Posts Tagged Character Introduction

I started this topic over a month ago and I never dreamed it would take so long to get back to it.

For this post, you can take what you like and apply it how you want, but I am thinking of side characters – one-time only characters and maybe some infrequent reoccurers (yes, I made that word up for this blog).  For these guys, I would recommend you steal liberally from your own experience, people you observe, and people you read about.  But don’t look at every behavior; these aren’t your main characters, look at the behaviors that will define a character in just a few words.

The July 7th week had a couple enlightening news stories… human stories: 

Sacramento Bee ran a story initially advertised as “Hot Tub Hero” and was formally titled “Neighbor in hot tub spots blaze, saves Elk Grove families.”  This story showed a side of humanity we can really get behind, be proud of.  This guy sees an explosion, tells someone to call 911, races to both houses to wake the sleeping residents, then takes a garden hose and battles with the fire so much that me loses the hair on his right arm.  Then he had some humble remarks, “Just being neighborly,” “It’s just fate that I was in that hot tub and happened to be looking in that direction,” and “You would’ve done the same thing if you’d seen a fire.” 

CNN ran a sad story about a woman who, two years ago, accidentally left her baby in a car, “Tragedy in the backseat: Hot-car deaths.”  The story was from her viewpoint, a viewpoint I don’t here often.  Beyond her own grief and guilt, she talked about how her family handled the situation and the charges which were filed against her.

The week of August 4th, there was another great human story:

The Daily News reported about a gunman’s girlfriend dealing with the aftermath: “Kristi Hannah, girlfriend of Omar Thornton, recalls gunman’s goodbye, racism concerns.”  This is an article that shows the dynamics of a relationship, while giving your glimpses of both the boyfriend and girlfriend.

Right now, there are enough articles about Shaquan Duley to make a fairly good character profile/sketch/outline/whatever you want to call it.  She killed two of her three children to be “free.”  From these stories, you can see her life three years ago, before those two children were born.  You can see her life change, and know about the lectures she was receiving.  Then, you read her own words about how and why she took her children’s lives.

In each of these stories, there is enough detail and dialogue to base a character.  Maybe not a main character, but a side character – an interesting, dynamic side character.

Now, if I were doing a crime novel with a PI or detective, I could make a scene where there was a mother who, intentionally or unintentionally, kills some of her children.  A humble bystander saves the last of the children from this event.  Plus, there is the reaction of the spouse afterwards.  You have a nice set of scenes for your detective to walk through, setting up his/her personality for the remainder of the novel.

Whenever possible, borrow from reality.

• If someone always writes hand written messages and visits people’s homes for dinner, what type of person would you picture?  Would you visualize an older or younger person?
• If someone is sexting, texting, and consistently on the cell phone, would you picture someone in their 60s or someone under 25?
• If someone emails, uses cell phones, and IMs, do you see someone you know?  Do you see someone who lives or works in a city, is between 15 and 55, and has consistent access to the internet?
• If someone is making video calls, visiting blogs, and emailing, what comes to mind?  Do you see a tech savvy adult, who is either a business person or hobbyist of some sort?

Why is that?  Because ways to communicate has been changing and expanding at a quick pace.  This era (2000-2010) has more diversity in communication technology than any other time in history, and some may die out in the next few years.  Different generations and social classes have locked into specific modes of communication. 

While I am obviously going to be making generalizations and playing with stereotypes, I think you will see my point.  This is kind of the 2010 over-generalization primary forms of communication related to age/social class (you can bicker in the comments if you like):

• Drawings – young children that have been traumatized, architects, fashion designers, and crime scene investigators
• Walkie-talkies – kids
• Journals – teen girls
• Sexting – younger, more risqué people
• Social (online) games – teens and young adults, mostly males
• Video Calls – richer, more likely to be young business men
• vidBlogs – younger, dynamic, high-energy people
• Text – younger, mostly in cities, hipper
• Consistently on Cell – normally people younger than 35
• Instant Messaging – people with consistent access to the web
• Social Networks – baby boomers to kids
• Blogs – normally business/special interest people, age independent
• E-Mail – average / common adults for today 15-55
• Occasionally on Cell – average / common adults for today 15-55
• Pagers – In 1990 it was drug dealers, then medical field, then everyone, now back to just medical field
• Home Phone – non-techie people
• CBs – On-the-go business communications and hobbyists
• In Person Visits – family/church oriented people, normally older
• Hand Written Mail – almost exclusively seniors

I’m sure there are tons of methods that I forgot (and one that I purposefully excluded).  And you may disagree with the specifics of any one, or many, categories.  These are just to form guidelines for this snap-shot of history, April 14, 2010. 

When you introduce a new character, you can give them a very specific feel by describing how they are communicating.  They work effectively if you combined them.  Take these examples:

• John looked at the incoming text on his phone and slammed the privacy shield closed on his computer’s web cam.  The incoming message read, “OMG!  CANT BLIEVE U TALKD ME N2 THIS.  SHOW NE1 – UR D.E.A.D!”  John smiled as he shuffled over to his bed, flipping through the pictures Amber sent.
• John shook his friends’ hands as he backed out of the doorway.  “Sorry I have to leave so soon.  I know I don’t come by enough these days.  But I have to get these letters to the post office and Amber will be having supper on soon.”

If you can see the difference, then many of your readers will also.  While communication mode isn’t enough to solely describe your characters, it is a powerful enhancement to other forms of description.

For your writing challenge this week, try to find as many ways as possible to describe John’s leaving a conversation with anonymous friends to give attention to Amber.  Remember to use forms of communication to help define the age and social status of your characters.

Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.   – Thomas Berger

I have scoured the internet (okay, I did Google and Bing searches looking at the top 20 hits) to find something about creating a sense of history based on a character’s initial description and setting.  I found nothing, and thus, I am writing.

My theory: if there is only physical character description without setting, the character’s history has to be explained.  However, with proper consideration of the setting for introducing a character, history will take care of itself.

For most people, first impressions are very strong.  Part of that impression is of the person themselves, but part of it is the setting.  We associate our stereotypes with settings.  Seeing an attractive, drunken woman at a bar might be enticing for some men; however, seeing an attractive, drunken woman in cuffs near the scene of a fatal accident gives a totally different impression.  Why?  It is because of our experiences, because of our prejudices.  We, the readers, add to what we read.  The setting gives us all we need to let our minds go wild, especially if it is a first impression of a lesser character.

Let’s play with an example: if a main character, Andre, is described as mulatto, well groomed, athletic build, and wearing a black suit, you can picture him without knowing anything about him.  Further, add that he is crying while holding pink pom-poms to his chest.  Now you may think he is strange, you may want to know more.  However, that is all the physical description you need to make Andre totally come alive.  Let’s play with the setting two ways:

•  Andre is sitting on a couch between two other metro men watching “Bring It On” with a stack of Hayden Panettiere movies off to the side.  What do you picture about the man?  Can you see more than what was written?
• Andre is standing before two closed caskets, one full sized and one smaller.  A group of peewee cheerleaders sit in the third row staring at the smaller casket.  Do you get a sense of history that isn’t explained?  Did you assume the caskets contained his family?  Did you at least think about why the caskets were closed?  What gender was his child?  How close he was to his child?

Another example, if Christian, a main character, was described as a blubbery white mass nearly 100 pounds overweight, wearing sweatpants and a bandana.  What do you see?  Let’s see if we can add or take away from what you picture by adding the setting and maybe a touch more description.

• Christian is in a gym after most of the lights have been turned off, pleading with the owner to give him five more minutes on the stationary bike before going home.  What do you think of the main character now?  What is going on here?  Why type of person is he?
• Christian is at his fly infested house that smells of stale food.  Trophies for high school wrestling are in a display case behind him as he sits in a fabric worn recliner watching reruns of Ninja Warrior.  He has a beer in one and and the last slice of a large pizza in the other.  Can you picture what has happened in his life?  Do you see him as the same man as from the bike setting?

Last example, this is from a manuscript that I have been working on.  Picture a 16 year old Caucasian boy who is watching television with his dad – competing with him on some game show answers.  What do you think of boy? the family?  How does your viewpoint change when I say that it is 10am on a school day?  Or that they are in a rundown trailer?  What if I were to add that an older brother and wife were in the next room having loud sex?  Do you think less of the father?  Do you wonder about the family dynamics?  Do you think “white trash!”?  Do you automatically make assumptions about the family and their history that I didn’t mention?

Whether you are introducing a drunken woman, a sad father, an overweight has-been, or 16 year old slacker, the context in which you introduce them in will give the reader so much more than what you actually write.

Setting is important when introducing characters, especially secondary characters.  It gives the reader more than what you say and keeps you, the writer, from having to fill in some blanks.  If you introduce twenty characters at once in a party, then you have denied yourself and your reader the power of the first impression.

Here is a writing challenge, think of all the places you could put five naked teenagers – three boys and two girls.  I’ll start with the first one, huddled together in what was supposed to be a shower in Auschwitz.