Catacherizing

What is Catacherizing? It is catagorizing characters for anylisis. You can do this to anyone you know and it might help you to get to know them a little better. But please remember, a character and a person is individual. They might do crazy "out of character" things, and thats fine. Catacherizing will help you really flesh out a character and help you write those little things that a character does that endears them or makes you hate their presence.

Part 1: Stereotypes and Subtypes

I'm sure we've all done this. You look at someone and make a judgement. This can be either good or bad. While not being over-general or narrow-minded, we can't deny that people types don't exist. Thats where character comes from. What "kind" of a person are you? I have always found school sterotypes rather amusing, but I have now found that they help me to analyze my characters. I call them the Preps, the Geeks, the Emos and the Freaks. Maybe you're beginning to see where I'm going. Only I want to analyze much deeper than choice of wardrobe. A "Prep" by clothes might actually be an Emo under further examination.As much as possible, you want to analyze actions and feelin gs, which help us to follow thought and further understand a character. Let's begin...

Preps: These can be particularaly perky people. They usually are trendy, know what to say, and have lots of friends buzzing around them. They can be easily offended, and have a tendency to strike back. They become more irritated than truly angered. This sometimes stems from being hurt themselves. Many times a prep is a rather shallow minded person, or sigularly goaled and materialistic (relationships included). Often they run to busyness to help heal a pain and don't like to deal with things in life that they find emotionally/spiritually difficult. Hiding behind a bright smile, the deeper minded preps can often become sad because their lives seem meaningless. Then the cycle begins again as they run back to their "things." Preps who have learned that life is more than stuff are usually happy, carefree people, who don't take life too deep.

Geeks:"underlings" These folks are those that are misfits for one reason or another. They usually are more soft-spoken and quietly follow their goals. Often, they think a bit too much about what people think of them, but if they learn to go on no matter what, they often succeed dispite the odds. They accept people for who they are, and sometimes need to be wiser about who they hang with, but if they are wise, they gain truer friends than most. The dark side of the geek is a sinister one that can quietly build a net around others to gain power. Geeks are often submissive, but when they stand, a revival may soon follow.

Emos: These people are non-conventional, half-glass folks. While many people may become depressed, these people may live in a sort of state of depression which they find comfortable. They are usually sensitive, easily moved people, who either deny their feelings and blank out or dive headfirst into feeling everything so that their emotions crush them. They can be very artistic or mathmatic. They tend to think outside of the box and often clash ideas with those around them. They can be stubborn and set in their ways, and are not usually submissive; more angular than curved thinkers. They are a little hard to get to know, but very loyal.

Freaks: Freaks are those who care very little about what people think of them. They move forward despite what anyone says, sometimes out of rebellion and other times out of conviction. These people tend to be the leaders, or those that people turn to in time of crisis. They may seemed removed from the bulk of society and culture which they deem silly. They may be cast out of a society or choose to leave. They can be incredibly good or intensely evil. They can also be simply carefree, thinking deeply but resting on greater things.

These are just a few stereotypes, and I'll try to write up some more tomorrow. Make up your own and write them down on here. Making up new catacherisms really helps to solidify and pin point characters in your own mind. Tell me what you think!

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