What If - About Character Development

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I’ve been watching one of the Masterclass.com classes. This one is on acting and is presented by Samuel L. Jackson. It is a behind-the-scenes look at what he, as an actor, thinks about as he’s getting ready to play a new character. He is also teaching some actors in the class about how he does it.

I am not an actor, yet, as a writer, I felt compelled to sign up for this class because I do invent figures for stories. It’s complicated because I also work with Spirit as a psychic channel. Spirit is in my work, whether it is a conscious thing or a magical, helpful part of my team. Also, I like Samuel L. Jackson. 

There are 21 lessons in the course, and I’ve only done the first six. There is much more to come. I want to address one thing I am learning from this class. That is what I’m thinking of as “What if?”

The exercise, as an actor and as a writer, is to think about what if your character does something that is not included in the script? How would they react to slipping on a sidewalk in front of a bunch of people they are usually very business-like with? Or, what if they were faced with a moral dilemma? This has teased away at part of me for a long time, when I think about the characters I want to write about. The funny thing is, once I felt they would leap fully formed from the pages of whatever book I was writing.

In truth, many of them have come to me via Spirit. We’ve enjoyed conversations, but I’ve never gotten as far as creating a fully fleshed-out character.

Somehow, all this time, I have been writing personal essays and such. I’ve got a wealth of experience to draw on and still manage to be truthful, what with being 70 years old and a psychic channel. And a lifelong reader. Lifelong, from about the third grade, I suppose. That was when I was given a social studies book where a family uprooted themselves, moved West, and created a new town. The book was supposed to last us all year. I read it over the weekend. My teacher was not pleased with me. However, that is also the school where I took an advanced reading course. There was a machine we looked at that guided our eyes from line to line.

As an adult, I knew that I read quickly, and once I set out to discover just how quickly. I tested it twice (there are lots of places online, just ask Google) and came up with a figure in the 600s. This is when your eyes trace an S on the page, and you get it in one swoop. However, this is not enjoyable reading. It is speed reading. I don’t do it often. I much prefer to just read.

Okay, for purposes of research, I found a place online called ReadingSoft.com. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time looking for it. It was the second one listed when I Googled it. I tested at 285 words a minute, which is an average speed. Of course, they would sell you a program to increase your speed, but I’m not sure I really need it right now. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, it would be valuable to be able to read and comprehend whatever material you are reading, especially if you were in a class-like setting.

I do know there was a word that caught me up. My eyes aren’t the greatest these days, and I am overdue for an eye test and new glasses. My old glasses are full of scratches and pits that occlude whatever I am reading. Anyway, the word in the reading selection was sprinter. I mistook it for the word 'sphincter,' which threw me for a bit. I had to go back and read it again just because I couldn’t believe my eyes. It just didn’t make sense.

I went back to watch the class for a minute just now and realized why I’ve been stilled upon Lesson six all this time. It’s because the character of Jules in Pulp Fiction, which is the character they are talking about right now, is both a bad person and a good person at the same time. This is something I’ve been tussling with for years. The change of heart that a person can experience in their life is absolutely fascinating to me. I may go back and watch this lesson again, probably for the third time. If you'd like to see the scene we've been talking about go to YouTube and put Ezekiel 25:17 Pulp Fiction in the search area. I was going to do it for you, but you know what? As a reader and very likely a writer yourself, you need to work for this. It's how one man goes about having a change of heart. 

One of the things that Spirit has taught me is that there is no Hell. There just isn’t. They did say that there are hot spots in Heaven, which made me giggle. I think they were serious about it. People continue learning after this lifetime is over. We reincarnate, and sometimes what we continue working on are the lessons we never quite mastered in our first lifetime. However, some lessons absolutely require more than one lifetime to complete. The judging that goes on when you get to those pearly gates of Heaven? That is, you and your spiritual teachers discussing things. Mostly, it is you, now as your higher self, determining just how you did with input from those spiritual advisors.

Then, you might remain in Heaven for 750 more years to work on all of that or reincarnate to do some more work. It’s all sort of hazy to me, even with this pat explanation. I remember once Seth, my Spirit Guide, said they even let lawyers into Heaven.

So, whatever I write will include the moral dilemmas that people face.

Thanks for reading. For your convenience or curiosity, I’ve listed some other places where I’m active on the internet.

Love,

🌺 Pauline Evanosky

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 The Best Stuff for Kids on YouTube
 Just Passing Through on YouTube
 Talking To Spirit on YouTube
 Pauline Evanosky on Medium
 Talking To Spirit on Substack
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 References I recommend on your path to more psychic awareness