Character Sketches

One skill I find very difficult is describing characters. Especially minor characters who grab center stage for a very brief time. A waitress, for example, who occupies the main character in a brief conversation or the next door neighbor who pops in and out of chapters but never sticks around longer than a paragraph or so.

Part of the challenge, I think, is balance. A writer wants to offer enough of a description so that the reader has a basic picture of who this character is and what she's like. But at the same time, the description shouldn't clutter up the narrative with a lot of unnecessary details. The last thing a writer wants is for his readers to silently say, "Enough already! I've got the picture."

To help myself improve this skill, I've started doing what I think of as 'word caricatures' of people. I'm sure you've all seen caricaturists: artists who set up shop at carnivals and shopping malls and draw cartoonish likenesses of their customers. They pick out a few distinguishing details of their subjects and then drawing them at lightening speed. (My husband and I once had one done at a bar and the result was funny yet amazingly recognizable.)

I work on my caricatures as I'm waiting in line in the grocery store or the bank or wherever. I watch the other people and attempt to mentally describe one or two specific details that set them apart from the crowd. (Please note, that I never intend to be cruel or judgmental. I simply try to capture what I see.)

For example, last week, while I was helping out in my daughter's elementary school, I saw two little girls with long-sleeved black shirts. Both girls had long, gray streaks of dried mucus on their sleeves where they had used their shirts as tissues to wipe their runny noses. This, I think, is a very arresting detail that would work well to implant a minor character in the reader's mind.

Another example came today when I was at the gas station. The elderly man behind me in line walked with a cane. The attendant was a teenager with jeans that sagged well below the waistband of his boxers. When the elderly man stepped up to the window to pay for his gas, the teenager grinned widely and said, "Hey, Mr. X. How's my yo' boy?"

Again, these are very brief examples of people, but brevity is what's needed. You don't want to flood your readers with a lot of details; you want to keep them focused. But because minor characters often play important parts in the narrative, they deserve some sparkle, too.

Don't Set Your Stories in the Kitchen

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received came from a forum post written by an editor of a small magazine. She was discussing her slush pile and said that if she had to read another story that took place in a kitchen, she just might have to tear her hair out. "Do writers know how many stories begin in kitchens?" she asked, clearly annoyed. "And do those writers realize how boring that is?" (I truly wish I knew who said this because I 'd love to give her credit for the terrific insight; however, I don't even remember which forum it was.)

After reading that post, I went through all of my stories and - much to my chagrin - 90% of them took place in kitchens. Or living rooms. Or they began in a bedroom with the main character waking up (which, according to this same forum post, was even worse than beginning a story in a kitchen).

So what's wrong with writing about a kitchen. After all, interesting things can happen in a kitchen, can't they? Well, yes and no. Consider the following scenario:

Greg and Kate are having an arguement. They've been married for a year, but Greg thinks that the shine has already come off their relationship because Kate is so focused on her goal to have a baby that she's scheduled thier love making, thus taking all the fun and sponteniety out of their intimacy.

Okay, now take this scenario and put it into one of the following settings:

a) a 50th anniversary party for Greg's parents which is being held in an exclusive country club

b) a kitchen

Which of the settings makes the story more interesting?

If you are writing this argument in a kitchen in which the only two characters present are Greg and Kate, you are missing some opportunities to create tension. At the party, Greg and Kate are in a public place. Now their flaring tempers are put under even more pressure because they will probably want to remain civil to one another in order to not embarrass the family or themselves. Maybe one or both of them has been drinking too much. Maybe they have begun to argue in the cloakroom only to be interrupted by great aunt Myrtle or cousin Fred...

So you see, just by changing the setting, you are able to rachet the tension up and make the argument much more interesting.

I'm sad to say that, many times, I still opt for the safety of a kitchen or living room setting. I think this is because I am a lazy writer at heart. Kitchens are much easier to write about than restaurants. The kitchen is a very confined space; you don't have to think about the placement of the doors and tables or worry about describing the other customers or the waitstaff. It's much easier to write about a kitchen. But it is, as the editor rightly noted, it is also much more boring.

Characterization

Creating convincing characters is obviously one of the most important skills a writer can work on. Even plot-driven stories need characters who are realistic and engaging. Details are important; you don't want to simply tell the reader what your characters are like, you want to show them as well. One way to do this is to closely consider their occupation. And by this, I don't mean to just write what they for a living, but also show the readers how the characters' jobs affect them when they are 'off the clock'.

One thing that I've noticed in real life is how much people are defined by the jobs that they do. Even when they are not on the job, they still act in ways that are related to their professions. Consider the follow examples:

I was helping a friend of mine, who is a nurse, supervise a group of small children on a field trip. Before we left, my friend advised the children to, "empty their bladders." I laughed and told her that it was such a 'nurse' thing to say! But it was true. Someone like myself, who does not work in the medical field, would have told the kids to 'go potty' or 'take a bathroom break'. But my friend, being a nurse, unconsciously reverted to her nurse parlance.

I have another friend who is a waitress. One night, we were working a charity event held at a local restaurant. I, who have never worked in a restaurant, wasn't sure what to do, but she stepped right in, seating customers, making sure everyone had a menu, and directing the rest of us to fill water glasses. This same friend will always clear the table and fetch refills when a group of us go out for coffee (though we never ask her to do this!)

My friend is married to a journalist. The funny part is that he speaks in headlines. One day he came into the house and said to me, "Well, I opened the church doors for a murderer this morning!" Then he elaborated on the story, giving me a classic example of a 'inverted pyramid' style of a news story. Because this man has written leads for news stories all his working life, this habit has infiltrated his speech

Finally, I have a neighbor who is a police officer. Not only is he far more observant than I am, he also acts as a crossing guard whenever we take the kids down to the corner bus stop. Again, he doesn't realize that he is doing this; it is simply such a part of him to be protective. It is an automatic response brought about by his police training. I am sure that if I brought it to his attention, he would be surprised.

So you see, knowing what your character does is important because it will give clues as to what kind of person he is. Even if your character isn't employed, he or she will be interested in something! Just like gardeners pay attention to other people's lawns and car lovers seem to notice the make and model of every vehicle on the roads, your characters will pay attention to those things that are important to them.