Character Building

Good morning! It is a great day for hot coffee. Today, we'll be talking about characters and character creation, which is a popular topic for narrators, authors, and self help books everywhere.  One of the first questions people ask when they find out I narrate audio-books is "Do you do all the characters and everything?" I'm not sure what they mean by "everything," but character is kind of the point. 

Even the dryest informational narration creates an authoritative and knowledgeable character to convey information. The best characters, though, are the ones developed beyond this information exchange, the ones who tell their own story, the ones who make us feel something. 


Mark Twain is quoted as saying. with his usual wit and insight, "A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation."  I love this quote, because it works on so many levels.


Of first importance to my topic; this is exactly how we develop voices to use in narration. Adjectives! Simple, right? It's exactly how writers develop the characters with their words and exactly how readers and listeners relate to the books they enjoy.  Thank you, authors, for describing your characters' voices!  This is the narrator's chance to match your intent and the reader's imagination wrapped up in a few of those choice adjectives.  

Of course, what Twain meant, was that you could tell a lot about people you met by the language that they used. Specifically, I imagine, if the adjectives used were of the more "colorful" variety.  Don't judge! We like colorful 'round here!  We can also tell a lot about characters in books by the language they use.

Fascinatingly, recent science is showing that the language that we use can actually effect the molecular structure of water! Positive language directed at water was shown to create beautiful and complex crystals when the water was frozen, while water molecules subjected to hateful language broke down upon freezing. When we consider how much of our world, and even our bodies is composed of water, this sounds like language can build character on a global scale! 

So, writers, please keep writing, readers, keep reading. We've got characters to build!  All you beautiful people, have a fantastic day. As always, thanks for reading, and happy listening!

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