Nice to Meet You!
HOW TO WRITE CONVINCING CHARACTERS FOR
SHORT STORIES
Characters in short stories are both different from and similar to
characters in a novel. They’re different because you have far less
space, time and opportunity to persuade the reader that the
character you are painting on the page could be a real person.
Therefore you have to get in there fast.
You don’t have the luxury of time to build up a picture over
several chapters. Instead, you need to do a thumbnail sketch of a
character almost immediately, in order to draw the reader in. You
must find a way of using a few words to show how a character
thinks, talks, behaves and interacts with other characters.
You also need to show that each paper character has a ‘voice’;
something which makes him or her stand out from the others.
Otherwise, the reader’s going to wonder why you need that
character at all.
There’s also less time to show how your character is changing – if
indeed he or she is going to change. In a novel, part of the plot
usually hinges around a problem that the character (or characters)
has to solve or come to terms with. As part of this, at least one
character has to go through a learning curve and make some big
changes. Often these changes involve his views on the world oreven his or her lifestyle. If you’ve got 800 words or even 2,000
words, the scope for doing this is clearly limited.
So how do we build characterisation?
This is where the similarities with a character in a novel come in.
When I teach my classes, I stress that a convincing character has
to have certain mannerisms or quirks or eccentricities or a way of
behaving that makes him or her stand out from other people.
The best way to pinpoint these mannerisms is to think of people
whom you know in real life who stand out in your mind. You
might not necessarily like them, but they do things that you can’t
quite get out of your head.
I’d like you now to make a list of these people. To get you started,
I’ll give you some ideas of my own, taken from both my own
experience and those of students in my classes who have given
permission for this.
A woman who is always checking her reflection every time she
passes a mirror.
Someone who always has the television on when you visit.
A character who wears a lot of black (or any other single
colour).
Someone who ends their sentence in a question mark.
A character who keeps fidgeting and just can’t stay still.
Someone who’s always sniffing and doesn’t blow their nose.
A character who’s always on the scrounge, e.g. a neighbourwho’s constantly running out of tea or coffee, etc.
Someone who speaks in deep voice or a high, squeaky voice. This
works particularly well when the voice doesn’t seem to fit the
character, such as an elderly woman sounding like a little girl.
A person who stutters.
A character who has poor posture and is always slouching.
Someone who holds himself very straight like a member of the
military.
A character who walks with a limp or a stick.
Someone who’s always talking about money.
A character who’s often telling jokes.
Someone who’s always pessimistic . . . or optimistic.
Now I’d like you to make your own list. After that, read through
it carefully. Do any of them jump out at you? It’s important to
write about characters you feel passionate about. After all, if you
don’t convince the reader, you won’t convince yourself either.
The next step is to see which of these characters you could portray
reasonably quickly in a short story.
HOW TO WRITE CONVINCING CHARACTERS FOR
SHORT STORIES
Characters in short stories are both different from and similar to
characters in a novel. They’re different because you have far less
space, time and opportunity to persuade the reader that the
character you are painting on the page could be a real person.
Therefore you have to get in there fast.
You don’t have the luxury of time to build up a picture over
several chapters. Instead, you need to do a thumbnail sketch of a
character almost immediately, in order to draw the reader in. You
must find a way of using a few words to show how a character
thinks, talks, behaves and interacts with other characters.
You also need to show that each paper character has a ‘voice’;
something which makes him or her stand out from the others.
Otherwise, the reader’s going to wonder why you need that
character at all.
There’s also less time to show how your character is changing – if
indeed he or she is going to change. In a novel, part of the plot
usually hinges around a problem that the character (or characters)
has to solve or come to terms with. As part of this, at least one
character has to go through a learning curve and make some big
changes. Often these changes involve his views on the world oreven his or her lifestyle. If you’ve got 800 words or even 2,000
words, the scope for doing this is clearly limited.
So how do we build characterisation?
This is where the similarities with a character in a novel come in.
When I teach my classes, I stress that a convincing character has
to have certain mannerisms or quirks or eccentricities or a way of
behaving that makes him or her stand out from other people.
The best way to pinpoint these mannerisms is to think of people
whom you know in real life who stand out in your mind. You
might not necessarily like them, but they do things that you can’t
quite get out of your head.
I’d like you now to make a list of these people. To get you started,
I’ll give you some ideas of my own, taken from both my own
experience and those of students in my classes who have given
permission for this.
A woman who is always checking her reflection every time she
passes a mirror.
Someone who always has the television on when you visit.
A character who wears a lot of black (or any other single
colour).
Someone who ends their sentence in a question mark.
A character who keeps fidgeting and just can’t stay still.
Someone who’s always sniffing and doesn’t blow their nose.
A character who’s always on the scrounge, e.g. a neighbourwho’s constantly running out of tea or coffee, etc.
Someone who speaks in deep voice or a high, squeaky voice. This
works particularly well when the voice doesn’t seem to fit the
character, such as an elderly woman sounding like a little girl.
A person who stutters.
A character who has poor posture and is always slouching.
Someone who holds himself very straight like a member of the
military.
A character who walks with a limp or a stick.
Someone who’s always talking about money.
A character who’s often telling jokes.
Someone who’s always pessimistic . . . or optimistic.
Now I’d like you to make your own list. After that, read through
it carefully. Do any of them jump out at you? It’s important to
write about characters you feel passionate about. After all, if you
don’t convince the reader, you won’t convince yourself either.
The next step is to see which of these characters you could portray
reasonably quickly in a short story.
USING PICTURES
Use pictures and photographs to think up stories. Remember that
picture you took of the family having a meal in the Spanish hotel
last year? Who is the man sitting at the table next to you? And
why is he looking at your wife like that? It’s probably totally
innocent but once you start writing, it could be a different story.
Cut out pictures from magazines and newspaper supplements. Ask
yourself what the person in the picture has just been doing and
what he or she is about to do. What job are they putting off? Do
they have a mother who is waiting to hear from them? Are they
excited about something or are they dreading the next day?
Hopefully, this might start triggering off ideas.
Keep these pictures in a folder because in Chapter 3 on
characterisation, I want you to do something else with these
pictures!
