 hopes. Don’t have them simply say lines of dialogue and go places and do things; give them deep motivations for the things that they do, and show that motivation to the readers.
Here’s a Writing Challenge story with four characters: a mother and a father and their two children: Junie and a newborn baby. You should be able to see right away that only Junie is a rounded character; the others are flat. Hang on to that thought; there’s a homework question about it.
Read Unconvinced, the story linked to above. List some of the ways that Junie is made to be a rounded character and some of the reasons why the characters of the mother and the father are flat. You could also look for examples of #1 – 5 in the characterization of Junie and tell which ones you find.
Link to an entry of yours that you feel is a good example of characterization, and tell us a bit about it.
Questions or comments about this skill? I’d love to hear them.
I hope to come back and do the homework when I get a chance, but I have a question in the meantime. You mentioned the italicized bits for character thoughts. That is something I have used quite a bit in my writing, and I have to be careful not to overuse it. It does seem to work better at getting into the character's head in place of more "telly" narration. I was reading a discussion elsewhere (not on FW) where someone said they thought italicized parts were a distraction and "reminded them that they were reading".
I like my italic thoughts, but I guess I haven't read enough pieces with italics used to know if it really works or not if I'm coming in as a reader. Is it something that has come in and out of "writing fashion"? I'm just curious. I guess it is just a personal preference thing, maybe?
It's definitely a matter of personal preference. I've seen challenge entries and published works where it's overdone--but far more often it helps the reader to understand the character's thoughts. But as with everything that is more art than science--like writing--people will have differing opinions.
I can't answer your question about "writing fashion" because I simply don't know. That might be one for Ann's forum, or you could ask Deb. Sorry!
I will see if I can make some time for the homework.
I bet you like donuts. Ha.
Okay, here goes an attempt at characterisation.
The slam of the door marked Jamie's arrival home. He slung his coat and bag in the middle of the floor. He slumped down in front of the TV, remote in hand, all ready for an evening's gaming, just as Mum arrived home.
"Jamie, please put your coat and bag away."
"Aw, whatever, Mum! You're always on my case!"
"Pick it up yourself, then."
No need to ask why you got a detention today, thought Mum.
KatKane wrote: Okay, here goes an attempt at characterisation.
Kat, there are some really great things in this little scene. You've told us a great deal about Jamie from his actions (some of your effective words are slam, slung and slumped). From those actions--and his belongings--I can infer that he's a teenager with an attitude. I can also deduce that he's probably from a UK country (he uses "Mum"). His speech tells me a little more about him--he's rude to his mother. If I'd given you more than 100 words, I'm sure you'd have clued me in on what happened in school that day--maybe he's a great kid who just had a rough day. Maybe he's chronically rude, even at school.
My only issue with this little vignette is that you slipped from Jamie's POV to his mother's POV by letting us read her thoughts. Nevertheless, we get a hint of his mother's character, too--she's not surprised by Jamie's attitude, and she wasn't particularly surprised by his detention. It seems as if this scene is one that has played often in their home.
Thanks for being brave enough to do the homework--I was beginning to wonder if this lesson was going unnoticed. Just me second-guessing myself again, I guess.
Can you use other characters (their perceptions, their reactions etc.) as a means of developing a character?
I love writing about characters. http://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-... p?id=49891 This was the Jonah entry I wrote. I used internal thoughts a lot, but not much physical description, although I did put in a few hints about his character and attitudes in there.
http://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-... p?id=49307 This one was about my dog and cat. There's a fair bit in here about their various traits.
I'm not sure how well either of these fit the criteria. This lesson has definitely got me thinking! You rock, Jan.
Absolutely, and you did that in your homework selection. But having two POVs in 100 words is a but much. If you were dead set on having Jamie's mother's thoughts about him, it would be easy enough to have her already in the room when he arrived and started to do all that slamming, slinging, and slumping. Those would all be things that she observed, putting the whole thing in her POV, and making her thoughts at the end entirely consistent with that POV.
Your two examples of characterization in challenge entries are wonderful! Thanks for sharing them with us!
Kat, thanks for posting the link to "Entente Cordiale." This was one of your early entries, and I guess I must have missed it. I love the way you illustrated the differing personalities of the two pets, and how you tied in their relationship with history.
I can’t say enough about the importance of characterization. Until quite recently, characterization had been one of my weak points. I wrote mostly about places, things, and events. This was enough for me to move up to Advanced, but until I started breathing some life into my characters, I couldn’t move up to Masters.
The main character, Charles Leale, is known as “Lincoln’s last friend.” Leale grew up in Yonkers, New York where he is a local hero to this day. My father grew up in Yonkers much later, so that is how I came to learn about Leale.
In writing this entry, I didn’t want the readers to know that it was about Abraham Lincoln until the end. So in the first part of the entry my description of Leale is limited. From reading it, we know that Leale is a young army captain of modest means, at the theater enjoying a respite from war.
After Lincoln is shot, Leale’s character as well as his devotion to Lincoln is revealed as he fights to save the life of the dying President. I reveal his character mainly by describing his actions and by showing his thoughts and feelings.
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Amanda clutched at her baggy print dress and cringed when Lise arrived for their lunch date at La Maison Robert in a little black dress, as svelte as ever. After they had finished college eight years ago, Lise returned to France. But now she was back in the States with her husband.
Except for thirty extra pounds.
Amanda shook her head when Lise buttered two slices of baguette and offered her one.
“Not at the moment.” More like not for the past five years.
Last edited by Cinnamon Bear on Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Virginia, I loved your story of Lincoln's doctor--it was beautifully done. Thanks for sharing the link!
I also appreciate the ways in which you've characterized poor Amanda. Through her thoughts, her clothing, her dialogue, and her actions, we get a good idea of this woman--and even though the character of Lise is not the POV character, we get a really good idea of what's she's all about, too. Well done!
I have a question on dialogue - are there resources for learning about dialects as related to historical time, culture, and age?
Here is a small selection from a story I've been working on that I hope shows characterization of Jonas through his interaction with his younger brother.
That's a really good question, and I wish I knew the answer to it. I've read and edited many pieces in which the dialect or accents were just "off"--they were rendered inauthentically, and it became a major distraction in reading the piece. My suggestion to those writers (and to all writers) would be not to attempt to write dialogue in an accent or a dialect unless you are very, very, very familiar with that dialect: if you grew up with it, or live in a place where the people speak it, or you have very close friends or family members who speak it.
1. Maybe a field trip is in order? Hooray!
2. Read other books in which the characters are from Upper Elbonia, and study how the dialogue is written.
3. Search for YouTube videos of people speaking in Upper Elbonian accents, or seek out a place where you can listen and observe.
"Y'all best be lookin' purty hard fer that there missin' money, y'hear, 'cuz the little'uns