(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7)
Part 8: Developing Characters Using Little Details
Humans are complex beings, as we are all keenly aware. What makes us who we are is an enormous conglomeration of personality, memory, experience, parenting, society, and other things. The only person with complete access to everything that makes an individual, is that individual themselves. As another person, we each gather information about each other, formulating our own understanding of who that person is, slowly over the time of knowing them. We are much like readers in that we only have the things the other person does and says to inform our image. We don’t get personal dockets on everyone we meet that tells us their entire life history. We don’t get info-dumps. So why should we write characters that way? I believe characters should grow naturally inside a story, introducing the reader to different aspects of the characters little by little through the gentle feeding of details into the story. By the end of your piece, your reader should have a pretty good idea about who the characters are.
I’ve used the phrase “gentle feeding of details” several times, without necessarily explaining what I mean. As people, certain things remind us of other things, right? Sometimes while you’re writing, consider adding a thought about a moment in their past and how that moment influences the moment they’re dealing with then. Add in little remarks between the characters about a time in their past together. Include an off-handed remark from the narrator with some interesting tidbit.
Some people feel like these are superfluous–they’re extras that are weighing down the story, wasted words. What they actually function as are texturing details. They give not only your world, but your characters more depth. For those suffering from world-builders disease, this idea may be difficult to put into practice. It seems to encourage the creation of these moments prior to writing, but what may be more useful is not to have them ready to pull from your character sheets. I want to impress upon you that is it impossible to know everything about a character at the outset, nor is it even needed to know it all. These little vignettes you throw into conversations or narration that recall other moments in your character’s history are often plot-specific–somehow they tie back to what’s going on right then–and while you can come up with situations all you want prior to jumping in, you may not know what kind of a moment will work best until you’re actually writing it.
Here’s an example:
The boy claimed to be named Keetan. All my rats claimed one name or another, but whether it rightfully belonged to them was another matter, one which wasn’t my business. He could have asked to be called Blondie Monkey-Face and I would have obliged. (x)
These lines take up a whole three sentences–not enough to break the flow, but enough to tell the reader quite a few things. They aren’t necessarily important to the plot, but they certainly build the speaker’s character and the world around them, as well as the boy they’re talking about. These could be cut without any harm to the story. So why did I leave them in? Texture. And character-building, of course. That’s what this “gentle feeding” is all about. Short bursts of sometimes outwardly unnecessary information that builds character in a seemingly passive manner.
Yes, I’m advocating leaving some things about your character unknown. Even to yourself. Sometimes coming up with those little details on the fly gives you a sudden insight into your character or world you didn’t even know you needed. It also helps you get started writing, not just thinking about the writing. That’s the most important part of a story, the actual writing of it.
(Hopefully this wild ride has given you some things to think about and some tools to try out. If you have questions or need help with your characters and world, feel free to drop an ask in my box! I am always here to help you.)
