: Re: Sympathetic portrayal of devout, rule-abiding characters I'm having trouble portraying religious, devout characters as protagonists or viewpoint characters. When I try, I get the sense that the reader

@Carla500

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Show, don't tell.

If the religion is that important to the character, then it will be apparent in almost every aspect of the person's life.

Physically:

Clothing: men and women (and don't forget the Mormon "garment")
Hat/turban/skullcap/scarf/veil
Hair: length (that is, when is it
allowed to be cut), style, hidden
under a wig, hidden under veil
Face: for men, beards/no beards; for
women: how much can be shown

Food taboos:

Various animals are or are not
allowed
Mixing meat and dairy (I know one
Jewish woman who couldn't be bothered
to figure out meat vs. dairy so she
always ate vegetarian for lunch at
work)

Behavior:

Resting on the sabbath (Orthodox Jews
can take this to staggering lengths. "Not operating machinery" can be parsed to "turning a doorknob is okay, turning a deadbolt is not.")
Attending services
Some people attend services daily,
not just weekly
Crossing oneself when passing a
church
Tithing
How does the person swear?
How does the person speak? (I've
known fundamentalists who, without
exaggeration, manage to work the name
of Jesus into every third sentence.)

House décor:

Pictures of saints/popes/Jesus/Mary
etc. on the walls
Crucifix/Mezzuzah/Buddha

...You get the idea. Once you've established that this is A Religious Person, and if you write about the varying rituals from a kind perspective rather than a mocking one, your reader will grasp the importance of the religion to the character, and will understand why s/he does whatever it is you're trying to do.

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