Monday, January 24, 2011

Character Characteristes Revealed

"George was a stupid man."

Pretty boring, right? There are many ways to say "George was a stupid man," and they are all much more fun to read than this plain, colorless statement of fact.

"The teacher explained four times the process of opening a jar of peanut butter, but George still did not understand the procedure."

"The third time George placed the nail into the electric outlet, he decided it was too painful to indulge his curiosity."

"When the banker handed George the loan agreement and asked him to sign his name he explained he wasn't deaf and had never learned to sign."

Showing the traits of characters when writing a piece of fiction instead of telling facts always makes perusing the story more interesting for readers.

So remember, we don't say: "Judy was old." We say, "When Judy was twelve she witnessed President Harry Truman's marriage to Bess." or "Judy lost a fortune when the stock market crashed in '29."

Next week, more on character creation.

Have a great week,

Fran

Fran Shaff
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff