Writing Roots

S36E9 – Dark Psychology: Supernatural Curses

Supernatural curses have been a large part of storytelling for centuries, if not millennia. Many of us grew up on tales of curses because of Disney movies. They’re also present in tales like The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean. In each example, there is someone using supernatural forces to cause harm to another person or group of people.
History itself is also filled with tales of curses, from monks writing curses in books against anyone who may steal from the library, to the curses of ancient Egyptian tombs. Whether from history or fiction, there are common elements to all curses which you can use to add to your story. We talk about the variety of curses and their solution in this episode.
First aired October 31, 2022.
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S36 Bonus – The Dark Triad: Psychopathy, Narcissism, and Machiavellianism

Researchers in 2002 coined the phrase The Dark Triad to describe three main personality traits that share often malevolent aspects: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Those with two or three of these traits often manipulate, lie, abuse, and undermine the people around them, while often appearing charming and charismatic. Many serial killers are among those who fall into this dark triad. For authors, understanding these three traits can help you craft a villain, or in some cases, even a hero.
The three sides of this dark triad work together in strange ways. Some people will only have one or two of the traits, such as being a narcissist and a Machiavellian, but they lack the emotional explosiveness of psychopathy. Others will be a Machiavellian and a psychopath, but they won’t show signs of needing external validation often seen among narcissists.
In this episode, we break down the dark triad, looking at each aspect and how you can use each one to craft compelling characters with dark flaws.
First aired October 29, 2022.
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S36E8 – Dark Psychology: Writing Realistic Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), while not understood well in the world of psychology, has been explored in fiction for a long time. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, DID is a mental health condition where someone has more than one distinct personality which control their behavior. One of the best classical examples, even if it was caused by a potion, is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Writing this disorder can be difficult, especially since not much is known about it overall in the world of psychology. It’s important to understand the basics of what we do know, if you want to write it accurately and respectively. Most importantly, you should know that it is often believed to come from trauma rather than an inherent personality trait. It should also not be confused with schizophrenia.
Having a character with DID, though, can be a fun way to write a story. It would work well in a psychological thriller, or combined with science fiction and fantasy elements. Listen to this episode for a breakdown of the disorder and common examples within well-known fiction.
First aired October 27, 2022.
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S36E7 – Dark Psychology: Writing Realistic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a common element when writing fiction. Authors are known to put their characters through traumatic events or to give them traumatic backstories. It’s likely that your characters hasn’t made it through life without some event that could have caused them to experience PTSD. The difficult part, then, is writing the disorder accurately.
The most common elements to see in fiction are often the more rare or infrequent symptoms. They’re used because they’re dramatic. However, PTSD is more than just flashbacks. It’s more than just bad dreams. There are a lot of other daily habits and responses that are far more subtle which are part of PTSD.
In this episode, we talk about some of the common traits and causes, and how to best write PTSD into your story.
First aired October 24, 2022.
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S36E6 – Dark Psychology: The Effects of Imprisonment

Imprisonment has a major effect on the minds of both the captives and the captors, which is important to remember when including this theme in your story. Not only are there plenty of fictional works which tell the tale of a prisoner and their life after release or escape, such as The Count of Monte Cristo or Les Misérables, but this idea of captivity is used as a subplot in many other stories.
When you choose to write captivity into your story, you’ll need to look at the psychological impacts. For the imprisoned, there is a major change in how they manage their own lives. They no longer have control over things as simple as choosing when to eat or when to sleep. For the impact on the captors, just look at the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment’s impact on normal students. The guards became sadistic within just a few days and the whole experiment had to end early because of the strong negative influence it had on both sides.
You also need to think of why you’re including this theme. Is it to tell the story of imprisonment like in the examples mentioned above? Or is your villain trying to get information out of a hero’s ally? Will their be torture involved? All of these things will change how you approach imprisonment in your story. Listen to this episode for a further breakdown of how and why to include this trope.
First aired October 20, 2022.
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S36E5 – Dark Psychology: Including Munchausen Syndrome in a Story

If you’re writing a thriller with a caretaker character, you may consider Munchausen Syndrome as a plot device. It’s when someone either pretends to be ill or even makes themselves ill in order to garner attention. This psychological disorder has been seen in several works of fiction, including The Sixth Sense, Supernatural, and even in It. In this cases, as is true for most cases used in fiction, it’s Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, where someone will make their victim ill for the same intent.
Because this is a psychological disorder, it’s important to write it carefully. In this episode, we talk about what it means, how it presents, what it’s not, and how to use it most effectively in your writing.
First aired October 17, 2022.
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S36E4 – Dark Psychology: Brainwashing in Fiction

Of all the topics we’ll talk about this month, brainwashing is the one with the least basis in reality. Certainly, brainwashing is absolutely a real technique and has been used in many wars and even cults. However, when most people think of this kind of mental manipulation, they think of various shows or books. They’ll think of something like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the keyphrases to trigger the switch in Bucky’s mind in order to keep him as an obedient soldier.
In a way, this provides authors with a great opportunity to mold it to fit what your story needs. Like any writing advice or rule we talk about, however, it’s important to know what it really is before you bend it to your needs. In this episode, we talk about what brainwashing really is, the process, and share examples both realistic and fictional, to help if you choose to bring this piece of dark psychology into your writing.
First aired October 13, 2022.
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S36E3 – Dark Psychology: Adverse Childhood Experiences

When you’re building a backstory for your main character, it’s likely that you’ll include an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE). Psychologists with the Centers for Disease Control have determined a list of ten things which qualify as an ACE, which can contribute to problems with mental health as an adult. The unique part of an ACE is that it is usually an accumulation of experiences rather than a single event that causes PTSD.
The responses to ACEs vary, which means you have an opportunity to use these in a variety of ways in your storytelling. Those who go on adventures are rarely those content with their lives. Characters with ACEs are likely going to deal more with things like depression and substance abuse, or even have physical health problems related to the heart and lungs.
Listen to this episode for the list of ACEs, and the possible impacts of each one.
First aired October 10, 2022.
As a reminder, we are writers, not psychologists. We took our time to research these topics and are handling them with as much care as possible. However, nothing said on this podcast should be used to diagnose yourself or anyone else. This is simply information given as a tool of storytelling.
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S36E2 – Dark Psychology: Writing Domestic Abuse

One of the more common types of abuse in fiction is a form of domestic abuse. It can range from physical or verbal, to psychological or financial. For many victims, abuse causes drastic changes in their daily lives, usually over time. An abuser will start slowly and with small things, until the victim no longer believes they can leave.
This episode is focused on discussing the psychology of both the perpetrators and victims. Any abusive relationship is a manipulative process. It starts with gaining trust, then getting the victim to rely upon the abuser. Whenever that trust is broken, the abuse frames it in a way to make the victim feel it was their own fault.
First aired October 6, 2022.
*Warning* This episode deals a lot with domestic abuse of all forms with as much respect to victims as possible. The same care should be taken when writing a relationship like this. If this is a sensitive topic, we suggest skipping this episode. If you are the victim of domestic violence, you can reach out to the Domestic Violence Hotline to get the resources to get out.
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S36E1 – Dark Psychology: The Use of Gaslighting in Fiction

The human mind can be a dark and scary place, capable of much more evil than most people would even consider possible. As writers, we have a unique kind of permission to explore those dark crevices and bring them into the light of day. It can be the source of great inspiration not only for your villain, but for your storyline in general.
Unfortunately, because many of these darker aspects of human nature are all to real, it’s important to explore carefully within your fiction. Throughout October, we’ll be covering major themes regarding the evil capabilities of the human mind. As a warning, each episode will be talking about potentially triggering subjects, such as domestic violence, PTSD, imprisonment, and more.
In our first episode, we look at gaslighting. It’s a term coined by an early 20th century play in which the husband slowly convinces his wife she’s insane by messing with the gas lamps in the home. The perpetrator’s main goal is to exert absolute control over the victim by convincing them that they cannot trust themselves, and thus must trust the perpetrator. Common examples in fiction include the relationship between Mother Gothel and Rapunzel in Tangled, Dracula and Jonathan Harker in Dracula, and even Jim and Dwight in The Office. Listen for more about gaslighting and how you can use it in your own story.
First aired October 3, 2022.
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