The things we do that make for good storytelling

We all have things that make us individual, that identify us as a person. Like the way a person shakes their head when they’re frustrated, or how a person chews their food like a squirrel. These are things that set us apart from everyone else. And in fiction, we need these things to identify with the book’s characters, to make them human.

Let’s start with some examples.

In Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom series, Allie notices the way magic spells are cast. The way glyphs are written. She can tell who made those glyphs by the way they are drawn. She’s ambidextrous.
In the Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Harry has this insane need to be chivalrous. He’s a smartass. He has a very strict sense of right and wrong.
In Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, Lord Macon loses his temper and yells a lot. His Scottish brogue comes through when he’s pissed off. Alexia’s gay vampire friend, Lord Akeldama, is flamboyant.
In Jaye Wells’ Sabina Kane series, we’ve got a demon with a forked penis. But who couldn’t love Giguhl? It’s more of a trait than a quirk, but his home shopping addiction is a quirk. Maybe the forked penis doesn’t impress you because demons aren’t the only ones with a forked penis.

I’ve read books in which the characters didn’t have quirks. The books were flat, and boring. I couldn’t identify with them. Very often, I put them down and never picked them up again. I think it’s the point of view character’s analysis of the secondary character’s quirks that makes me fall in love with the secondary ones. I loved Akeldama because of his flamboyancy, because of how he loved to touch Alexia even though it turned him mortal. Lord Macon grew on you because his Scottish accent was more pronounced when he was pissed off and Alexia loved to piss him off. The characters were human…so to speak. They had individuality, distinction.

In the end, I think that is what matters. Quirks that make you individual. I know I have some. I bite my lip when I’m nervous. I push angry people with jokes because it’s funny. Okay, that one might just be annoying and not so much a quirk. But it’s still funny.

As for my favorite one? I think I’ll have to go with Giguhl’s forked penis for the win. I mean, I know, it’s more of a trait… but come on. Seriously. It’s a forked penis.

What’s your favorite quirk in a character?