Characterization

A writer can never know about a character's feelings what is not somewhere mirrored in her own.

--Katherine Patterson.

The Methods of Developing Character.

1. Point of view.
2. Exposition.
3. Description.
4. Action--character in action is what fiction is.
5. Gestures and mannerisms.
6. Setting, taste, and interest.
7. Other's opinions.
8. Dialogue.
9. Thoughts, interiorization.
10. All of the Above.

First Aid for Character.

1. Make sure the character has a physical presence, leaves footprints in the damp grass, breathes, has a smell, etc.
2. Sharpen the character's sensory perceptions, and give those perceptions an individualistic slant.
3. Rewrite all the character's lines of dialogue serially to keep them keyed to the character and expressive of it.
4. If the character is the point-of-view character, change from first person to third, or vice versa. (You will get a different character.)
5. Sharpen motivations and compulsions.
6. Arrange scenes so that other characters are conscious of, and have opinions on, the character in question, in dialogue or point of view.

Points to Ponder.

• The difference between a good story and a great one is often the depth to which the author examines the characters who people the pages.
• A good way to make sure your characters are fully developed is to think of them as four-dimensional persons (the photograph, the videotape, the stage play, and the participatory theater.
• First-dimension characteristics are those you would observe looking at a photograph of a person. Such qualities include height; weight; age; coloring; body type; distinguishing physical traits such as scars, tattoos, or unusual proportions; type and style of clothing.
• Second-dimension traits are those you could observe by watching a videotape of a person. These characteristics are primarily ones of descriptive action, such as "lumbers," "ambles" or "strolls."
• Third-dimension traits are those revealed when you watch people interacting or reacting to circumstances, as you do in a play. Here you get some of the character's intelligence; sensitivity level (e.g., tactful, unaware, empathetic, uncaring); social type, etc.
• Fourth-dimension traits are found in the same list as third-dimension traits, but there are two differences. The first is that fourth-dimension traits deal strictly with the private persona, that is, the person stripped of pretense and deception; second, in order to come to the deepest understanding of the person, the author must answer the question, "Why?" Two people may behave in exactly the same way for very different reasons, and unless you understand their motives, you cannot really know them.
• What is characterization but determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character? - Henry James, THE ART OF THE NOVEL.
• Shading is a method of characterization of building a character out of contradictions. A coldhearted character would be first presented in a state of passion so that the reader could then have the pleasure of discovering that was not the true character.
  
  Bibliography:
  
  
• Brandilyn Collins, Getting Into Character;
• Oakley Hall, How Fiction Works;
• Nancy Kress, Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint;
• Nancy Lamb, The Art and Craft of Storytelling;
• Elizabeth Lyon, Manuscript Makeover;
• Meg Leder, Jack Heffron, Editors of Writer's Digest: The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing;
• Jessica Page Morrell, Bullies, Bastards & Bitches.