This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 626 episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors Podcast.

I hope you enjoy this week's podcast How to Create Insanely Complex Characters

using Shadow Theory. Complex Character complex characters are the beating heart of good fiction. The simplest and

most effective ways to engineer this complexity is to create contrast. And one of the most intuitive tools a writer

can use for identifying which contrasting elements are organic to any given character or story

situation is Shadow Theory.

The Shadow is a term coined by C.G. Young to describe aspects of the personality

that remain in the dark of the unconscious. These are aspects of the

self that are repressed or perhaps even denied. They are aspects we often do not even recognize as part of our

personalities. They may be aspects we think of as bad, such as anger, but may also

be things we might generally consider to be good, such as power.

We start putting aspects of ourselves into the shadow when we are very young,

as we instinctively decide and are molded to choose by the world around us, which traits are

valuable for our survival and success, we began both to shape our conscious personalities and our correspondingly unconscious shadows.

For example, we may learn early on that a quick temper doesn't get us what we want in social situations, in which case our personality is molded around

diplomacy while our rage goes into the shadow.

However, we may also shape ourselves around less functional ideas.

For example, if someone discovers their beauty attracts the wrong kind of attention,

the personality may take on traits focused on blending in, while the person's

confidence in their attractiveness goes into the shadow.

Emotions of all sorts, if we feel shame or fear of expressing them often end up in the shadow.

Very often we identify with our conscious personalities to the point that we believe this is all we are. our playing peekaboo. The children cover their eyes and giggle while the adults

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