I'm writing about a mature girl (15ish). But I'm not sure how she should act other than being polite. The way I think a mature person would act would be someone who doesn't swear, but some mature people that I know still do that.
How should I write about a mature girl?
Some ideas I already had:
- Doesn't swear
- Is responsible
Answer
To me, the biggest components of maturity are
- a significant level of understanding, based on one's own experiences or what has been observed;
- control over impulsivity and rash or risky actions.
So a mature person is not surprised if a politician is found to be cheating on his wife; affairs among the powerful seem pretty commonplace. Even an observant young girl, with her eyes open, could probably discern this pattern and not be shocked to learn it.
Also, a mature person might still have the impulse to curse out a superior, but control it and be more stoic or careful with what they say or how they respond.
A mature girl might feel the impulse to do something risky or forbidden, but control herself and refrain from it, or refuse to do it.
Maturity is the opposite of Childish. Childish behavior is impulsive and of the moment, it fails to consider consequences and it fails to consider risks, and (related to those) it fails to consider whether a short term gain or pleasure might actually be a terrible thing in the long term.
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