on characterisation and sin

hello?

is anybody here?

anybody at all? seems like we might be alone in here today, which is good because i really wanted to get a few ideas on characterisation down on paper, so to speak. and now while there are no distractions will be a good--

Characterisation? What are you on about, Dave?

oh. it's you.

Good to see you, too. What's happening?

nothing. i was just finishing up. on my way out of here. got to get to my draft, you know.

The Shadow Without. Yes, I know. The one where Kelsey may, or may not, sing.

that's it. anyway, been good to chat to you.

And what about this characterisation business?

it's nothing. it can wait till another day--

You've forgotten, haven't you? You can't remember what you were going to say?

of course i remember what i was going to say!

Well, go on, say it!

no! you'll mess it up. trivialise it, or take me off topic and it will all look a bit half ar... half done.

Come on, Dave. I promise I won't ask about Kelsey's singing anymore.

or try to get me to ask her for a date?

Won't even think about it!

all right then, but any stupid comments and i'm out of here.

Cool!

okay, so it's important to know your characters. that's a given and it's a standard line in any of the texts on writing, but i mention it because it is really important. if you are a writer like me who doesn't plan too much, who doesn't plot too much, preferring to let the characters tell me the story then it is even more important.

Got it.

if we go back to the last example where we were talking about Kelsey singing then i need to know more than if she sings or not. when i go through my edits i need to be able to pick whenever Kelsey is acting out of character--

And how can you tell?

let me stick with the singing bit. i need to know not just if Kelsey can sing, i need to know what she sings, and when she sings. is she likely to burst into song in the shower or on a fine sunny day? does the sight of a grand piano send her off into operatic solo? is she want to break out into some Ella Fitzgerald number? or is she a modern girl into trash metal? or the the less than mainstream of a PJ Harvey or such? now i happen to like this girl and i happen to be rather fond of PJ too, so Kel is probably going to like her too. there's another thing, i need to know what Kelsey thinks when somebody calls her Kel--

What does it matter what you call her, or what music she likes?

i was getting to that. it is that acting out of character bit. Kelsey has to be Kelsey all the time. if she is the type that would smack you for calling her Kel, and instead she hears the name and goes weak at the knees, then she's acting out of character.

I bet she'd go weak at the knees if I whispered Kel in her ear!

stop it. we've finally started to get to the mechanics of writing.

Okay, so Kelsey starts to act out of character. What does it matter? You've already said you let the characters tell you the story, what if she likes acting out of character?

that's the crux of it really. people don't act out of character. not unless they are really, really stressed. they might show behaviour that you haven't seen before but even a changed behaviour has to be within character.

You're losing me, buddy.

i wish.

Huh?

let me put it like this. if Kelsey is straight, and she is. she's in a relationship with Jetta's best friend, so i can't just have her going off on a lesbian affair.

You can't? Bummer.

well, i can but i would need to put some clues that this is possible in her characterisation prior to her going off with the busty blonde.

Why put it in the characterisation rather than the book?

haha, good joke.

Thanks, I do try. What is it that acting out of character does? Why is it so bad?

it's one of those things that causes readers to turn off. to jump out of the story, or more probably, be kicked out of the story, land back in the chair and ask 'What happened there?' anything that causes the reader to stop and shake their head and ask that question is bad. the hardest task for the writer is to capture the readers attention. to lose it is perhaps the biggest sin.

Lesbian affairs with busty blondes. How's that supposed to make me lose attention? Where's my copy of your book?

i didn't say that's in the--

Man, can you keep it down? I'm trying to get some reading done in here!