But I Want My Readers to KNOW my Characters

Character and plot are, in my opinion, the two most important parts of any story.  Any writer worth his salt will spend many hours developing characters.  What do they look like?  Where do they come from?  We create the history or back story.  We make the characters into "real", believable people.  Then we (or at least I) struggle with wanting to share all that information with our readers.







I read two separate posts addressing this issue that have stuck in my thoughts.  We will be discussing these in the next two weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the websites I was on when reading them.  Please forgive me for not siting the authors of these thoughts.



The first post said that many young writers feel the need to include as much information as possible about their characters in an effort to make them seem real to their readers.  This author stated that, while it is vitally important for the author to know everything about their character, in reality only about 10% of that knowledge should find its way into the pages of the story.



I think part of this goes back to the "show, don't just tell" rule we discussed in an earlier post.  I can show by my character's actions that he is impatient, hates to wait, and often makes rash decisions.  I don't have to tell the reader.  I can trust that my reader is bright enough to make those inferences on her own.



Allow me to give an example.



Carter stood abruptly, interrupting the conversation.  As all eyes turned to him, he said, "I don't care what the rest of you think.  I'm going in there.  We can't just leave Jill to fend for herself."  Before anyone could comment, he strode purposefully out the door.




Allen sighed.  "The idiot.  He's going to get himself killed."  He jerked his head toward Simon.  "Go stop him before he blows this mission.  And if you can get him to listen to you, tell him we are all going in there.  But we'll do it in a manner that is most likely to succeed."




Now read the same scene with background information.



Carter couldn't believe they were still discussing the issue.  He hated waiting.  He knew he was going to do whatever it took to get Jill out.  Finally he had had enough.  He stood abruptly, interrupting the conversation.  As all eyes turned to him, he said, "I don't care what the rest of you think.  I'm going to go in there.  We can't just leave Jill to fend for herself."  Before anyone could comment, he strode purposefully out the door.  




In Carter's mind inactivity was the worst possible sin.  He remembered when he was a boy, hearing his grandpa say, "Idleness in the devil's playground."  Well, it had been their idleness that had led to Jill's capture.  He wasn't going to fail again.  He was going to get her out.




Allen sighed.  "The idiot.  He's going to get himself killed."  He jerked his head toward Simon.  "Go stop him before he blows this mission.  And if you can get him to listen to you, tell him we are all going in there.  But we'll do it in a manner that is most likely to succeed."




Allen shook his head.  He knew that Carter thrived on action.  But he also knew that many times he made rash decisions in the heat of the moment that he later regretted.  This time others' lives were at stake.  He couldn't allow Carter to go off half-cocked.  




Granted, the second passage greatly increases our word count.  However, does it give any vital information that the reader could not have figured out in the first scene?  Some of you may say, "Yes.  We know that part of the reason he thrives on action is because of his grandpa's raising."  Well, that's true, we have more information.  But was it vital?  Does inserting that information there help push the action along?  Is it an important part of the story?



I would suggest that, while this information is important to our character, it is not a necessary fact at this point in the story.  And unless his grandpa plays a major role, we don't have to know this information.  We can understand that Carter is reckless, rash, and impatient by his words and actions.



The other fallacy that occurs in the second example is that by sharing both Carter's and Allen's thoughts about the situation we have shifted point of view within the same scene (see previous posts concerning this faux pas).  When we try to include everything, many times it makes the action sluggish and causes the reader's attention to wane.









So.  Continue to create those character webs.  Make your characters into real people.  Know their strengths and weaknesses, their likes and dislikes.  But consider that many times a character's actions or words will show his personality, motivation, or traits.  We don't always have to explain them by "telling" the readers the back story.





Happy writing,











www.karinaharrisauthor.com





Below are some links to character development websites:



http://www.pgtelco.com/~slmiller/characterdevelopment.htm

http://fullcircle.comicgenesis.com/characterdevelopment.htm

http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/56

















Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com