How Not to Write a Book: Oh, yeah, she’s a really strong character! She’s only crying throughout the entire book!

(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 ;)