The process of making our characters come alive is called characterization. We can characterize in several ways. Some are more subtle than others. The first method is to be direct and simply tell people what a character is like. But of course, that sometimes becomes difficult. If we're talking about his internal workings, how he things, what motivates him, What is he like deep down?

Let's look at some of the ways in which an author can characterize. The way that an author presents the details about a character is very important for the reader. The whole success of a novel or story hinges around this. There are two ways we can characterize either directly or indirectly These two sentences, Harry was a stingy man, and had no compassion for those less well off. So we're telling the reader exactly what Harry was like. indirectly, we could say, Harry pushed past the biggest held out hand, without a second glance.

Immediately, the reader can see that he's not a very nice man, he doesn't really care about the less well off. This falls in line with one of the oldest tips in fiction, which is show don't tell. It allows the reader to become immersed in your world without being told something by the narrator. The narrator can show something, but really the narration should be just in the background, and not really the main focus of the book. characterization includes the way the character looks. speaks, acts and thinks.

Often, all four relate to the others in intricate ways. characterization involving these four elements is vital to making your novel alive. vibrant characters are the main ingredient to your novel, and will entice the reader to follow your story to the end. One of the great secrets to characterization is in the detail. provide enough detail to make your characters unique and particular. Don't just write a cliche of an existing character that you know of, or you've read about or you've seen in a film.

Strive for this uniqueness so that the character sticks out in the mind that your reader and the reader will remember the reader To use the details to create an image of the character in their mind, they feel as though they know them. A well crafted character becomes real. So the first way of characterization is to tell the reader directly what the person is like. Here's another example. He was a cruel man, a traits made worse by unusual physical strength. So it's pretty clear, and the reader knows that this man uses his strength and his cruelty to overcome and abuse others.

We could describe a character's appearance and his manner to tell a reader what a man or woman is like. In this sentence, his policeman's uniform did nothing to improve his sallow complexion. effect he was completely oblivious to. He walked around as though he was a real ladies man. So the reader can imagine that this man is fooling himself. He's a little arrogant, probably not very self assured.

He thinks his uniform is helped him to make him into a different person. He's quite vain, and he's a little foolish. In a dialog is what the character thinks. We can use this to show a character's thoughts and motivations to give us some insight into the character's personality. This man is thinking, how could I have thought that she would go out with me? She is as far above me as the moon is above the earth.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination, to feel that this character has a quite a humble background, and then maybe a little bit ashamed of it. He doesn't think he's worthy. thinks the woman is too beautiful, or he's not too handsome. a whole range of ideas come to mind. We can use the characters dialog to show the inner workings. Can't you stop tapping your fork on the table?

It seems you're always managed to find a way to annoy me. It may be that this character is always grumpy. And he's just using this instance to express it. Or he may be talking to a child, one of his children or he may constantly victimize the other person in various ways. An author can use the characters actions to display a personality trait. James tone to the man mercilessly pushing him over each time he tried to regain his feet it's immediately apparent that James Not an a nice man.

He's cool. He's got no compassion for the other. He doesn't like weakness. He has to push him again and again. In the readers mind, this also sets the scene. What is James going to do in the future of this story?

We can use the behavior of other people to denote character. How do people behave when he's there? In this sentence, the back of every Clark Stephen does, McGregor strolled quietly to the office. The reader can imagine that McGregor is not a nice boss at all. His workers are afraid of him. He's quite a tyrant.

And the fact that he's walking slowly and quietly through the Office means that he's trying to catch someone, either not working properly or not working at all.