4 Ways to Reveal Character

4 [Interesting] Ways to Reveal Character

Background Information

"Less than a week after she gave birth, she was out hunting the streets for work. The mines weren’t an option, what with a baby to look after, but she managed to get laundry from some of the merchants in town. At fourteen, Gale, the eldest of kids, became the main supporter of the family. He was already signed up for tesserae, which entitled them to a meager supply of grain and oil in exchange for his entering his name extra times in the drawing to become tribute. " -Catching Fire, By: Suzanne Collins

Background information is a big determiner for the development of character because it shows where the character has been, and what he or she has experienced.

(Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. )

Physical Description

“He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. He breathed heavily, and it was said that, when he slept, his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe. When he walked, his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs, as if he was going to pounce on somebody.” – Things Fall Apart, By: Chinua Achebe

If your character's personality is manifested through his or her physical appearance, you may want to present your audience with this first.

(Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Ancho)

The Importance of Character

Dialogue

“Your fiction can only be as successful as the characters who move it and move within it. Whether they are drawn from life or are pure fantasy--and all fictional characters lie somewhere between the two-- we must find them interesting, we must find them believable, and we must care about what happens to them.”

Burroway, J., Stuckey-French, E., & Stuckey-French, N. (2011). Writing fiction: a guide to narrative craft. (9 ed.). Boston, MA: Longman.

Idiosyncracies

“They must sit out of habit. Humans would notice someone standing for hours without ever shifting her weight to a different foot. Even now, I saw Rosalie brush her fingers against her hair and Carlisle cross his legs. Little motions to keep from being too still, too much a vampire. I would have to pay attention to what they did and start practicing.” - Breaking Dawn, By: Stephanie Myer

This is one of the key components to a three-dimensional character, but it is also important not to overwhelm the reader with an outrageous habit that causes them to doubt the believability as well.

(Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. New York: Little, Brown, 2008.)

“What are you doing up there, Kwasi?” Amari asked her eight-year-old brother with a laugh. He had his legs wrapped around the trunk of the top of a coconut tree.”- Copper Sun, By: Sharon M. Draper

Dialogue is an effective way of demonstrating who your character is by revealing their personality through what they say and how they say it.

(Draper, Sharon M. Copper Sun. New York: Atheneum for Young Readers, 2006.)

Photo based on: 'horizon' by pierreyves @ flickr