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Creating Moods and Pictures with Words- Some thoughts on characterization with author M. Pax.

5/21/2012

16 Comments

 
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Characterization is about painting a picture, about making every word count in our fiction.

Instead of just having a room and a desk, the room and the desk can help illustrate our main character.
 
He sat down at his desk piled high with assignments. His leg hit the keyboard tray which had just lost another screw. He ripped it off, cracking the plastic.
 
As opposed to.
 
He caressed the hand-turned legs of the 19th century mahogany desk, then pulled out the polish and rag from the bottom drawer, wiping over every crevice with care. Checking to make sure the blotter was properly placed, he set his stationary and pen on top. Dear Alice, he began to write.
 
In each instance, the reader learns a lot about the character and what type of person he is, what his habits are, etc... The same can be done with objects and worlds and clothing. They shouldn’t just sit there doing nothing when they could be doing a whole lot of something.   

And I may see a tree that looks like a drooping old man.  But is that what my character would see? How would my character describe it?
 
I took a workshop a few years ago with Elizabeth Lyon and she suggested creating a lexicon for every character to help us create descriptions and sentences filtered through our characters’ sensibilities instead of our own. It’s something I had done most of the time anyway, but it really helped me take characterization to the next level. Our jobs and hobbies give us all a unique vocabulary by which we view the world. By creating a lexicon, we can more clearly paint that view through our character’s thoughts by using words they would use.
 
What’s your favorite way of creating richer, character-driven prose?

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The Backworlds
After the war with Earth, bioengineered humans scatter across the Backworlds. Competition is fierce and pickings are scant. Scant enough that Craze’s father decides to hoard his fortune by destroying his son. Cut off from family and friends, with little money, and even less knowledge of the worlds beyond his own, Craze heads into an uncertain future. Boarding the transport to Elstwhere, he vows to make his father regret this day.

Available as an ebook from: Available from: Amazon / AmazonUK / Smashwords / Feedbooks

Free on Smashwords & Feedbooks. Will be free on Amazon in a few weeks.
 
Sign up for M. Pax’s newsletter to be notified the moment The Backworlds goes FREE on Amazon, and when it becomes available from other retailers.

About the author:

M. Pax’s inspiration comes from the wilds of Oregon, especially the high desert where she shares her home with two cats and a husband unit. Creative sparks also come from Pine Mountain Observatory where she spends her summers working as a star guide. She writes mostly science fiction and fantasy, but confesses to an obsession with Jane Austen. She blogs at her website, www.mpaxauthor.com and atWistfulNebuae.  You’ll find links there to connect on Twitter, Goodread, FB and other sites.

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16 Comments
Alex J. Cavanaugh link
5/20/2012 09:33:15 pm

I've found using objects to help describe a character one of the most difficult things to do!

Reply
Siana
5/21/2012 05:46:43 am

Alex, I can readily anticipate the challenge this will pose :) But I'm excited to try it out. Thanks for stoping by.

Reply
Mary link
5/21/2012 12:10:25 am

Thanks for having me on today, Siana.

You do fantastic at character though, Alex. It's something Thomas Hardy did, one of my favorite writers. I copied him without realizing what I was doing until later.

Reply
Siana
5/21/2012 05:48:54 am

You're welcome! Thanks so much for sharing your writing with me. Good luck on the rest of your tour.

Reply
Julie Flanders link
5/21/2012 12:20:27 am

I love the lexicon idea, I'm going to try that myself. It's fun to think of how a character would see something as opposed to how we see it. Fun but also challenging!

Great post, Mary. Thank you for sharing, Siana, it's great to meet you and discover your blog!

Reply
Siana
5/21/2012 06:01:32 am

It's nice to meet you too. Good luck with Polar Night, and I love the picture you have up of Faibanks! Beautiful. Did you take it yourself?

Reply
Mary link
5/21/2012 12:56:16 am

It is useful, Julie, and helps keep the words in the story, helps us to then immerse the reader.

Reply
Siana
5/21/2012 04:21:30 am

Thanks for being here today Mary. And thanks everyone for coming.

I try to make my writing descriptive but I haven't conciously tried to make the descriptions into a means to move a specific character along. Just add depth to the story. I'm going to have to start thinking that way. Great way to kill two birds with one stone.

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Southpaw link
5/21/2012 04:46:15 am

Good tip. It's an nice way to give more info about your character without throwing it in the readers face.

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Ciara Knight link
5/21/2012 05:56:17 am

That was a great example. It really is visual and describes the character. Great job!

Reply
Mary link
5/21/2012 07:30:19 am

It's useful for adding more depth & creating 'atmosphere', Siana. It's another layer & it takes practice. Sometimes I have to think about it and add it in later, too.

Exactly, Southpaw. Another way of showing and not telling, as we hear all of the time.

Thanks, Ciara. Characterization is probably my favorite thing to write.

Reply
Carol Kilgore link
5/21/2012 11:50:19 am

Great post. I try to pick one or two things about a character and filter through those. Sometimes it's easier than others.

Reply
Mary link
5/21/2012 12:45:38 pm

Yes, some are more difficult than others. I guess it has to do with our own familiarity, Carol.

Reply
Theresa Milstein link
5/23/2012 12:27:46 am

Such great examples. It's amazing what we can hint about character with just a few words added to scene description.

Reply
Nicki Elson link
5/23/2012 08:26:44 am

Very nice examples. It's an interesting exercise to put all the characters into the exact same situation and see how they'd react differently. On a side note, what do you see when you look at that creeeeepy living stump?

Thanks for the guest post Siana & Mary. :)

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Mary link
5/23/2012 11:52:58 am

It is amazing how a few well-placed details can add layers and depth, Theresa.

That is interesting, Nicki. I'm not sure yet, but I have the photo to mull over for awhile. There was also an abandoned car which I photographed. There's a story there, too.

Reply



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