Being Divisive

I'm a fairly quiet dude, especially in large groups; they have tricky dynamics, especially when they are already established like a family or a clique of friends. Part of the reason I'm quiet is that I do not want to put my foot in my mouth. The other reason is that I am studying the group to figure out who the players are and what ground rules are in effect.

Eventually, I do figure those things out. And when the time is right, I crack a joke or make an interjection and it usually goes over quite well.

I actually really like working a crowd. It's fun to manipulate people with established relationships, sometimes because of those relationships, it's particularly amusing (married couples are so easy to make laugh [when they aren't fighting]).

But, for as easy as it is to make people laugh and bond, it can be just as easy to be divisive. It basically comes down to manipulating the same relationships, bending the ground rules, and getting the right players to go head-on.

Why am I saying these things? Because some people are not team players. And some people are even worse than not being team players. Some people actively try to break up the team. When you write your stories, consider a divisive character. How can a perfectly good situation be wrecked through no fault of the plan or the protagonists? Somebody pulling on the right strings can do that. It can throw people off their mental game, agitate them, and coax them into releasing that anger in negative ways.

It is easy for a divisive character to become cartoonish or unnecessarily evil. Don't let these characters out of control. Understand who they are and why they're doing it, (and since you created them, try to give them a compelling reason to do it).