What Makes Your Characters Stand Out?
Have you ever read a book and found that you were having a hard time telling one character from another? These “vanilla” characters have peppered novels for ages. Yet there are those characters who stand out from the crowd. And why is that? What makes them so special? Why do we remember Lemmy from Of Mice and Men, or the main character with the stutter from Stephen King’s IT (William Denbrough)? That’s because they have a distinctive trait. They have something about them that makes them both human and memorable to the reader.
How can you do this? By getting into the head of your character and the head of your reader. Let’s try this by creating one now. How about “Sheila”?Visualize our character. What does Sheila look like? How does she walk? What does she think when she enters a crowded party? Or a small dinner party? How does she react? Does she initiate the conversation or does she sit quietly, smiling and nodding and wishing the night was over? Let’s say Sheila hates socializing so she constantly fidgets when she is put into that situation.
Ok. We now have a detail about Sheila we didn’t have before. She can’t stop fidgeting when placed in a social situation. Now let’s convey this to the reader. Put Sheila in a dinner party and describe her actions to the reader. Notice I say “actions”. Instead of telling the reader how nervous and awkward Sheila is, show it in her actions and reactions.
“Do you feel the table shaking?” Mike asked the group. Sheila immediately stopped all motion in her legs. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. The room suddenly became much smaller. Lydia was staring at her. Was anyone else? Why did she ever agree to come?
“Sheila. Are you ok?” The words floated to her as if from a distance. Now they were all looking at her. Now she’d have to say something…
If your reader sympathizes with her in some way they will remember her. Trust me. If I bring Sheila up in another post you’ll know who I’m referring to.
Photo Courtesy of elaine55
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Good points. I also like to visualize what I am describing when setting the scene or having the reader focus on something. I pay attention to the detail in my imagination and decribe it to the reader. I seem to do a better job of painting the picture with words when I do this.