In a post on Writers in the Storm, Lisa Hall-Wilson says that exploring your protagonist’s limiting beliefs can help you go deeper into characterization and point of view. “One of the common complaints I hear from those looking to learn deep point of view is that beta readers struggled to connect with characters, and/or the characters’ actions don’t make sense,” Hall-Wilson writes. “The fix is to go deeper with the character, to better understand them – but how do you do that?”
Hall-Wilson says one way is to explore the limiting belief. The limiting belief is the voice that tells your protagonist that she can’t or shouldn’t take some action, or that her actions are doomed to fail. “With a core limiting belief of being ‘a failure,’ every disappointment or blocked path has the potential to secretly confirm that belief,” she writes. “How would that affect someone’s confidence? Their ability to take risk? What lengths would be considered acceptable to avoid having that confirmation? How would they try and protect themselves from that hurt? What messages would they tell themselves in stressful situations?” Once you have the belief, begin asking those questions about your character.
How do you find that belief? You need to drill deep into your character’s motivation. What is the source of their fear, insecurity, or arrogance? That source colors everything your protagonist says and does. Hall-Wilson examines some examples of how different characters might react to something as mundane as a bee sting, depending on whether their limiting belief and its source.
“Work backwards to discover that core belief, get curious about what’s underlying the fear, the anger, the shame – whatever the behaviour pattern is,” Hall-Wilson writes. “The reaction must be a logical solution (to the character) for the core belief problem.” She suggests the interview technique to get to the root of this belief, using “I should…” statements. “This statement doesn’t need to be objectively true, but it must be something the character believes they should do (even if they don’t consciously understand why they believe that to be true),” she says. “Now, keep asking WHY (aim for no more than 5 Whys) until you land on a limiting belief that either works for your story or feels true to that character.”
