I found this today and was fascinated with the premise. The basic concept is, when you were a child, what you wanted to be when you grew up reflected what you viewed as important in the world around you:

Renowned Psychotherapist, Armand DeMile did a podcast called “Significance and Pareidolia” on this topic. According to DeMile a child’s fantasy of what they want to be when they grow up shows how and where they feel insignificant, the areas where something is missing. He also concludes that what you wanted to be shows what your idea of significance was, what you thought you needed to be loved, important, listened to.

This was fascinating to me on a lot of levels. Personally, I want to go back and ponder the deeper questions of my childhood dreams. For the record, I wanted to be a famous novelist. Then an astronaut. Then a Lawyer. And possibly at some point I wanted to be a teacher. Or a detective ala Nancy Drew style.

On a writing level, I see at least two fascinating angles. The first one relates back to the writer. How much of our characters reflect our definiton of significant? I think there’s always a touch of our insecurity, our hope, and our fear in our characters. I’m not saying they’re a mirror, or that all they do is us, but I don’t think we can help but show through at least a little.

But all of that isn’t new to me. What I thought was most fascinating was the opportunity to apply it to our characters themselves. It’s a way to give them more motivation. Either applied to their hopes and dreams, or as applied to their current habits/jobs/activities/etc.

It’s not something that has to be explained to the reader, not unless it’s that kind of story. But what a great thing to be able to keep in mind while writing.

• Bobby-Joe wanted to be a mechanic when he grew up. Why?
• His uncle was a mechanic. He respected his uncle
• His uncle was the only reasonable male role-model in his life
• Bobby-Joe doesn’t feel masculine enough because he has seven sisters and they use him as a dress-up doll.
• etc, etc, etc.

I don’t think every character has to be that convoluted, but it seems like a fascinating new level of character development to me.

So what did you want to be when you grew up? Or what do you want to be?