Writers are told repeatedly to “show, not tell.” I struggle with that. Sometimes the temptation to just spit it out and tell the readers what I want them to know overrides the will to work in the rich details that lets them discover what I want them to know instead. When it comes to characters, I want to tell the readers things like “she’s kind,” “he’s impatient,” and “this person is a really bad dude,” but that a) makes for short reading and b) won’t draw the reader into the story the way I want.
It’s hard to know what details might work to help a reader understand a character. I have suggested various ways, such as by the jewelry the character is wearing or the personalized license plate they choose. In the book To Serve Them All My Days by R. F. Delderfield, I remember a place where the author deftly, in two or three sentences, uses the way three women applied touch-up makeup to give us insight not only into their characters, but also into the point-of-view character’s reflections about them.
Driving might be one way to distinguish a particular character. I thought about this when I was driving to work the other day. My husband and my daughter both make (what I believe are totally undeserved) comments about my driving. There was the time I sat at a stop sign waiting for it to change to green, but since neither of them were there, they shouldn’t be able to use it against me.
The comments are especially galling when I get them from my daughter, who never met a hard brake she didn’t like, who has been known to drive with one foot on the brake and the other on the speed pedal, and who generally thinks a speed limit is more of a general guideline than a hard and fast rule. (To be fair, I view speed limits much the same way, although I restrict my law-breaking efforts to 5 miles an hour over the speed limit except in the most pressing need.) If you put a safe driving app on each of our cars, I could tell you who was driving without being told the make of the car simply by viewing the records of distracted driving, speed, and hard brakes. I also think it tells you something about the three of us to learn I was the designated sacrificial lamb when one of us had to sign up for such an app to reduce our insurance rates.
What unusual traits have you used to show a reader something about your characters? Have you ever used a character’s driving habits in that way?
I used a cat’s reaction to show a good person rather than say it. Nothing yet with driving style but what a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI've used applying makeup. And a pet's reaction to a stranger or their owner. I've used driving style (skidding on ice through a stop sign) and snaking through back alleys and parking lots to avoid traffic or evade a pursuer. I haven't used recycling behavior as characterization: which characters read the list on the lid of the container and which dump anything that "might" be recyclable (tissue paper is a big no no but do they care?) into the recycling container.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite authors "tell" rather than "show" to get information over succinctly. Sometimes I marvel at how they manage to do it without diminishing reader interest (or at least mine.). The late Margaret Yorke was especially adept. That said, pretty much any time an character appears doing anything is an opportunity for character building.
ReplyDeleteOne "telling" approach I like to employ is to have the POV character compare two other characters. That process also provides the reader insight into the POV character.
ReplyDeleteSuch great insights contained in the driving scenario! Love it! Clothing choices can tell you a lot about a character, too.
ReplyDeleteFood. What they order, how they eat, what they drink.
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