Tags
& Traits
I’d like
to thank all of you who have written to me thanking me for writing this column. Some
of you have gone to the web site to back columns looking for answers to your questions.
It’s hard to be a fiction writer and not find answers when you need them, so let’s continue with this month’s
column. Sometime this year my columns will be organized by easy to understand
fiction elements with a lot more detail and examples than a column allows. I’ll
keep you posted when it goes on sale. You will no longer need to search through
book after book to find what you need.
Let’s talk
a little more in depth about character tags. What is a tag? A tag is a label you give to your characters so your reader can tell one character
from another. There are four categories of tags.
- Appearance. Characters can be short
or tall, handsome or ugly, blue-eyes or any other color, well built or spindly, good posture or bad. Just a few of the obvious tags.
- Speech. An educated character will
not talk like most truck drivers. A Texas drawl is certainly different from the
New York accent. Language reflects your character’s background, experience,
occupation, social status and many other things.
- Mannerism. Will your character scowl,
be an ear-lobe tugger, a doodler, nail biter or someone who uses gestures when they talk?
- Attitude. This can also be called
a trait. Does your character constantly apology for things or seem fearful? Vain or shy? Outgoing or introverted? What
is that character’s point of view regarding life in general?
The point to
remember about character tags is that their purpose is to distinguish one character from another in your reader’s eyes. Keep the main character’s tags stronger than the secondary characters.
But be warned
don’t give each of your characters too many tags because it will confuse the reader.
Your reader will want to recognize the focal character immediately with strong dominant tags. These dominant tags should stay dominant throughout the book. You
can and should use all of the four tag elements in your characters. But don’t
give your characters the same tag. Always chose tags that won’t become
boring or offensive to the reader. You wouldn’t want your main character
to have the tag of running their fingers through their hair with grimy fingernails, wearing a constant scowl, or have a nervous
twitch to identify them. Imagine the strongest traits of the people you admire
and use those traits.
I’ve always
found watching people and their mannerism, whether in general, on television, or sitting on a bench staring at passersby’s
to be helpful. Fiction writers are notorious for watching people and improvising
stories around them by saying what if…
Keep writing
and I’ll see you in print.
