By Forris Day Jr.
Pamela Jaye Smith’s character development book called “Hidden Drives” is a really intriguing system to help you develop characters in your writing. It works with any type of storytelling where characters are involved. It is a book utterly loaded with information and insight on the types of characters we read about and see in real life everyday. I am aware this is going to sound cliché’ because, I guess it is, BUT this book is a “must read” for any writer who has to create characters. There, I said it. I shouldn’t leave out directors. Directors of film and theater will benefit from the ideas on character development withing the pages of this book.
Honestly when I first started reading “Hidden Drives” I didn’t enjoy it. I had a hard time understanding what Smith was talking about as she referenced characters from Mythology (which bored me to death in high school) and all kinds of spirituality concepts that I just never have been able to grasp. Hey, I was a “woodshop rat” in high school. Right from the get-go I felt the teachings in this book were above my skill level or even interest level. I painfully read through the introduction and first chapter. Then somewhere into chapter two I had this Ah-Ha moment. I started to “get it”. I understood what she was talking about. I went back into the introduction and first two chapters with renewed energy and a highlighter in hand to mark the little gems of information. I’m glad I stuck with it.
Smith’s book goes into great detail about what the “Inner Drives” are. They are based on eight centers of motivation. These eight centers are, in simple terms, concepts based on parts of your body. They are actual nerve centers and their connected endocrine glands. Each center has it’s own drives associated with it such as love, ambition, creativity and so forth. I will leave it up to Smith to describe it better.
What I really appreciate about the book is section II where she breaks down all eight centers one by one. She teaches some theory about how to use each motivation, how that character may speak, walk, interact with other characters. She even goes as far to give examples of what foods they would probably like to eat and colors they may like. A really dynamic way to create deep and multi-layered characters in your stories. Section III delves into more fun by mixing and matching these centers within individual characters to create even more believable and interesting habitants in your story. Throughout the book are lots of exercises you can do to practice and learn the system.
In conclusion. A wonderful book that should be filed with your reference books in your library. I believe that anyone will be able to invent some really neat characters using Smith’s system. She’s done her research and shares her wealth of knowledge in her book “Inner Drives”. A helpful hint: There is a glossary of terms at the back of the book. I did not discover that until I got to the end but it is certainly useful as you read the book.
Rating: 8/10 – “Create believable multi-layered characters”