5 Qualities to Consider During Character Development

5 Qualities to Consider During Character Development 5 Qualities to Consider During Character Development 5 Qualities to Consider During Character Development By Mark Nichol Descriptions of or references to your characters, their belongings, and their immediate surroundings say much about the people. Here are five aspects of personality that deserve some thought as you develop characters before and during the completion of your novel or short story. 1. Appearance Writers are naturally inclined to make their main characters especially attractive unless they believe there is a very good reason to do otherwise: The character wishes to avoid attention, the story has an ugly duckling theme, or the character is reprehensible (in which case they might nevertheless be, for contrast, extremely good looking). Don’t introduce your character with an extensive physical appraisal, but do sprinkle hints about their appearance (or don’t many great works of literature don’t describe main characters’ looks at all). Make sure that physical features are consistent with that person’s ethnic origins, unless there’s a good reason for exceptions. If you do want readers to visualize your conception of the character, consider not just physical characteristics but also carriage and comportment. How does the person move? Fast, or slow? Purposefully, or uncertainly? Gracefully, or awkwardly? Self-consciously, or without regard for how they are perceived? 2. Attire How do your characters dress? The period and locale will determine the general costume, but personality is still easily conveyed within these parameters. What does what the people wear say about their social status and about their character? Is their clothing austere, or ostentatious? Prim, or provocative? What kind of accessories, if any, do they wear, and why? 3. Business I refer here not to business as a synonym for commerce but in the theatrical sense of the character’s physical actions. What facial expressions do they employ? Are they self-conscious about them, or are they natural, or does it depend? If the character is physically demonstrative, how is this characteristic conveyed? Do they use their hands a lot, or is the person’s entire body an instrument of expression? Do they often handle or caress objects? Does their business convey calm, or are they fidgety? Do they make physical contact with other people? Do they observe conventions of social distance (the space people leave between each other according to their social status and relationship)? Do they establish and maintain eye contact and is this a sign of forthrightness, or an effort to discomfit or dominate others or are they evasive about it? What implements do they carry and use? Are these objects practical, like tools, or are they talismans? Does this person rely on instruments, or on thoughts and ideas, or on both? 4. Speech What is the tone of the character’s voice? Smooth, or harsh? Quiet, or loud? Do they mumble, or do they enunciate carefully? With a high pitch, or a low one? Are they taciturn, or voluble? How else is their personality conveyed in the way they speak or how talk or think to themselves? Are they kind, or cruel, in their speech? Respectful, or insolent or condescending? Do they have an unusual accent, or do they try to suppress it, and are they successful all the time, or does the accent prevail when they are emotional or unguarded? Is their general mode of speech an effort to hide or overcome their origins? If they must speak a foreign language, are they fluent, or merely competent, or not even that? 5. Environment How does a character relate to their surroundings, and how does the person manipulate the environment? What is the person’s dwelling like, and what do the characteristics of that place convey personality? How does their workplace do the same? Is the personal environment functional and practical, or is it expressive of the character? Do their possessions convey a simple lifestyle, or one devoted to acquisition of goods? A fascinating book called Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, by psychology professor Sam Gosling, concludes that the way personal items are displayed in one’s home or workplace reveals much about the person, and that there are three general categories: things displayed ostentatiously (certificates, trophies, autographs), things displayed unselfconsciously for both the person and for visitors to see (vacation photos, knickknacks), and things displayed solely for the benefit of the space’s occupant, not its visitors (mementos, notes from loved ones). Think about how you can apply this information to establishing settings for your characters, and bring what else you know or may soon learn about human behavior to bear when creating characters and telling stories. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Synonyms for â€Å"Meeting†Excited ABOUT, not "for" List of Prefixes and Suffixes and their Meanings

How to Write an Expository Essay

How to Write an Expository Essay To write an expository essay means to convey information in such a way that your reader can understand it. It’s an essay comprised of facts and nothing but the facts. Biographies and non-fiction can fall into expository writing. Journalism is another example of expository writing. In this kind of writing, you will most often find facts, statistics and examples to support the information that the author is writing about. Emotions and personal opinion is strictly left out. An expository essay is typically written in third person, meaning that you do not use â€Å"I† or â€Å"You†. Before beginning your writing, extensive research and reading must be performed of your essay topic. You must have a clear understanding of the subject before you can attempt to explain it to your audience. Once you have reached a point where you feel that you completely understand the topic, then you may begin your writing. Decide which method you plan on using to back up your essay. There are various ways. You can use process analysis, cause and effect, compare and contrast or you could decide to use definition, classification or example. This will require some thought on your part before you begin your writing as you will want to find the most effective way of showing the reader about your topic. Be organized, know how you will present the essay by choosing the most effective way to divide and present the information. Now that you’ve done your research, it’s time to come up with a thesis statement. This should be a clear concise statement that leaves no question as to what the essay is about. After you decide on your thesis, now it’s time to write your paper. Be sure that every paragraph is tightly written with a distinct topic. Begin with a paragraph that performs as an introduction. Within this first section, you should be able to state the thesis along with the various supporting topics in such a way to gain the reader’s interest. Then within the following paragraphs, there should be a topic sentence to begin each one. Then every sentence within those paragraphs needs to reinforce that particular topic. Keep everything you say factual. An expository essay is basically reinforcing and supporting a topic with known analysis and statistics. It helps to make references to another’s work or paper that relates to the topic you are writing about to assist the reader in their understanding. Finally, the thesis statement needs to be tied to the topics stated in each paragraph. This is going to sum up the entire paper for the reader therefore no new material should ever be introduced in the concluding paragraph. Revise your paper upon completion. The first draft will be basically a sum of your thoughts, analysis and reporting. A revision will enable you to determine if you are using the most effective words to convey the message to the reader. Since expository writing requires that every paragraph be tight and well-defined, performing revisions on this paper is a must to ensure that your thoughts have not wandered during the course of writing. Expository writing is a practice used in all career fields. You’ll most likely find yourself at some point having to put together a paper showing why something is, what makes it that way? You’ll find yourself in a position where you’ll need to show a complete report on a subject whether it be to a superior at work or to clients. Writing an expository essay means writing with confidence about something and being accurate with your facts. Knowing how to put together a professional looking report for someone will go a long way in gaining their trust in your abilities.