forum Writing a kleptomanic

Started February 01, 2018 by @AJ

tune

One of the characters in a graphic novel I'm writing is klepto- however, I am not klepto nor do I know anyone who is. Any advice on how to write those characters accurately?

Well, you have to understand the psychology behind kleptomania, so I would research that first.
After that I would suggest to make the character more 3 dimensional, make sure their kleptomania isn't the only thing expressed about them, readers will get bored with that. I hope this helps!

i have a character who is a kleptomaniac! i don't have a profile made for him but anyways

pls keep in mind that im certainly no expert but the way i wrote his character involves him stealing habitually in order to keep himself "safe" after he escapes from a very bad place. stealing tends to be a source of comfort, as if it sort of keeps him away from danger by providing for himself? but at the same time it's a source of moral conflict, because he believes stealing to be wrong and wishes that he could stop. and it's not like he steals everything in sight or anything like that; he plans some stuff out, especially bigger stuff. i had my character actually give away a lot of his money/stuff he stole to places like soup kitchens and charities when he got to having too much. any sort of accusation that stealing came naturally to him he took as an insult because, again, he really didn't want to be stealing in the first place.

but!! that's just my character of course, so!! just something to help with writing one, i hope! i agree though, about researching. it can be very useful, esp. if the kleptomania ties in with mental illnesses