: Re: How do you describe your characters? I have this weird problem: I know my characters, I know what they're like, and I know how they would act in any given situation and in the plot I use

@Megan928

Vote Up Vote Down

From what you write, I feel that you have a very good idea of who your characters are but struggle to "sum them up". In addition to Mark's excellent ideas, here's a technique I've recently tested out and come to love a lot:

Drill your characters with questions. Ask them about everything that might or might not be relevant to the story you want to tell. Imagine yourself in a smalltalk situation and just ask everything that pops into your head: What's your name? How old are you? How's your marriage working out so far? How did you end up being an engineer on an oil drilling platform? What was your favourite pet? Do you have pets now?

Imagine to be a stranger that is having a beer with your character and wants to get to know them on a casual basis. Afterwards -- ask that stranger about your character: "So you've met that engineer? What's he like?" -- "I don't know, kind of weird, actually. Did you know he used to have a baby goat as a pet when he was a boy? He took that goat on walks with him like a dog! He's from a small Norwegian village, but hates fish. His wife is not all that happy about his job and secretly wants him to quit, but he loves being out there on the ocean. To be honest, I'm not sure that marriage will last much longer ..."

On another note, I'm not sure how necessary it is to "sum up" your characters. Real people are complex, so are well-developed characters. Is it necessary (or possible, or fair) to squeeze their essence into a single paragraph? Unless you introduce your characters like in the movie "Amélie" -- which does an admirable job in selecting a few outstanding, but by no means defining character traits and presenting them as an invitation to get to know these characters better --, you'll most likely end up showing your characters to your readers via their actions in any case. Nevertheless I very well understand the desire to have a neat summary of a character.

(0)

Login to post a comment!