The Character of Character
A deep dive into characterisation in writing
What makes a character who and what they are?
Is it their characteristic looks? Their qualities? Their moral stance? Their actions? Every character we’ll ever describe will actually be a mixture of the fixed and the volatile - a mix of particles and waves better thought of as a ‘wavicle’, ever in flux. Given that no character is ever really static, how can we ever hope to describe them?
This month’s writing competition invites you to use your powers of characterisation in an original piece inspired by Carol Michelon’s illustration for the section on this topic in my forthcoming book, Master the Art and Craft of Writing.
Submit an entry and you could be the lucky winner of a $10 Amazon gift voucher. The first fifty entrants will receive a free copy of my forthcoming book, Master the Art and Craft of Writing, and every entrant will receive a free sampler of writing exercises. What do you have to lose?
The task becomes both more challenging but also more exciting when one considers the etymology of the word ‘character’.
It came into the English language in the mid 14th Century, when it meant ‘a symbol marked or branded on the body’. By the mid 15th Century, the meaning expanded to ‘a symbol or body used in sorcery, an alphabetic letter, a graphic symbol standing for a sound or syllable’. The application of the word to mean the qualities of a person in a play or novel dates from the 1660s, and the transfer of meaning to the qualities of a person generally comes from the 18th Century - with ‘a character’ being synonymous with eccentricity.
The word is derived from the Greek kharassein (“to engrave”). But what, in terms of character is being engraved, and by whom? Is it nature, working from within? Or is it nurture, working from without?
Just as a simple sound like ‘Ah!’ is formed at the vocal folds by breath and shaped by the vocal tract, so carries inner and outer qualities respective to the magic of the vibrating vocal folds, so all elemental characters carry magic in them - they are charged with meaning which is further shaped by their use and reception.
Character, in its vibrational sense, is no different, but how do you describe it? Come to think of it …
How do you characterise being?
What about becoming?
Voice is a great marker of character. Born in silence, it is the physical product of an organic process. It carries emotion. It conveys thought. And reference to voice can be used in dialogue to convey a sense of physicality, of how a person relates to their body, of their thoughts, their emotional state, and can lead through to description of characterful action. So as this is both a series of writing exercises and a writing competition, here’s something which I hope will inspire you and add to your writing skills toolbox.
Dialogue
Imagine two characters talking to each other. Try out each of the following three dialogue exercises, then see how you can vary them - play with them, improve on them. Pay attention to how people in various situations communicate. Use words powerfully - avoid ‘embolalia’ or ‘filler words’ like ‘like’, ‘kinda’, ‘actually’, ‘really’ - unless there’s a VERY good reason for using them.
Exercise 1 - entering in the middle of the conversation.
A giant and a river spirit are talking. You enter in the middle of the conversation. Listen. What do their voices sound like? What are they saying?
Feel the vibe. What’s the relationship between the characters?
(Are they friends? enemies? trickster/dupe? mentor/learner?)At the point you come in on, who is talking, and what are they responding to?
Write out the next 4 lines of dialogue as a script (you will add in ‘beats’ later).
Example:
G: I will not let you die. I’ll find out where the poison is coming from - even if it costs me my life.
RS: It’s too great a price to pay.
G: After all you have done for me and my race?
RS: I … (the river is moved, weakened, sluggish; the giant strides upstream, towards the blackness, the darkness gathers round him, and in the darkness, he feels …)
Exercise 2 – action, description, feeling
Take your four lines of dialogue and think about how each character is feeling and what they are thinking both when they speak and when they hear what the other character is saying. Note what they experience through their senses, particularly in relation to the character they’re speaking to.
Example:
The giant knelt by the riverbank, his hand almost bridging the river, wanting to comfort the River Sprite. Reflecting on what she had just revealed, he said, “I will not let you die. I’ll find out where the poison is coming from ...” He paused, then continued, “... even if it costs me my life.”
“It’s too great a price to pay,” came the answer.
“After all you have done for me and my race?”
“I …”
The giant did not wait to hear any more. He rose, turned, and strode upstream, towards the blackness, feeling the darkness gathering round him like a cloak of doom. And in the gathering darkness, he felt ...
Exercise 3 – character beats
Focus on how the characters speak - put in details of how their voices sound. You may also wish to reflect on how their words relate to their character traits. Is one character brave, but foolhardy? Is one hesitant and nervous?
Example:
The giant knelt by the riverbank, his hand almost bridging the river, wanting to comfort the River Sprite. He was silent for a moment, reflecting on what she had just revealed. “I will not let you die. I’ll find out where the poison is coming from ...” He paused, swallowed slowly, then spoke with a voice steeled with resolve, “... even if it costs me my life.”
“It’s too great a price to pay,” came the faint answer, her voice weaker now, a hint of resignation in her tone, which resonated deep inside the giant.
“After all you have done for me and my race?” he gasped.
“I …,” The river’s voice faded, the flow visibly weakened, and became more sluggish.
The giant did not wait to hear any more. He rose, turned, and strode upstream, towards the blackness, feeling the darkness gathering round him like a cloak of doom. And in the gathering darkness, he felt ...
Your task for October 2022 is to produce a piece of descriptive writing (in no more than 100 words) inspired by the illustration above by the talented illustrator, Carol Michelon, which features an approach to dialogue inspired by the above exercise.
Full rules here.
Deadline: Midnight on Thursday 25th October 2022 BST
Upload your submissions here and share them on social media with the hashtags #unknownstoryteller #carolmichelon #leonconrad #artandcraftofwriting
This Course and Competition is part of The Unknown Storyteller project, focusing on the art and craft of how to tell a story. Master the Art and Craft of Writing is the counterpart to Story and Structure: A complete guide. The book explains how to structure the story you want to tell in the first place and will help you shape great stories to tell.
Signed limited edition hardback copies are available now. The paperback edition will be available from 1 November. Order your copies here.
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