August 10, 2007, Newsletter Issue #122: Using dialogue to flesh out characters
Tip of the Week
One simple way of providing information about characters, particularly the POV character, is to drop it subtly into a line of speech from another character.
This example, from Shirley Jacksonīs story "ELIZABETH", shows us how another character views the narrator:
"When {Elizabeth} came to her stop...and when she reached the door, the woman was near it, staring at her as though wanting to remember her face. "Dried-up old maid," the woman said loudly, and the people around her in the bus laughed." p.154
In this way, the author reveals information about Elizabeth that she could not reveal for herself--that she has gotten old before her time and, as the rest of the story bears out, has moments of extreme pretension.
Experiment with injecting character detail into dialogue.
About LifeTips
Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make-it-all happen.
| Guru Spotlight |
 |
