They Grow Up So Fast

Characters are fascinating. We get an idea of who they are in our minds and make notes about them for our stories. It is almost like they are our children. We did, in a sense, bring them to life. We know who they are. At least we think we know who they are. If there is one thing I have learned about writing it is this; characters evolve and will take a story down a completely different road at times.

In a way we are the parent of our characters. With that said, it is understandable that we describe our characters like we would describe our children or anything that we think of as children. That description being one that points out the best qualities or in some cases sugar coats others. Take for example a child that is full of energy, gets into everything and listens only occasionally. That child's parents love him/her so when asked about that child they will often reply with "oh he/she is a handful" of "he/she is a firecracker."

Descriptions like this are typical. The same is true in our manuscript. Our main character(s) will be described by other characters, most of the time. Although these characters will provide a good physical description of the main character they may very well sugar coat the negative aspects of that main character. This is not a bad thing at all. We do this very thing everyday in life. Even if you truly despise someone you will often times hold your tongue when talking to others about him/her. These descriptions from outside viewpoints are important to character development but it lacks a dimension that will allow the reader to really get to know that character.

To truly round out a character in our manuscript we must remember to allow the main character(s) to describe themselves. This description will be more critical then the outside viewpoints. Allowing the reader to delve inside the main character(s) by way of self description will allow them to learn how this character really thinks and their impressions of the other characters. This can be done throughout the story and can be delivered completely differently from that of outside descriptions. How the main character reacts to situations, what he/she thinks when doing mundane things, the emotions they express during the story will all contribute to that self description. This self description could also make you think again about this character you thought you knew.

We must be careful not too allow little opportunities to escape us when describing our main characters. What kind of little opportunities? Well, what describes you? If someone came up to you and said "tell me the top three things that describe who you are" what would you say? The first thing most of us would say is that we do 'fill in the blank' for a living. The same is true with our main characters. The occupation of your main character tells a lot about that character. For example, if your main character is a school teacher most people would instantly think that he/she is structured, loves kids, and possibly up tight. Another little thing that can describe a main character is where they live. If your main character lives alone in an apartment the readers could draw the conclusion that this character is established in their own ways or possibly to busy to actually have a room mate or significant other.

It is very interesting what we, as authors, can write in our manuscript that will give added insight to the readers about our characters. It is also interesting how our characters change while we are describing them. Describing our characters does not have to be a laundry list spread throughout our manuscript. Let other characters, places, and things help describe these characters. You could be really surprised with the outcome. How do you describe your characters?