#this is maslow’s heirarchy of needs. Bottom level

[a-writing-bandit]

Building Well-Rounded Characters: Maslow's Heirarchy

This is the first in a series of posts on Character Development, focusing on the psychology of the characters and the importance of backstory. Read the caption for more information on this series.

A question writers often ask about their characters is: What do they need, and how can I prevent them from getting it? Answering this question creates your characters goals, motives, and the conflict of your story, which really is the backbone of your novel. Well, it turns out a person's needs is much more intricate and fluctuates regularly. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs depicts 4 levels of needs that need to be met before we can be 'fulfilled' or, self-actualized.

What is Maslow's Hierarchy?

Maslow's Hierarchy is a psychological theory that you've probably heard of if you've taken a Health or Psychology class. It's a pyramid that shows human needs from basic to most intricate, with 4 levels between the bottom and 'self-actualization. Understanding what these needs are will create the foundation for your characters motivations. The path to the top of the pyramid is not a perfect, linear one, and we might bounce around from level to level, half on one step and half on another. That being said, your characters might be motivated by more than one thing, and often their place on the hierarchy is not clear.

Basic Needs: Physiological Needs and Safety

Physiological needs include food, water, shelter, etc. They're the things that you need to sustain life. Withholding these from your characters creates life or death circumstances, and their focus must be on survival. Threatening these needs engages readers because the stakes are literally life or death.

Safety needs include security, order, and stability. There may not be a survival risk, but there is a certain risk that scares your characters. People like to know what to expect, and we feel unsafe when we're uncertain. When we're constantly messing up a character's life, the risks might not be life or death, although the character certainly feels that way. What does your character need to survive, and what do they need to feel safe?

Love and Belonging

These needs involve a social connection to people around us. We need people in our life who love us, whether its friends, family, or a significant other. These are the more intricate, emotional/psychological needs. Books that are built on aa character's search for someone who lives then and a home to belong to are usually very character driven books whereas threatening your character's survival tends to focus on plot. Understanding where your character is on this level means knowing who their 'people' are, what your characters roles are, and which people really love them compared to others who could care less.

Esteem Needs

There are two sub-sections to this level; the first being esteem for self including dignity, achievement, and independence, and the second is and more outward, focusing on needing other people to recognize that you're a decent, well-off human, things like reputation and respect. Writers need to know what makes their characters feel accomplished, and what they like about themselves. How important is their reputation, and how does the character's perception of themselves differ from what others actually think of them?

Self Actualization

The final level of the Hierarchy is the most difficult to handle, in which you must realize your potential, feeling self-fulfilling, and becoming everything you are capable of becoming. Most characters might be pretty far off the mark on this one, and that's fine. But, by the end of your novel, there should be some sense of fulfillment. This is another kind of character-driven story, and it's all about figuring out who you want to be. Easy, right?

[perhaps-it-is-me]

Me: I hate getting attention, why would I ever /need/ that, I don’t really, it’s just fun every once in a while, I’ve never /needed it/ before, I definitely don’t now!!!

My partners: *gives me attention frequently now*!

Also me @ them now: I want you both here /right now/!!!!!!! With me!!!! And I /will/ pout about it and be grumpy!!! I am in desperate need of all the kinds of attention!!!! Every single one!!! Gib!!!! I demand!!! (Only if you wanna though) BUT I DEMAND— I WILL DIE WITHOUT IT— IT’S A STRONG NEED AT THIS POINT— IT’S ON THE BOTTOM LEVEL OF MASLOW’S HEIRARCHY OF NEEDS—

[kieofg]

Dear Maslow,

I currently thrive on the bottom levels of your pyramid. I can't seem to move up but you'd be pleased to know that there are still people out there who have quite mastered the drill. You'd be amazed by how they move around with ease.

Life here isn't great, as you already know. There are good days sure, but the bad days...they're really bad. I've been trying to build a socioeconomic ladder for some time now. Wouldn't want you to think that I'm just idling, waiting for some fortuitous events to happen. I said fortuitous, like what happened with you and Bertha *winkwink*.

In all seriousness though, whenever I get to that last rung the ground always breaks and the next thing I know everything around me is quicksand. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to use a different ladder? Or is there actually a stair somewhere? How do I navigate this treacherous heirarchy?

Since you can't possibly answer my dumb questions I guess I'll just have to come up with my own. And by that I mean, I have not a single idea honestly. All I have are questions. I know for a fact that I should still keep trying--and try I must. So there's that at least. Gotta stay D-motivated and maybe someday, somehow, I'll finally be able to move past some levels and be on top. That'd be all for now, Maslow.

Kind regards,

-K.

[wallerthomas79-blog]

Effective Copywriting  Reflection

 This month was very insightful for me. For someone who works in motion graphics and video, the copy has always been an afterthought. I have always known that copy is important, but since someone else always does it, I never really thought about how copy is the voice of the brand. 

Reading George Felton's book Advertising: Concept & Copy has been very insightful. Felton says “Until you discover the real reasons that people buy this or that good or service, or identify with this brand instead of that brand, you create ads for no one”(p.8). It has helped me see the whole picture of a product's brand messaging and its voice and how to write copy the reflects that voice.

I really enjoyed the section about customer needs, and how Felton talks about Maslows hierarchy of needs. He talks about how to reach a consumer higher level of needs, you must satisfy the consumer's lower levels of needs first (Felton, p22). This really made me think more about products and how the product meets consumer needs in more ways than the product itself. 

Researching Wildlands Network and what its mission is, I was able to develop the target audience profiles to help create the brand’s voice and messaging. Felton talks about becoming the consumer and how your ad messaging should not address the consumer but should speak to the consumer in a way that represents themselves (p.105).

My strategy for the ad sketches was to explore the non-profit and because they have multiple campaigns currently going on, I focused these concept sketches on 3 of those campaigns. Craig Smallish talks about the core values of a product and how those values and beliefs can be related to the consumer (Smallish, 2013). I used the research conducted on the organization and applied their voice and core values into the concept sketches that will relate to the target audience. 

This concept is focusing on the campaign to save the Red Wolve’s from extinction. The message is sort of a warning. If we do not take action now then this animal will no longer be around. Craig Smallish talks about the importance of font selection and how the type can help attract attention (Smallish, 2013). I wanted to bring attention to the headline “Take Action” to help draw the viewer in and raise interest. 

This concept is focused on the Wildlands Network campaign to heal the lands surrounding the Appalachian trails. Since the campaign is about healing and restoring these ecosystems, the concept is to show a puzzle of this beautiful landscape with puzzle pieces missing. 

This is another concept for save the Red Wolve’s campaign. Using type and a graphic on a white background to create a dramatic effect. Craig Smallish states that contrast used right, can help direct the viewers eyes along with making elements dominate over others, creating heirarchy (Smallish, 2013).

After receiving feedback, I reworked the image to make it go full screen. I also wanted the visual of the Red Wolf in the display to be the hero and then the headline to follow. 

For this revision, I made the type more dominant and readable. I removed the missing pieces in the bottom right corner because it was distracting from the other elements. The viewer see the headline then their eyes move to the missing puzzle piece and then down to the body copy. 

This revision I moved the type to the bottom. I made the graphic larger for a more dramatic effect. The graphic is the hero followed by the type. The contrast helps make the graphic pop. 

My takeaways from this course are to really get to know the client and their product. Know the target audience and how why they like the brand and what needs the product fulfills. Knowing the brand's voice and tone can help communicate that message to the target audience. 

References

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: concept and copy(3rd ed.). [PDF Version] Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/46769/modules/177929/activities/1113172 

Smallish C. (2013) Developing Ideas and Advertising Concepts [Online Course] Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/Design-Business-tutorials/Using-storytelling-determine-core-values/126121/145393-4.html?srchtrk=index%3a3%0alinktypeid%3a2%