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| pic by me |
You love your character. S/he’s funny, brilliant, caring, is a master of the crossword, and can play the cello. S/he volunteers by reading favourite British mystery classics at the local nursing home where a great-uncle lives. The great-uncle is ________, ______, and ______. Together they ride around searching for the perfect hot dog quoting Confucius while helping strangers who cross their paths.
Too much?
Hmmm, forgot to tell you what they look like.
S/he has dark soulful eyes rimmed with luscious eyelashes. Lips the perfect shape for _____ and a ____ and ____ nose. Wild thick hair shimmers as s/he _______. (here you’ll have to figure out if she’s tall or petite, athletic or hourglass…is he tall and broad shouldered or ruggedly average?)
Great-uncle is shorter, uses a cane as a pointer more than for anything else. He’s wrinkled and shaggy, twinkle-eyed flirt. Tall or stooped?
Too much?
Great-uncle stepped in to raise her/him after ________ happened with the parents. Great-uncle was a _______ who had married/never married but _______ and now the two of them _________. But, not after years of ________.
Too much?
Not for your background character study that’s for your eyes only. These are all elements which will build your character and direct his/her actions. These will give your character depth and reality…maybe too much to be real, but it’s your job to keep what’s plausible and toss aside that which is over the top and wishful thinking. Or maybe fits a different character.
What’s just happened in the opening of this post is I’ve told you…and it’s pretty blah written…a character. At the same time I’ve told you nothing about the character. There’s no depth, no reality, no connection to who the character is, just a flat description.
Without re-reading do you remember anything interesting about the character? Could you say you know this character?
Not really.
What you have above is a big ole info dump that just sits there. It’s forgotten the moment your reader moves onto the next part of your story. If there’s something vital about your character’s hobby or interest it’s now lost amongst the words. Even if you just said one thing, how would your reader know it was vital for the upcoming story?
If something is vital you don’t need to be direct and tell. An action or glance can give far more information. A cello player might have itchy fingers to play a beautiful instrument in the room. May recognize a piece of music…which could be the signature of the killer/blackmailer? Recognize how? Why because it was the piece the cello teacher drummed into them.
As a reader I know character relationships by the manner they talk to each other, how they interact. Is this great-uncle loving or smart-mouthed? How does he communicate to his niece/nephew? You could tell me, but it would be more engaging and allow me to connect if you showed me…dialogue, action, let me watch them.
Know everything about your character, your story, the ins and outs and secrets and minute details of every location. Use only what is vital. Use it sparingly and wisely. One character noting something about another or something like location/weather/ opens up information on both.
Remember…one sentence can show your reader more than anything you could tell them.