Optimism, a positive outlook on life. A view about the successful outcome of a future event. These are the "glass is half full" people. According to Wikipedia, the word comes from the Latin optimum, meaning "best.". I like to think of it as seeing the positive elements within a situation instead of focusing on the negative.
It can be interesting to think about which of our characters may be more optimistic than others. How has being optimistic helped your character? For those less optimistic characters, do they get bothered by overly optimistic people? Do they sometimes wish they could have a more positive outlook?
I've written very optimisitic to pessimistic characters. I tend to be on the optimistic side of life though.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, glass half-full or half-empty, I'm more of a 'Hey, I ordered a cheeseburger' type of person.
ReplyDeleteI suppose my character is pretty blase with his attitude towards life. He's too busy trying to drift through life, and taking it one day at a time doesn't leave much time for a cheery outlook.
He makes me look hugely optimistic!
Steven Chapman (writer)
Most of my important characters combine optimism, pessimism and realism, depending on the mood or situation they're in.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what that says about me ... :-)
Great choice for O. I seem to write more pessimistic characters. Not by choice, it just seems to happen that way. Funny because I don't really think of myself as a pessimist. Interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI'd never thought about my characters in this way, but you've started me thinking! On the whole my characters are optimistic like me, but the protagonist in my science fiction WIP starts the novel at the other end of the spectrum.
ReplyDeleteYou have a new follower!
Ellie Garratt
I feel a pessimistic character has little to fear when they expect the worst. They can only feel great when the outcome is positive. But mostly we like to read optimistic characters, because they make a story move forward.
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