 Short Stories: July 08, 2015 Issue [#7092] |
  Short Stories
This week: Realistic Characterization Edited by: 🦄🏳️🌈Sapph  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to share my personal thoughts and ideas of what can make (or break) a short story. In doing so, I hope to inspire new, creative stories and to help short story writers improve their craft.
Today's Topic
Realistic Characterization |
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Often in stories, we can be writing and have a sole task set for our characters, something that they must accomplish and which consumes their entire being. I've noticed this can happen a lot with stories that come from a prompt and it can detract from a story for the reader. This is because that character only has one purpose in their life. We're only seeing one aspect of them. This is like if you were to draw a stick figure on a piece of paper, that's all we see and there's nothing else. They aren't realistic until you add in the details and let us see who they are.
Why do we tend to skip on the characterization and making our characters seem realistic? This can tend to come about from prompt usage and word count limits. We can get so caught up in where the story needs to go and how the character gets there, that we forget to make the character whole. If you have a limit to work with, try bringing in small lines here and there that show this character isn't just a single goal or idea.
Here are some tips that I like to use for making characters more realistic:
 Show your reader what your character believes in and what they stand for.
 Make them do everyday tasks. This can make them feel more human and relatable.
 Have their dialogue and thoughts be how someone of their background would speak and think. Few people have perfect language skills.
 Use the senses to draw in the reader. What are they smelling, seeing, feeling, hearing or tasting?
 Give them a struggle to deal with. Life isn't always joy and happiness. A little bit of a struggle can make them seem more rounded.
 Don't just play them to a stereotype. Do some research to see how someone like your character truly is and work to make them that complex kind of character.
Making realistic characters isn't always easy because we as humans are complex beings and that can't always be translated into writing. However, we can try to bring across those thoughts and ideas, join them together with the experience that it is to exist. Do research on people similar to your characters and make them more than just a stick figure drawing. Give them some detail, some depth, and draw your reader into their world and their experiences.
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My question for you this time: How do you make your characters more realistic?
Question from before in ("Short Stories Newsletter (February 18, 2015)" ): How do you decide what your story should be? And how do make sure that you're showing a story to your reader and not just telling?
Quick-Quill  replied: One trick I've found about showing is this. We all have habits. watch people. Some people do the same things when frustrated, angry, exuberant and playful. I use these traits to show emotion. I use my own reactions to show emotion. Who better to know how a woman walks than to watch a runway model? Every see girls in a mall eyeing a cute guy? Try imagining how you would carry yourself if you were the sole winner of the 500Mil and could afford all the finest clothes. I know my confidence when I walk in a store will be a whole lot better when I know I can buy whatever I want, on sale or not, than if I had to pick over every sale item and maybe walk out with nothing. Its a attitude but you don't have to be a snob. I think Pretty Woman!!!
Osirantinsel  replied: Do you mean - deciding whether the story is a show-er or a tell-er? I must admit that when I first sit down to write, I'm all 'tell'. That's because I write to inspiration and I just need to get the story on paper. When I type it up, that's when I attempt to turn it towards 'show', because I fully get that no-one likes to be dictated to in a story. However I do struggle to make my stories visual ('show') because I just don't seem to have the ability to create wonderful descriptions. My 'show' usually starts small: turning 'was' clauses into more descriptive language, as you did with 'she was angry'. (PS: thanks for including my short story.)
Shannon  replied: "If you can picture it, have you described it in your writing exactly how you see it so the reader can see it too?" I LOVE this! It can be difficult to do, but fantastically satisfying when pulled off. Great newsletter, Sapph, and thank you so much for featuring "Julian's Secret" [13+] It's one of my older stories, but one of my favorites because it was so challenging to write. Thank you. 
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