The Doubting Game

The doubting game is what we are trained to play in school. The shorter name for it is skepticism, and its war cry is, "you can't prove that's true."

Skeptics are down-to-earth, planners, scientists, doubters. If you don't have proof that something will work, there's no reason to think it will.

When it comes to being a writer, skepticism can be a useful tool. Since you get to create your own world, you can make sure that you know absolutely every detail, which will allow you to decide what is and isn't possible. When you doubt everything you come up with, it will force you to find the proof that will show that everything works.

In terms of characters, a skeptic can be a loudmouth or the strong and silent type. The loudmouth is one who is searching for truth actively. If they question everything they hear, it shows their youth and ignorance. The strong, silent skeptic are also questioning everything, but it is internal. They are at a different level, where unless they need to denounce something, they will keep their thoughts to themselves.

The reasons a character is a skeptic are as varied as the kinds of skeptical characters that are possible. Perhaps one is fascinated with the world around them. Maybe one is comforted by provable facts. Somebody could have been burned by not being skeptical in the past. Although skepticism is the same thing in any character, the reasons that made it happen will shape the character far more than this one character trait.