Meeting My Characters

I would like to offer my views on the subject of characterization in my writing. It is a subject that repeatedly comes up for discussion in writing circles. First, let me point out that books of instruction abound on this particular topic, with two schools of thought: know all about your characters before you start writing, or let the characters introduce themselves to you when you first see them on the page. The Paris Interviews of our most famous authors indicate they wrote/write with the latter method. Katherine Anne Porter claimed she began writing Flowering Judas at 7:30 one night and was dropping it into a mailbox in the early dawn in a snowstorm. I have tried both methods and have chosen the latter. Let me give an example.

When I first read a contest theme “footprints on the ceiling,” I thought I could never write on such a subject. A day or so later, I asked myself, “Where would one be if he saw footprints on a ceiling?” Instantly, the answer came from somewhere in my gray cells: on a psychiatrist’s couch. That was all I needed to know. Hurrying to my computer, I began writing with “Dr. Heringshaw . . . ,” using a name familiar to me. After every word I typed, the next word or phrase came without hesitation. In one sitting, I wrote the 1,942-word story and did not revise it. I revise as I go. No one edits for me. Perhaps I have lost big in the contest—I have no idea about that yet—but all I knew about the protagonist was what he acted out and thought while in the doctor’s consulting room. I did not know his name till the doctor called him “Henry.” I did not know his age, income, family except his saying, “Maggie buys bananas every week.” She had to be his wife. I did not dream the story would have a cheetah in it till it did. That gave me the story’s title: “Steady Date with a Cheetah.” (I rarely name the baby till it’s born, usually about midway through the story.) Henry and the doctor are the only characters, and I tell only what Henry thinks about the doctor: I do not describe him. I do not even describe Henry. We do not need to know the color of his hair or eyes, his height or weight, or his hobbies or ancestry. However, we sense he is not skinny, but the doctor may be, for Henry thinks, “I bet he never eats pizza, the best food in the world.” That is how we know about the size of both of them. By being in Henry’s head for about ninety minutes, I learned to know him well, just as the reader might.

For the contest with no assigned theme, it was much the same thing. I had just finished reading two books, one a novel with a World War II setting in France, and the other nonfiction about France at that same historic time. Immediately I fled to my computer and wrote the fiction part of the story (not at one sitting, but more like a week), with a twelve-year-old heroine, and then dug into my files about the Allied Invasion on Normandy beach. My 3,206-word story, “To Save a Bridge,” even factually mentions General Eisenhower. I also checked with two friends to get my French correct for “Mama,” but I already knew the German perfectly.

What a thrill to write this way. If you have not tried this method of introducing your characters, why not try it. It makes writing fun. The hard work comes in all those prior years when you trained yourself to write, such as learning grammar in the fifth grade. A writer never lacks subjects to write about, the job is to select which one. I trust these two stories will win at least Honorable Mentions.

♥