purpose of what we are supposed
to do. It teaches us a specific lesson, right. And
everything else is the coding to make an
entertaining.
(02:15 – 9:55) So in order to tell a good one, you have to know
how to make it entertaining. That's part of it. But
ABSTRACT:
you also can't miss that kernel, which is the
Karl Iglesias tells us that the essence of a story is meaning: Why that story? What are you trying to
the meaning. And in order to tell a good one so that say with that story? What's the message you're
we pay attention to it, the public need to care trying to say? So you have to know that because
about the character. If we are able to care about stories are lessons for us, and the only way we
characters is because, like monkey, we have mirror could relate and the only way we could absorb that
neurone: when we see a person doing something is message is to see someone experiencing what
like we are doing it too for our brain. So, when it we're supposed to learn. So there's a thing called
happens, there dopamine and oxytocin, call mirror neurons, which I don't know if you've heard.
empathy drugs, that are release into our brain. A Basically, our brains kind of don't know the
technique to make the audience care about the difference between imagination and reality. So this
character is to make them feel sorry for this is something that was discovered by Italian
character: Make the character going through scientists. They were studying monkeys and trying
something unjust like mistreating or betrayal. to figure out what happens in their brain when they
Another technique it makes them care about do things. So they were studying a monkey
something other than themself. grabbing up a banana, and they saw what part of
the brain is lit up. And then they saw the brain of a
monkey watching another monkey grab a banana.
TRANSCRIPTION: And they saw that it was the same exact firing
patterns. In other words, the same part of their
Interviewer: So keeping with the fact that we need brain of the monkey seeing the monkey grab a
stories, we create stories, is part of the human banana. It was the same as if the monkey was
experience, how does someone tell a great one? grabbing the banana. So this is called mirror
How does someone engage? neurons. This is something that we have, too.
Karl Iglesias: Well, that's the 64 minutes questions,
right? How do you tell a great story? Well, you have
to know what stories do to us because they're part And the lesson of that is that, when we watch
of us. In other words, we evolved with stories. And something, when we watch a character in the
so stories are part of us, our brain have evolved to screen going through something, our brain is
hardware stories, to appreciate story in a certain thinking that we're doing it. So if you see a couple
way, to do what it supposed to do. kissing, the same parts of the brain will light up as
you kissing someone. You may not actually feel it, how you tell a good story. And if you don't know
but it's the same part of the brain. So you're this, you don't know how to make us care about a
experiencing what's going on in the screen. And if character, witch it that I see all the time, that’s
a character is struggling to accomplish something, already you’re already fail. If we don’t care about
you're watching this and in a subconscious level, the character, I don’t car how many booms, set
you are learning what the character is learning. For piece, thrilling twist you have, we just gonna get
me, great stories are about teaching us how to live. the story disengage.
And the way to do that is by showing a character
So care about the character step number one. Step
who changes, who transforms. And that
number two is kept us engage through, again,
transformation, because change is so difficult for
dramatics technique. And hopefully, you have a
us in real life, we need to see a character
purpose to your story, a meaning to your story. So
accomplishing that change to see how they did it.
when the story is finish and you thing about it and
And that's how we learn.
you go “hum I get it” that how you appreciate it.
So that's kind of a quick way of saying how to tell a
Interviewer: What is some of those little
good. Witch is show a character who struggles to
techniques, just a few if you can, that make care
achieve a certain goal and who transforms as a
about the character?
result of that. All that surrounded by dramatic
techniques that keep us engaged, because that's Karl Iglesias: I going to talk about my Pixar’s
very important. That's another thing about talking seminar, because they’re master of this. I know
about story, is that stories were designed to feel they tell story about toys, about monsters, about
good because it's the way for us to pay attention bugs, about robots, fish, rat... They make you care
to. In other words, you need to make the brain pay and connect with those character.
attention to your story in order to get the lesson
out of it. And all the stuff about, you know, There are all bunch of techniques. For me, there
entertainment, that's the paying attention to. In are make us feel sorry for that character. So there's
other words, when you show, for example, you little moments where you can create a moment in
create suspense in a thriller, your brain is doing the story where a character is unjustly abused or
something that makes you pay attention. That's unjustly mistreated or insulted or betrayed or
how we evolved to do that. So there are dopamine, neglected. It could be any character, if that
oxytocin, which is the empathy drugs that mothers moment is there, you're going to feel sorry for that
get that when they're with her babies. We get that character at that moment takes an instant. So
when we hug someone. So oxytocin is what's called that's one, if you show that they are like us, if you
the social or the ing hormone because we're social show their humanity, for example, if you show that
animals. And so when you see a character and you they care about something other than themselves,
create a character that you care about, so there's that's another technique. So there's a moment in
actual techniques or medical techniques you can the movie, Leon the Professional, which is about a
use to make us care for a character. Then oxytocin hitman, right? And it opens with him doing a hit,
is going through your brain and you bond with that and he kills people. You don't know if he's good or
character, you care about that character. That's bad, but he goes home and he takes care of a plant,
what keeps you engaged in the story and you're right? And that right away, you say, oh, no, he cares
paying attention. You're not disengaged. So that's about a plant. So he is ok, he is human.
https://kiingo.com/tip/how-to-make-people-care-about-your-character

How To Make People Care About Your Character

February 25th, 2020
Written By: Ross Hartmann
#writingtipoftheday#empathy#make us care#interest#fascination#mystery#desire#motivation#moral
dilemma

The first thing we must keep in mind when it comes to making the reader care about a character is
that there are different stages of caring. There's the initial stage of being interested enough in a
character to keep reading and then there's a later stage where the reader becomes completely
immersed in wanting to see every detail of the character's future.

Our first goal is to establish a strong enough initial bond that the reader will want to continue. Perhaps
the quickest way of doing this is to show the character going through a human experience. We might
show the character caring for someone, falling in love, or being cared for by someone else. Another
powerful technique is to show a character experiencing undeserved misfortune. Perhaps the
character is mistreated, goes through a traumatic experience, or loses a loved one. Showing this type
of moment upfront can make us immediately feel for the character.

Another way to make the reader care about a character right off the bat is to give the character an
admirable quality. This plays into our desire for wish fulfilment. When we see a character who's
skilled at their job, or who speaks their mind, or rebels, or who can run laps around their peers when
it comes to math problems (like in Good Will Hunting), we're usually intrigued. We like people who
are funny, courteous, smart, witty, etc. This strength often needs to be balanced with some sort of
flaw or weakness, of course, in order to create an interesting character.

Making the reader care in the short term isn't necessarily about making them care *for* the character,
it's about making them care to learn more *about* the character. With that in mind, we can also raise
a mystery about the character. Perhaps we hear people speak highly about them but we don't actually
see their face (like in Notorious, Schindler's List, and Casablanca). Perhaps the character is secretive or
behaves in a way that makes us suspect they're hiding something. This will intrigue the reader.

After we've established an initial bit of empathy for the character and made the reader want to learn
more, we've got to solidify the bond. To make the reader care even more we can give our character a
strong goal with a deep motivation and intense stakes. In other words, make the character want
something, give them an emotional reason for wanting that thing, and make something bad happen
if they don't get it. This will create a dramatic question which will make the reader ask, "Will the
character get what they want?" They'll want to follow the character on the journey.

Lastly, we can put the character through a series of moral dilemmas on their journey. Watching a
character as they go through the struggle of inner conflict draws us closer to them. We empathize
with the pain of needing to make difficult decisions and we wonder what we would do in those
situations. This is an important part of drawing us even closing to the character.
Here’s why you got attached to your favorite
fictional character
https://www.news.ufl.edu/2022/05/why-you-got-attached-to-your-favorite-character/

(Jane Dominguez/UF News)

A new, first-of-its-kind study at the University of Florida has revealed people create emotional
attachments with fictional characters by making similar judgments about their personalities as they do
with real-life people. The study also is the first to explore the concept of assumed similarity — a
process by which a person assumes that someone else shares characteristics that are similar to their
own — with fictional characters.

Focusing on 56 characters from the popular book and TV series “Game of Thrones,” the study allowed
participants to rate each character based on commonly studied personality traits. Authors Gregory
Webster, an associate professor of psychology at UF, and Jessica T. Campbell, then-doctoral student
who is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, chose the franchise because of the
richness of the characters and their development. “The characters in Game of Thrones are very human
and relatable,” Webster said. “There are no perfect good guys or perfect bad guys, and fairly likable
heroes. There are also a lot of characters that evolve over the series.”

Webster and Campbell recruited more than 300 users of the website Reddit, which is commonly used
for its “subreddits,” online discussion forums dedicated to a particular subject – in this case, Game of
Thrones. They were asked to rate themselves on the Big Five traits, extraversion, agreeableness,
open-mindedness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism; and all four “Dark Tetrad” traits, narcissism,
Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. Then, they were asked to rate the 56 characters from
the series in the same way.

The study revealed that, in general, people were consistent in the traits they assigned. It also found
that people were more likely to rate characters whose traits were similar to their own; on seven of the
nine traits, there was “significant evidence” people were projecting their personality onto the
characters, Webster said.

“It would suggest that people do form parasocial relationships with these characters, and it’s probably
because they see more of their personality traits reflected in those characters,” Webster said. “Which
means, if they like the character, it’s because of what they see of themselves.” For example, those who
see themselves as narcissistic are more likely to see more characters in Game of Thrones as more
narcissistic, he added. People who freely admit to being narcissists tend to project their narcissism
onto others, Webster said. It makes them feel less odd about it.

Webster said he was surprised by the level of participation of the subredditors. During the time of
COVID-19 restrictions, it was difficult to collect data in-person, so collecting data on fictional characters
from fans in online forums was an efficient workaround. “Most prior studies that explored the same
topic required a group of people to be in the same room together, and for each person to rate each
other,” Webster said. “This was all done online. There was no strong incentive to lie, which made
participants feel less odd about admitting certain traits they see in themselves.”
He cautioned there were some drawbacks to the findings, which were recently published in the
journal Psychology of Popular Media. Among them was selection bias because people were allowed to
choose which of the 56 characters they wished to rate. As a result, the series’ most popular characters
received more ratings than others. Also, the study's findings may not generalize beyond the Game of
Thrones fandom, or even beyond active redditors who were enthusiastic enough to participate in the
survey for free.

Two years after they took the survey, the ardent fan base was also enthusiastic about the study’s
preliminary findings, which included a ranking of the highest and lowest five characters for each
personality trait, Webster said. “Some people were really excited,” he said. “Most of them thought it
was really interesting. But there was some contention about the rankings that I showed in the end.”