As I wrote a month ago, I’m trying to develop a writing process to make it easier to write, especially at the beginning of a story, when breaking the inertia feels too Herculean. I’m going to start with what’s the most important aspect of a good story: good characters. But how do you write characters well? This is my approach.
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I remember a writing instructor once said, “Character description is not a dating profile.” That changed how I read and write characters. Since that fateful day, I consider the worst writing sin to be writing a character looking into a mirror and describing themselves to themselves. It feels contrived and forced and “show, don’t tell” run amuck. So how do I try to physically describe characters?
I try to focus on their physicality, i.e. how they move, their facial expressions, etc. For example, I didn’t write Clarence as wearing glasses; I wrote him as always needing to push his glasses up on his nose. Because he was scared of infecting others with his germs, he tried to touch as little as possible as he moved through the world, so he kept his elbows tight to his sides. Describing a character’s physicality can tell you more about them than something horrible like “He stood as tall as a six foot, one inch tree.”
Their physicality also includes how they dress and why. I never really got into how Clarence dressed, but I often pictured him wearing pressed chinos with a white polo shirt, with all three buttons buttoned. Clarence needs everything to be clean, so he seems like an “all buttons buttoned” kind of guy. And, of course, ironed clothing has the added bonus of being sanitized by the steam.
Then, of course, there’s a character’s mentality. Are they a happy person, a sad one, angry? How does this affect their character. How do they think? Are they a planner or a pantser, for example? Do they need to focus on seeing the glass half full because otherwise they feel guilty for bumming out their partner? What do they think about? You character is walking along, minding their own business. There’s not much going on, storywise. What are they thinking about? Are they thinking? I’ve heard that half of people have no inner monologue, no voice in their head. That’s wild to me, but I guess it’s true.
Once you’ve established all that, what do they think about the events of the story they’re in? I’m currently reading Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison and her main character, Rory, has been bitten by a werewolf. Rory’s journey from disbelief to acceptance, to trying to think about how she can continue to live her life as it had been Before is one of my favorite parts of the story. So often, character’s reactions to the stories they find themselves in seems rather blasé. But really, if you had been mauled by a monster, but woke up with only scratches to show for it, only to realize that you were turning into a monster, you’d probably freak out, which is what Rory does, which is what makes her such a great character.
I honestly can’t remember if I ever elaborated on Clarence’s reactions to finding his apartment is haunted. If I remember correctly, he just kind of goes with it. My justification at the time is that he’s a deeply lonely person who was happy to have someone to talk to, even if the voice was coming from the tub drain. But I think I could have made him a stronger character if he’d gone through something like “The Five Stages of Accepting You’re in a Horror Story.”
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That’s not everything that makes good characters, but that’s at least a start. What do you think makes characterization good vs. bad?
The Chimerical Dark 