(Whoa, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, eh? Don’t think
anyone’s reading them, but it’s fun to write them out. I love rambling.)
Alright, time to look into the
story-telling, and not just the characters. Yeah, okay, this does involve
characterization too, but I’d like to convince myself I know other shit about
writing apart from characters, so just humour me, okay?
This is mainly about portraying
your character, rather than building. You’ve got a proper character built, with
a good mixture of flaws, strong points and quirks. Now it’s time to think about
how you’ll present that character to the reader.
Let’s think about a character
named… Alette. (Alette was a name I’d
chosen for a princess in my story, before I re-wrote the entire fucking thing. The
character’s been binned, but I really quite like the name). So we’ve
created Alette to be intelligent and learned, strong-willed and proud, fighting
for attention with her seven older sisters (yeah. Really. Hey, don’t judge, they
don’t have contraceptives in my medieval-era world). If Alette is a central
character, you’ll want to show off her personality, since you’ve presumably put
some effort into creating it.
One of the basic ways to describe
your character is to have other characters describe her. Your lead character
might be Kerra, one of Alette’s sisters. When we (the readers) first meet
Alette, Kerra would describe her. Something along the lines of how it was
obvious Alette had taken painstaking care in arranging her hair because some
foreign king was visiting, and that she’d worn her best dress, or that she
flipped a few pages of a book on the table. Small, little things like that.
What I really don’t recommend is
you (or, rather, your character) describing her outright. We don’t want to be
slapped by Alette’s character straight-off. We want Alette’s personality to
reveal itself. We want Kerra’s initial feelings, and then her later feelings of
annoyance or jealousy or sympathy to show later, when the situation calls for
it.
So, now let’s assume, we have a
change in viewpoint, and the character we’re currently seeing through is
Alette. Another great way to know a character is to see how they view
themselves. Alette might be humble, or she might know how intelligent and
desired she is, and keep it only to herself. Think about how you think to
yourself, and compare it to what you say to others. Very few people are the
same inside and out.
Alright, now let’s come to a later
scene. The King has come, but he’s more interested in business matters with
Alette’s father, and though polite to Alette, he hardly regards her. She
responds by making a scene in front of everyone, and then running off to her
bedroom to curl up into a ball and cry.
Wait up. Make a scene in front of
everyone? Curl up into a ball and cry? Is that what a proud, intelligent woman
would do?
See, having Kerra repeatedly say that
Alette is strong and intelligent, doesn’t make Alette strong and intelligent.
Her actions do. Your actions have to back your character.
But don’t limit them. If you were
to re-write the scene a little, you could easily have the desired effect, but keeping
your character true. If the King were to openly avoid her, then the proud
princess might try and corner him alone, ask him his reasons. If he were to
reply that he simply lost track of all the princesses and forgot Alette was
one, even if he were to say it kindly, she might just go and cry in her bedroom
later. Secretly, of course. And it would suit her character. Because she hates
being ignored, and her pride couldn’t take it.
Of course, Alette might not be as
strong or as intelligent as Kerra believes, but it’s your job as the writer to
make the reader believe what Kerra believes. We’re seeing through the
character’s eyes, and we have to see the image of Alette as Kerra sees it, even
if it might not be correct.
So, then, that’s it for now. More
Mao pictures, coming next ;)
