Is Your Character an Adult or Child (not
age)?:
Try a simple experiment. Think about a person you know and
blurt out, without too much thinking, either "adult" or
"child." Now try another, and another. We're not talking
about their age here. There are definitely older people
who can be labeled a child, and vice versa. Children are
given to playfulness, extraversion, openness to
experience, and having a silly sense of humor. While an
adult personality may be more reserved, task focused, and,
although they like a good laugh, are more interested in
getting back to the serious issues at hand. Child
personalities are more likely to make mistakes and learn
from them. While an adult is more likely to shrug off a
mistake as not their fault. When creating a character,
it's very important to decide which of the two major
personalities she will fall in to.
In general, heroes are children while villains are adult
personalities.
Children are more open to change. They know they don't
understand everything and are more willing to learn as
they go than a more staid adult type. Adults tend to think
they know everything since they've experienced more. As a
result, change can come about more slowly in an adult
personality. The childlike hero is able to adapt to the
situation, which can be the key to winning the story
struggle.
The child personality tends to live in the moment, never
really planning in advance, giving her a talent for
thinking on the spot and coming up with an innovative way
out of a situation. Adult personalities are more likely to
sit back and think things through, wasting valuable time
and resources. They have plans (sometimes dastardly plans)
and when things go wrong, they may stick with the plans
rather than "winging it." This can be their undoing.
A child personality is more physical, able to run and
catch that swinging cable, than adult types who tend to
get others to do it for them. A child-hero is more likely
to run into the burning house and save the goldfish than
an adult-villain. Why get the suit dirty when there are
firefighters trained for that sort of thing?
Adults are careful speakers and exhibit more advanced
language skills than the child type. A child may find his
mouth getting him into more trouble, while the adult
relies on speech to make herself understood.
The child personality is more outwardly emotional,
screaming, crying, and fighting, while the adult is more
calm and self-controlled.
Again, it's important to point out we're not talking about
age. You could have a scene on a playground with eight
year olds and make it clear who are the adults and who are
the children personalities. This technique can prove to be
an effective tool in differentiating your characters and
giving them instant life and theme.