: Re: How to write character to contradict it's values I am having a kind of writers block with a short story... not a writers block in a sense, that the problem is, that I just want to challenge

@Tiffany377

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For most people there is a difference between what values they believe in and what values they are able to consistently follow in their life.

There are people who believe in a healthy lifestyle, yet can not stop themselves from eating unhealthy junk food from time to time.
There are people who believe in the sanctity of marriage, yet succumb to temptation and cheat on their spouse.
There are people who believe in fairness and egalitarianism, yet act selfish from time to time.
I believe in good work ethics, yet here I am, sitting at work, writing this post which has absolutely nothing to do with my job.

Many people strife for a certain ideal version of themselves, but they rarely succeed in achieving it. Everyone encounters situations where they succumb to their emotions and act contrary to their ideals. That's not acting "out of character", that's acting on a character aspect someone tries to suppress, but fails.

Emotions are the key here. Something must trigger an intense emotional response in your character, which causes him to act contrary to his pacifist ideals and have a violent outburst. If you want to keep the victim innocent, it must be something which seems quite mundane to the victim, but very important to the perpetrator.

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