Month: December 2018

Why do we need to describe our characters? Because we do not want them running around invisible and naked within the pages of our story. We need strong multi-dimensional characters that readers can empathize with. As humans, we are not one-sided stick people. It is our desire to create characters in our own image, so why not make them all diverse individuals.

Ways to create and build your characters:

• Personality: Review their personality traits: what has influenced their personality? Cultural factors, psychological factors, biological or genetic factors, or environmental factors? How did they grow up? Giving characters specific personality traits will help build their backstory.

• Appearance: Describe what they look like and the clothes they wear: what is a unique piece of clothing that is specific to them, but not to the to other characters? Do they wear a hat, specific jewelry, different shoes? This will make them look unique on the page.

• Dialogue: Some dialogue phrases can be specific to only one character. Of course, you’ll have dialogue to move the plot forward, but certain phrases can be used to express character’s opinions and show how they respond to stress.

• Dialogue Tags: A dialogue tag is a physical response used before or after dialogue. It helps show body language. This is very important in creating characters. It helps add emotion to the pages. A dialogue tag does not need to be used on every line of dialogue but layered in gently with body descriptions readers can see.

• Thoughts: If sharing thoughts with readers, this is a way to show their innermost feelings without the characters sharing their true thoughts with the rest of the world. Are they scared? Lonely? Do they have to put on a mask every time they are with other characters. If so, why?

• Flaws: No one is perfect, and characters aren’t either. What are some of their flaws? Physical, emotional, psychological. This is another way to help build backstory.

• Motivation: What makes them tick? What is their passion?

Exercise: Think about someone you love. Now, think about their strengths and weaknesses, phrases they always say, ways they can make you laugh or cry. Now, write down 4 unique things about that person and be sure to include one of each of the following—personality trait, physical trait, dialogue phrase, and a dialogue tag.

Remember, strong characters can carry a strong plot. Strong characters can carry a weak plot, but weak characters cannot carry any plot.

Copyright (C) 2018 by Written Dreams, LLC.

If dialogue is written well, it can move the story forward while fleshing out your characters. It is meant to be used as a break for readers from reading long passages of narrative and add description to the scenes in a different way than narrative prose.

Do:

• Do use the words: says, said, ask, asks, asked, asking

These words are transparent to the reader, meaning the reader can move along in the story without seeing these words. Said and asked, especially, don’t stop a reader.

• Do use physical tags to show what the character is doing during dialogue. It will add emotion to the story.
• Do use a saidism tag every 2-3 lines of dialogue between 2 people. If more than 2 people are speaking, be clear who is speaking on every line to avoid reader confusion.
• Do use the five senses in dialogue/dialogue tags.
• Do use he/she in place of the character’s names.
• Do put each character’s line of dialogue on a separate new line.
• If starting a new scene/chapter with a new character in dialogue, use their first and last name in that first line of dialogue so the reader knows who is speaking.
• Do use punctuation in dialogue.
• Do look at/read/review another author’s dialogue.
• Do your research on the character’s backstory/history if you want them to speak with an accent or in a dialect you don’t use yourself. Use words like Scottish brogue to describe their conversations.
• Do use contractions in dialogue. Write dialogue the way your characters would speak.
• Use a combination of dialogue, thoughts, physical actions, and the five senses for well-balanced dialogue.

Don’t:

• Don’t overuse saidisms that aren’t said/ask. Why? Because the reader will think the conversation is important and keep it in their head. If you’re constantly using these types of words in dialogue, it’ll be difficult for the reader to keep track of all of those important conversations. Instead, use these words sparingly and for emphasis. Example: stated, commented, agreed, inferred, whispered, yelled, argued, answered, replied, etc.
• Don’t overuse profanity. Only have a character curse for emphasis on a rare occasion. If overused, it loses its importance.
• Don’t have more than 4-6 lines of dialogue without any saidism tags. It will be confusing for readers to follow along, making them frustrated and want to put the story down.
• Don’t run dialogue from multiple characters in the same paragraph. Each line of dialogue by a new speaker should be on a new line.
• Don’t use the word speak/spoke for every line of dialogue. (See #1.)
• Don’t try to write a character speaking in an accent or different dialect—unless you have studied it for a very long time. Accents/dialects/slang are very hard for readers to follow. Use sparingly.
• Don’t forget the punctuation.

Copyright (C) 2018 by Written Dreams, LLC.