Words Made Flesh : Some Holiday Reflections on Building Characters

For those who celebrate Christmas, this is the season of reflecting on the incarnation of the Word. To bring that down to “word” with a small w and the rather less exalted profession of writing, that means that we who create novels are really taking inanimate words and spinning from them believable people and whole worlds that can pass for real. Pretty amazing, no? We give words flesh.

Just As in Real Life…

That’s where the old adage “Show, don’t tell” comes in. It isn’t enough to talk about a self-sacrificing personage or a grumpy, alienated one. You’ve got to show her nature in her behavior, speech, and interactions with others. That’s how we recognize the quality of the people around us—not by the things others may say about them (well, maybe a little) but by how we experience them. Are they kind? Are they trustworthy and honest? They’ll probably be a good friend. Do they backbite, blame others, or complain constantly? Stay away!

Bring Those Characters to Life

When it comes to the page full of words, it’s that easy to reveal what your character is like. Not by saying “She was always thinking of others,” but by showing her consistently jumping up to fetch things for people, consoling a colleague who’s down in the mouth, bringing plates of cookies to lonely old ladies. Give those words some flesh. Deeply successful characters can become so real-seeming to readers that people write them letters, start fanclubs, and visit the house where they “lived.” This implies that they have a mixture of good and bad traits, of course, because in real life, nobody is all good or all bad. They have habits and hobbies. They look and smell a certain way. And we pretty much know how they’re going to react to events, because they have a strongly defined personality. Think of Sherlock Holmes. I used to tell my schoolmates that he was my ancestor, and they believed me. I‘m pretty sure I believed it too.

Places Come to Life Too

Fellow human beings (characters) are always the most emotional hook for readers, but every element of world-building really depends on the same incarnational approach. Do you want readers of a hundred years hence making pilgrimages to the scene of your latest novel? Then give it some flesh. Make it richly three-dimensional. Full of atmosphere. Charming enough to tickle something warm inside—or soaked with sinister foreboding that makes the physical hair on the back of the neck stand up.  To accomplish that degree of realism, pile on the details. Use geography that situates the action in a real (or convincing) location. As if you were creating a painting with a computer program, add in some texture. Bring in sensory details, especially the kind unique to your place. The iodine smell of coastal air. The suffo0cating heat rising from the pavement between tenement buildings. The pungent scent of crushed thyme beneath one’s steps. Is there a doorbell that plays the Westminster chimes? Is there a geranium in the window that has to be watered? Do the geese honk every time somebody comes crunching over the gravel to the door? Make that such a feature of your place-setting that readers recognize it immediately.

These are just reminders of what we all already know. Here’s an assignment for the holidays (yes, yes, I know you’re busy): notice the people and places around you. What makes them them? How would you describe them in your book? What makes your holiday dinner such a wonderful—or hair-tearing—time? How does it look, smell, feel, taste, and sound? Have fun and get ready for a whole new year of writing!