Characterization is rough, at least for me. I have a love for words, and if I don’t take care all of my characters – from educated dilettante to grime covered street orphan – start sounding like that reclusive librarian that lectured you on spoken grammar. I recognized this as a liability pretty early on, but only in the last few years have I really come up with a way to work around it other than careful re-writes (I still use those, by the way, but this helps).
Disclaimer – I’m a plotter. I plot and outline until there’s no mystery left. If that’s not your style, you’ll hate my solution.
To combat the problem, I use the Lists of Ten. My friend Rich Dansky was the person who introduced me to this, so I give him all the credit. The concept is as simple as it is elegant, and it works like this. For any character that has more than a line of dialog, I create a list of “10 things Character_Name frequently says.” I pair this with a second list – “10 things Character_Name never says.” I story these in the character folder for each character, and keep a copy tacked to the wall where I can read it while I’m writing their scenes.
It sounds fairly minor, but it’s a huge help for me. It’s a visual reminder that my urchin likes to use “…if it’s anything” in his declarative statements, or that my dilettante never uses contractions. I also take care not to handcuff myself to the list – it can be broken for emphasis obviously (a character who never uses profanity suddenly drops the F-Bomb), but even our catch phrases only show up once or twice in a given exchange. The list acts as a guide for me, and helps my characters sound different without making them sound repetitive.
Much of the time I don’t fill it out completely, starting with 5 to 8 of each. This gives me room to expand as the character grows and changes in the course of the writing. Likewise, if it’s a bit character with only a few lines in one or two scenes, it may not get the full 10 at all. Just 5 may suffice–something to help me develop a unique voice for the character.
How about you? Do you have a method for characterization of which you are especially fond? I’d love to hear about it. Drop me a message in the comments.
Tags: character, dialogue, my methods, writing
This is going to help me a lot, thanks for sharing! In my nascent writing career, I’ve been trying to visualize people I know who speak like my characters, but what happens is my characters end up sounding like the people I know rather than themselves.
I just read your work “A Loss For Words” in Apex’s “Dark Faith” collection, and I’m looking forward to reading more of your work.
I’m a big fan of the “Pay it forward” method of writing appreciation. It was taught me by a mentor I respect greatly, and I’ve always tried to share what I’ve figured out rather than hoard it close. Glad to hear it will help you, and if it works I hope you tell someone else about it. Glad you liked “Loss for Words” too, it’s one of which I’m pretty fond. *grin*
Best,
JCH