Today, I'm back working on my movie script. Yes, I know, it's slow going, but hey, it's going… I'm not sure when it will be done, but done it will be. Soon, I think.
Anyway, I am fleshing out the characters in my story and I realize that "affect" is something I need to character crystalize. My term for figuring out who the people in my story are.
Affect. It refers to an emotion in people. Here's the best way I know to explain. I love to watch Criminal Intent. When Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) is at a crime scene, nothing is overlooked. His character is flawless. If only… oh well, I digress.
Goren, the character, often refers to the bad guy's affect. In this he means the bad guy basically has no response to what he's done. No feeling about it. The bad guy is self-centered for the most part and only thinks of himself. Hmmm…
Used as a noun, "affect" is pronounced by Goren with a hard A (as in "at"). A fect. It's the opposite when used as an adjective. A (as in a "the" sound). a fect.
I am sure Goren stresses the hard A when he speaks the word affect in order to distinguish his meaning. To be clear [yes] affect used like this shows a sense of caring or not caring especially about the consequences of what the bad buy says or does. He only thinks of himself and not others. Another Hmmm… [sorry]
Okay, now that that's clear, I'm off to write some more. But I stop to wonder who I know that might fit that meaning. Not bad I mean. Just little to no affect. Someone I can model a character in my story after. Someone more interested in him or herself than any other.
Not to be confused with narcissism. The term "narcissism" was introduced by Havelock Ellis (and later developed by Freud) after Narcissus who in Greek myth was a pathologically self-absorbed young man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool.
Narcissism is the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness. It is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others.
Do you know anyone like this?
That's all for today.
