Making an impression

As in real life, first impressions count, so aim to create a clear picture when you first introduce a character into your story. I’m not suggesting you write a large chunk of description that would only slow the story down. But try to get across an image of that character for the reader to instantly form a picture and an opinion. Be sure your character is making an impression.

You don’t have to tell the reader everything about your character – and certainly not all in one go. But it is important when you first introduce a character that you reveal in some way the most important aspect of their appearance early on. For instance, if you don’t reveal that the hero has a long black beard until chapter eight when the heroine gets her engagement ring tangled in it, will completely throw the reader. Provide enough description for the reader to form an accurate picture in their mind rather than an incorrect impression. Then add to this as the story progresses.

 

By having your character doing something as you introduce them will allow you to convey something of their appearance, their personality and their mood. It may even hint at the conflict to come. Showing your character doing something will conjure up a picture for the reader to hang on to. Be aware that the way a character walks and moves says a lot about them – and remember that a character’s current mood will affect their mannerisms and conduct. 

Think to yourself what this character was doing immediately before you introduce them onto the page. Characters have backgrounds, and unless your character has just been beamed down from the ether, he or she will have been doing something just before you brought them

into your story. Whatever they were doing, thinking and feeling will affect their mood right at that moment.  

Last impressions - killing your darlings.

We writers are a funny bunch – we slave blood, sweat and tears to create the most realistic, unique, interesting and memorable characters and then, very often, we dispose of them in the most tragic of circumstances.

Even when we’re not killing off our darlings, we’re putting them through the most traumatic of situations, heaping troubles and burdens on their paper-thin shoulders and pushing them to the limits of endurance. And I thought writers were such nice people!

But it has to be done. If you’re going to create a story that will grip the reader, then you must create characters which evoke some sort of emotion in the reader. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make the reader like your character. It’s perfectly fine to make the reader hate the character, or be infuriated with them, or pity them, or any other emotion. So long as the reader feels something towards them. The thing you don’t want is for the reader not to care.

Writing a death scene

So, when the time comes in your story where one of your characters must come to a sticky end, what do you need to do, to make sure you write the death scene to the best of your ability?

Here’s a few points worth remembering:

• Make sure you’re created a character that the reader is interested in. Let them have a backstory, a personality; work to achieve the emotional response in the reader that you intend. So, when they pop their clogs it will mean something to the reader – sadness, glee, satisfaction, shock. It will all depend upon how you’ve portrayed that character.

• Likewise, if you’re getting rid of a villain or an unpleasant character, you will want the reader to feel some satisfaction that they’ve got what they deserve. Or maybe you’ll create a bit of a twist by making the reader feel sorry for them in some way at the end.  You could do this by letting your narrative link into some poignant aspect of the character’s life as they die, so that it touches the reader in some way – even with the most villainous of characters. Having a little bit of heart or humility or fear in their final seconds can leave a lasting impression on the reader.

• Producing the unexpected is always good. If it’s to be a sudden ending, then make it have great impact by your phrasing. Surprise or shock the reader by the turn of events.

• Remember to be tasteful. Don’t go overboard with the gore and blood or it might seem gratuitous – there purely for the shock value. You can create a better effect by looking at the emotional side of things rather than the physical.

• It’s important to show what effect the death of this character has on other characters, especially your protagonist. If you’ve done your job right, the reader and your protagonist should be experience similar feelings about this character’s demise.

As writers we draw on our own experiences whenever we write, so make sure you have some way of lifting your mood again after writing a particularly draining scene. You probably need to choose your time for writing a harrowing part of your story. And don’t forget it’s just a story and as writers that’s our job as Stephen King says, to kill your darlings.

Today’s exercise: 

Write an opening scene which introduces your character and provides some sort of first impression about them. Give something of their appearance, their mood and their intention at that moment.

Have a go at writing a death scene. You might find you can adapt it in a future story, or not. But have a go at killing off one of your characters. Aim to create some sort of emotional response in your readers. Ideally, it should bring tears to your eyes as you write it.

Tomorrow: Story structure, plotting and planning.