Manipulation Tactics

To Help You Create Better Characters, but to Also be Aware Of So They Aren't Used on You

We’ve all had experiences in which someone was trying to manipulate us in some way. Manipulation can manifest in many forms, but its goal is simple—to control a situation (or person) using deception.

If you’re not a manipulative person, it can be difficult to sense when someone’s manipulating you, and even more difficult to create characters that are manipulating each other. I often read screenplays that have characters who are so overtly deceiving other characters, that it would be glaringly obvious that’s what they’re doing. And the characters who fall for poorly conceived lies, come across as unintelligent.

Successful manipulation is always subtle, and for writers, it can be hard to get those subtleties to show up on the page.

Knowing and recognizing key manipulation tactics that people use helps you protect yourself from being victimized and gives you additional tools to write antagonists that feel more layered and realistic.

Let’s dig in!

Image by Freepik.com

1. Lying.

The truth is, we …