Characterizing in the Revising
Okay, writers…so you’ve just ploughed through at full throttle writing your story! The characters came to life, the plot thickened, the ending turned out even better than you planned, making you truly wonder if maybe these characters are real and deciding their own destinies!
Then with a heavy sigh you realize it’s time to go back to the beginning…to edit, cut, paste, check important details and aspects of your storyline, spelling, grammar…. the list can feel overwhelming. Instead of dreading this process, however, let yourself find enjoyment in the process. One of the things to look out for are barriers that hinder your story flows. You don’t want your readers to be distracted or become impatient because you are taking too much time to describe tertiary characters (minor characters that populate your story world and serve a purpose but only show up once or twice in the story.)
One of the things I love to do in my revision process is to look for creative and interesting ways to adjust and evolve my sentences to imply something about a character without directly or separately stating it.
For example:
Both of the following versions tell my readers that the character Jeremiah is getting on in years, but version two shows his personality more and uses the description of him in a more flowy way that keeps the story moving rather than just giving a separate explanation.
Version 1:
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Jeremiah said. The man, who was most likely in his seventies, tipped his old, gray slouch hat and told his passengers to hold on.
Version 2:
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Jeremiah said with a friendly tip of his gray, slouch hat that had seen better days. “Hold on, now! This rickety wagon’s ‘bout as old as I am!”
Without directly saying it, I’ve alluded to the fact that Jeremiah is friendly, elderly and a happy go lucky sort of fellow. While there are many ways to describe a character, I find it’s more enjoyable to mix it up and use dialogue and the actions of characters to help describe their personality. This can be especially useful if you have a story with a lot of characters! I hope this simple tip helps you in your writing journey! Carry on! :)