In a post on Industrial Scripts, Tallulah Allen examines personification and how it can be useful in your writing. “Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to something non-human,” she explains. “This could be an animal, an inanimate object, a setting or even a concept. These characteristics can be any emotions, actions, or behaviors that help to bring something to life.”
Taken literally, this can become anthropomorphism, where an animal, object, or concept take on literal human form and behavior. This occurs most often in film, especially in animated movies. See almost any Pixar movie for examples.
So what can personification do for you?
- It can create a connection between your non-human characters and your audience.
- It can push your audience to view ideas – and humanity itself – through another perspective.
- It can help you write more evocatively and make you work harder to bring your story world to life.
Allen shares numerous examples of personification in film, including both animated and live action characters.
