How to Create a Human Being

What makes a human, human?

Loaded question, right?

Some would say it is our ability to adapt and our high intellect that separates us from the animal kingdom. Then I would counter that plenty of animals can reason and adjust. Look at crows or dolphins or the killer whale and its hunting abilities. Tool building certainly isn’t unique to humans. And every creature that walks, flies, swims, or slithers can communicate.

There are some who would say that a soul is what separates us from animals. While religion has certainly played a large role in human history (and while I am religious myself) I will not be talking about this aspect. This would be a matter of faith – something that cannot be proven or argued – so I won’t be touching it. Maybe down the road if we discuss A.I. or Frankenstein’s monster, but not today.

Now, you’re probably wondering, “Then what the hell makes us different?”

When we separate all of these skills we find that, as humans, we aren’t all that special. It is our ability to combine them – our need to learn, to understand the world around us and our higher intellect that enables us to do so. To communicate, not only with sound, but with a look, a quirk of the lip, or the use of a pencil and paper. To create.

In my humble opinion, it is the creation and use of the Arts and Sciences that truly separate us from everything else. Those gave us the wheel, fire, language, music, clothing, name it. Arts and Sciences took us to the moon, something that for the longest time had only been a dream to earth bound humans. And none of this would mean anything without a human beings capacity to feel. Not just sensory or touch but emotions. Sympathy. Empathy. Excitement. Fear.

At the base of every great creation or discovery is drive and drive is fueled by emotion. If you don’t care about something you’re certainly not going to waste your time going after it.

So, to make a long point longer: To be human means to create. To create requires drive. Drive requires emotional support.

Look at babies. They cry for food. Coo for attention. Scream when they’re frustrated. The first thing we as humans learn to do is to use emotions to manipulate others to get what we want/need. And people, this NEVER ends. We will continue doing that until the day we become dust. It’s simply how you go about it that changes.

In essence, to create a human being you start with a base of bones, skin, breath, and emotion.

Do this in your writing people! Readers do not want an empty shell. We want to see a person and their journey. We want to live vicariously through the hero or heroine on the page and we want to see the aspects of ourselves we either hope to attain or hide in their actions and choices. We want a glimpse into someone else’s life. Not a caricature or a cardboard cutout. Give us a human we can relate to and care about – or one we can relate to and hate. Make us yell at the page over their poor choices or hope for them when the person they love glances their way. They can be any race, any religion, any sexual orientation, but none of that will matter if they aren’t a well-rounded, believable human.

In college, I majored in musical theatre and acting/directing. All the skills I learned in those classes I use in my writing and I’m about to share a bit of that knowledge with you.

There are four core emotions. Four. That’s it. All the other emotions stem from these core emotions. We can boil every primal urge down to these: Fear, Lust, Rage, and Joy. Everything we as humans do is because of one of these emotions.

Are you stuck out in the middle of nowhere and hungry? Does it make you feel anxious and exasperated? That's fear talking. 

Have you ever been so happy that all you could do was cry? Utter joy got a hold of you.

Ever heard a person on trial say that they blanked out and seemed to wake up after committing a serious crime? A crime of passion? That's rage.

I shouldn't have to give an example of lust...

Now that you know them, you need to know how to utilize them for your character’s (human being’s) motivation and actions. Before we can go into that, we need to create a background history for our human; the thing that can create the motivation, drive, and purpose for the story. But that’s another blog for another day.

Excuse me but I have to go slaughter somebody. On paper, of course. Until next time.