Your Character Is Showing!

Your Character Is Showing!

You've worked diligently to develop fact sheets and watch your characters respond as you put them through rehearsals, but now it's time for the real thing. How will you introduce your characters to an audience in such a way that makes them engaging and always just a little mysterious?

First of all, remember that it takes time to get to know a person-in reality and in fiction. That's why you have spent all this time developing your story people. Now allow your reader to know them gradually. This means avoiding dumping all the information about your character in the first chapter. Let information present itself on an as-needed basis. Sometimes you'll even withhold important pieces of information just to make the reader ask questions and read on to find the answers.

A key point to remember is that showing characters speaking and acting is more effective and engaging for your reader than using exposition. Do not rely on exhaustive descriptions, but reveal aspects of character in a way that implies appearance or personality. Then support those implications through action, thoughts, dialog or the speculation of other characters. Short, vivid scenes with dialog and action are always preferable over stagnant description.

Dialog is also a key element in revealing character. The words used, and the manner in which they're spoken can reveal emotion and personality. Each character in your production should be distinguishable through their speech patterns.

You can reveal a character through the way s/he sees him- or herself. Thoughts or reactions to a matter will brand a character with certain personality traits, ambitions, peeves and passions. A mirror is a handy story tool, but in the opinion of some has been over-used and should therefore be employed with care. Clothing choices and hair styles are also a means by which you can reveal the personality of an individual.

As mentioned before, the observations and reactions of other characters can help the reader gain impressions, and you have a host of sources from which to supply necessary information. Secondary characters can observe traits outright, discuss them among others, and even argue over whether or not the suppositions of another are true or not. All of these methods can reveal character while moving the story forward.

Setting can also be used to round out a character. How a character reacts in familiar verses unfamiliar surroundings will imply certain characteristics. Placing a character in unfamiliar surroundings can deepen the discomfort (conflict) as part of the story idea.

Katherine Porter advises writers to let characters live and grow in your imagination as if you saw them in real life. Then allow them the opportunity to live and grow in the imagination of your reader. Slowly and deliberately reveal their mannerisms, speech habits, attitudes and beliefs, strengths and weaknesses in action and dialog as the story progresses. Start with the character traits that are most essential to your story and round out the character as the pages turn. Let the characters react in harmony with their motives and personality.

It is also important that your character remain consistent. Yes, a character's reaction may at times be out of the ordinary, but first set up a reason why this is so. The reader must in the back of his or her mind know that the character is capable of such action, even though it might be extreme given the circumstances. Always test character action and speech against what you know of their personality.

This is an area in which an outside reader is extremely helpful. The author has spent much more time with the character than a reader will, and sometimes will neglect to mention important aspects that explain or imply character motivation. Having someone look at your character with a fresh eye, and without the benefit of a character fact list, will reveal such oversights and omissions.

Building characters is a balancing act. Sometimes characters will grow and change as they develop, but you must remember that in the end, they exist for a purpose and must be molded to suit that purpose best. Let your story people surprise and challenge you, because that's what makes writing intriguing. But never abdicate your role as casting director; give your characters the direction they need to best bring your story to life.