How many of you recognise yourself in this description?

[Gyppo]

Why would anyone settle for only two personalities?  Why be binary 
when you can be multi-faceted?  We writers and poets know the advantage of 
seeing the world though many different sets of eyes.  (And in this 
case that's a multiple we rather than the singular 'royal we'.)

Stepping back into a single skin when convention requires it is like 
wearing clothes a couple of sizes too small.

Gyppo

[AlienFlower]

Hi Gyppo,

Not sure which two you mean by binary, but oh, yes, this works for me:

Stepping back into a single skin when convention requires it is like 
wearing clothes a couple of sizes too small.

Don't we spend our speaking and writing lives code-switching depending on the person or the situation we're in? How we know the person, what their intentions for us are, whether in replying we decide to take the high-road, whether we're being sincere or not. Sometimes we only realize which personality we're in when someone says, "Mom, you're talking in your principal's voice." Or, "I didn't know you spoke German!"  

Interesting topic.

Jackie

[Gyppo]

Jackie,

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to this.  I've been a bit pre-occupied and a bit knackered as well.  Nothing to worry about, just a bit of flat spell.  The current 'heatwave', by English standards, doesn't physically suit me

People have often told me I have two faces (the binary reference), a private one and a public.  Mum always reckoned I was a true chameleon, taking on protective colouring according to the surroundings.  It was never a conscious thing, but...

As a prose writer I've become quite adept at seeing through a character's eyes, and then writing 'in character', but it's only been over the last ten years or so that I've realised I can do this quite deliberately.  Like a 'method' actor playing a part.

Some parts are easier to put aside afterwards than others.

There are some characters I simply can't get into, and I assume, for the sake of my own sanity, that these are the ones which are just too opposed to how I see myself.  Just too uncomfortable.

My Ex once referred to what she called my 'Police Voice', which I find myself using when  forced to intervene in other folks arguments/conflicts.  Calm, reasonable, and no nonsense.  My eldest girl calls it my 'taking charge' voice.

It's a useful tool for a writer, and I suspect many of us do it without realising we have some control over it.

If anyone wants to try it as a deliberate exercise, try writing the same idea from two opposing characters.  You don't need to share this with anyone unless you feel brave, just use it for your own education and self-awareness.

Gyppo

[Dansinger]

Been "away" for a while (lost in editing and revising my next novel) but yes... I recognise it only too well. So true!

[Gyppo]

Welcome back, Dan.   It's been quiet around here

Gyppo