If any of your characters are addicted to being right, they would rather be right than happy. They have to have the last word in an argument and proving their point of view takes precedent over listening to others. Even after being shown they are wrong, they still search for ways to prove their point of view.
Characters that are always right are often eloquent, but they actually are stuck. Their focus is on making sure the other character understands why they are right. They explain over and over because they think the disagreeing character doesn’t realize why they are right. They need approval and appreciation. They have to be in control.
Low self-esteem and a lack of open-mindedness and willingness to listen to others’ beliefs underlie the need to be right. Contrary ideas frustrate them. Being right all the time is tiring. It demands an ability to distort facts, to make excuses, to delude themselves and to blame others.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.”
James Russell Lowell said, “The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.”
In my multidimensional mystery novel, Norman in the Painting, Reggie, the antagonist, is addicted to being right and he will threaten and kill to be in control. Jill was attracted to his eloquence until, too late, she discovered his flaws.
Do you have a character addicted to being right?
Information from Louis A. Tartaglia, M.D. Flawless!
