February 6, 2024 • 30 mins
Have you ever faced a character in a book so flat they seem to fall off the page? Fear not, fellow wordsmiths, for I, Wendy H Jones, am here to share the secret sauce to spicing up your characters! This episode of the Writing and Marketing Show is a treasure trove of insights into the subtle art of characterisation. From the lush setting of Wester Wootatelle and Spa to the vibrant aisles of the London Book Fair, I take you on a whirlwind tour of a writer's life, replete with the unexpected twists that demand a nimble mind and a flexible pen.
Characterisation isn't just about crafting a biography; it's about breathing life into your protagonists and antagonists with a finesse that makes them leap off the page and into readers' hearts. I delve into the nuances of showing emotions, why a tapping finger can speak volumes more than an exclaimed "I'm frustrated!", and how varying word choices can transform a mere description into an experience. Danny Petrie may not join us this time around, but the conversation doesn't lack for depth, exploring everything from evocative verbs to avoiding the pitfalls of emotional repetition.
Finally, I pull back the curtain on what's ahead and where you can join this literary journey with me. Humor mingles with earnest advice as I navigate the everyday chaos of a husky's treat-time amidst musings on character flaws and dialogue pauses. The promise of next week's special guest lingers enticingly as I bid you adieu, inviting you to stay connected and continue fostering your love for the written word. Remember, the stories we craft are as alive as we make them, so let's keep the pages turning and the ink flowing.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi and welcome to the Writing and Marketing Show
brought to you by author Wendy HJones.
This show does exactly what itsays on the tin.
It's jam-packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news
to help you with the business ofwriting.
It's all wrapped up in onelively podcast.
So it's time to get on with theshow.
(00:23):
And welcome to episode 196 ofthe Writing and Marketing Show
with author entrepreneur Wendy HJones, and it's an absolute
pleasure to be here with youagain.
I know it seems like I'm onlydoing one of Fortnite at the
moment, but due to the fact I'mstill bouncing around from place
(00:43):
to place, I'm doing my absolutebest and last week, due to
signal problems not being ableto record with Wi-Fi, the whole
thing was really a bit of adisaster last week and it had to
be cancelled.
I do have an interview for you.
I was going to interview DannyPetrie today.
Unfortunately, we weren't ableto record because of various
(01:09):
reasons.
I was trying to do it from thepublic restaurant and bar, from
the place I'm currently staying,so it wasn't going to work
because there was music on,there was a lot of people in
there and obviously that's notsuitable for a podcast.
So, for professional reasons, Idecided not to go ahead with
that.
We're going to try againtomorrow and do it using data
(01:33):
from a phone and we'll do ourbest, and I'm hoping we will
have Danny Petrie next week andwe're also talking about setting
with her.
However, today I am going to betalking about characterisation
and showing, not telling, andit's something that's always
interested me, but it'sinteresting me more.
(01:53):
I've done a talk on itpreviously and I'm going to be
doing another talk on it and Ithought it would make an
excellent podcast episode.
Before that, what has beenhappening in my life?
Well, I've got a very busy timecoming up, I have to say.
First of all, I'm off to theWester Wootatelle and Spa in
(02:16):
Newcombe, bernalde, and I'mgoing to be running a writing
retreat there for five days.
We have people coming from theUK, the United States and from
Australia, so it's very excitingreally.
I'm very much looking forwardto that retreat and to helping
authors and new writers moveforward on their writing journey
(02:40):
.
It's going to be great fun andI'm sure I'll bring you an
episode on writing retreats andrunning them, probably after
I've run that one, because it'sin a couple of weeks.
Then in March, I'm off down toLondon for about 12 days.
I was going to go for a bitlonger.
However, I've got to come backearly because I have an event
(03:00):
and I will tell you about thatin a moment.
I'm off down to London BookFair, and London Book Fair is,
for those of you who don't know,I'm sure most of you do that
are listening to this, but it isa huge event and people come
from all over the worldpublishers, agents, all the
(03:22):
business of books, really.
I have got a press pass forthat and I'm going to be going
with my writer's narrative headon and I'm hopefully going to be
interviewing some people forthe podcast as well, which would
be great.
There's a lot going on thereand I'm very, very much looking
forward to that.
I'm going to be meeting with myagent while I'm there as well,
the lovely Amy Collins ofTocquehort Notch Literate Agency
(03:45):
.
She's coming over from theStates for it and she's going to
be pitching books to everyonethere, to publishers, for
foreign rights, translation, foraudio rights, everything like
that.
So it's going to be a good timein many different ways.
I'm also going to be meeting upwith some of my sisters and
(04:06):
crime friends there, which willbe nice.
We seem to only see each otheronce a year at the London Book
Fair, but it is good to be going.
I'm going to be listening to alot of the talks this year.
I'm going to go to as manytalks as I can go to both so I
can talk about them in writer'snarrative, but also so that I
can talk about them on thepodcast.
(04:28):
So you'll be getting updates onvarious aspects of the industry
when I get back from LondonBook Fair.
I'm having to come back slightlyearly.
I'm leaving early on theThursday.
The reason for that is becauseon the Friday I have an event at
Carim, your library, where I'vegot an author talk about
writing crime fiction, and I'mvery much looking forward to
(04:51):
that because I love visitinglibraries.
Libraries are so important andI love doing it and I've also
never got back from all of that.
Then I'm off back to the Westof Lutotel in Spain, cumbernauld
, where I will be going to theScottish Association of Writers
as an attendee, and I'm verymuch looking forward to that
because for the last five yearsI was the president of the
(05:13):
Scottish Association of Writersand I had to run the conference.
I'm very much looking forwardto going and relaxing, and I'm
going to go a day early so I canmake use of this spa, so it's
all very exciting times at themoment.
I've got some other thingscoming up later in the year.
I haven't quite firmed up plansfor them, but I do know I will
(05:33):
be going to Australia in.
I will be going to Australia inOctober where I will be running
a writing retreat in Australiawith my Oscott publishing and
retreat business hat on, and I'mvery much looking forward to
that as well.
But I'm hoping to firm up a fewother things while I'm out
there and maybe even go over toNew Zealand.
(05:55):
So busy, busy time.
I'm also hoping to go out tothe States and attend some
conferences and book eventsthere and do some book signings
again.
So busy year for me really, butI'm loving it.
I'm absolutely loving it.
So I'm trying to think thatsomething else came up for July
(06:15):
as well, and I've completelyforgotten what it is, but I will
tell you when I remember.
So the reason I'm telling youall of this is, first of all, I
told you the bit at thebeginning because don't sweat it
.
If things go wrong, what canyou do?
What can you do.
I get stressed when I cannot dosomething that I'm meant to be
doing.
But it can't be helped.
Things happen, life happens,and I'm telling you the rest
(06:37):
because it's amazing when you'rean author how much you can end
up doing and how much you canenjoy it all because I love it.
So before we get on with theshow and talk about
characterization, I would liketo say it's an absolute pleasure
to bring you the show each week, even though it's not each week
at the moment, but it will be.
I am planning on doing it eachweek.
(06:58):
It's a pleasure to bring you it, I enjoy doing it, but it does
take time out of my writing.
So if you would like to supportthis time, then you can do so
by going to patreoncom forwardslash wendagejones.
It will let me know that youare enjoying the show and that
you would like me to keep doingit.
And to be honest, it's $3 amonth, which is the price of a
(07:22):
tear coffee for a month.
In fact, when I was in theStates I was paying more than $3
for a cup of coffee, and youwill get cut an edge advice on
the show which will help youfrom industry experts.
So it's worth signing up.
But if you can't afford it, Iunderstand that times are
(07:42):
difficult at the moment.
If you go to my website,wendagejonescom, you can support
me for the price of a tea orcoffee, and I would be very
grateful because, again, ithelps me to keep doing the show.
Excuse me, I've got a frog inmy throat, as well as everything
else.
This is all I need, isn't itwhen I'm trying to do a podcast.
(08:03):
So what of characterization?
I've been thinking a lot aboutit lately, and I've been
thinking about showing, nottelling, because very often we
can tell the reader what theemotions are of our characters,
but it's better to do it byshowing, and so I know we do a
(08:26):
lot of that with you know, Ithink I can't remember who it
was said it, but they said Ithink it was Stephen King said
don't tell me.
There's a piece of glass there,show me the glint of moonlight
on the glass.
I think it was Stephen King.
Apologies if it was someoneelse.
I'm, as I say, my brain's a bitfried at the moment with one
(08:47):
thing and another betweeninsurance companies and bouncing
around, but that's nothing todo with anything tonight.
So we're going to talk aboutshowing, not telling when it
comes to characterization.
So first of all, I'd like totalk about words.
What is an award?
I think it's important that wemake strong word choices.
Now we all know that we have todo this when it comes to verbs.
(09:10):
Instead of saying she movedvery quickly, you can say she
scurried or she ran or shebolted or she sprinted, and
we've all got into the habit ofthat in terms of verbs.
But we can do it whendescribing our characters as
well.
We can use stronger wordchoices and we can use phrases
(09:32):
that will let people knowcertain emotions without
actually telling them what theemotions are.
And this is important for a lotof reasons, but one of them is
it's more likely to draw thereader in.
You know, if you said she washappy, they're not really going
to be engrossed in what's goingon.
(09:54):
But if you use different wordchoices, then you're more likely
to draw your reader in and itgives your story depth.
To be honest, when you're usingstrong verbs, when you're using
strong phrases for emotions,then you're giving the story
depth, and we all like depth inour stories.
We don't want a wishy washy, youknow story that's not really
(10:17):
got any meat in it.
You know we want something thatwe can get our teeth into, but
it also gives our charactersdepth and I like that, the fact
that our characters need to bethree-dimensional.
We're moving out of thetwo-dimensional into the
three-dimensional when we usebetter words and phrases and
(10:37):
giving them emotions.
And it can move your narrativeout of the mundane, because when
we use when we use weak wordsand weak phrases, the story
might be all right, but it'snothing special.
You want to move your narrativeout of the mundane and keep
your readers reading.
That's what we all want.
(10:58):
We want our readers to get theoh my goodness, I love this
character.
I want to know what's happeningto them.
Oh my goodness, they're so real.
I can identify with that.
That's what we want.
It can also help give realism toyour dialogue and it can play
with the reader's emotions aswell.
You want the reader to feel theemotions that your character is
(11:20):
feeling and you're more likelyto do that if you choose good
phrases and good actions forthem rather than saying they
were happy, they were sad, theywere worried, you know.
And also it prevents repetition, because if we say they were
happy, well, a bit later onwe'll be saying they were happy
and a bit later on we'll besaying they were happy.
(11:40):
So it avoids the repetition,because you can use different
phrases each time and I have tobe careful when I say use
different phrases each time.
My, my characters seem to do alot of grinning in the first
draft, so you do need to lookfor things like that.
I grin a lot, obviously, as mycharacters grin a lot, which is,
(12:05):
you know, we've got to becareful of that so you can look
at what you're doing and preventrepetition.
So what about emotions?
Why are they important?
Well, emotion is what drivesyour characters, whether it's
anger, whether it's a need forjustice, whether it's a right
crime.
So this is why I'm coming upwith this, to start with.
(12:26):
Whether it's, you know, theywant to have a romance, it's all
emotion that drives yourcharacters.
We're all emotional beings.
Every last one of us is anemotional being, and our
characters need to have emotions, otherwise they're just going
to be flat, they're going to betwo-dimensional.
(12:47):
We want them to bethree-dimensional.
And now, obviously, if you'redescribing a certain character
that is narcissistic or doesn'tdisplay emotion, then you're
going to look at it in adifferent way, and I'm going to
talk about that in a bit as well, because sometimes you can feel
that the characters don't haveany emotion, but they do.
(13:08):
They have their own internalemotion and you need to
demonstrate that you know forwhat's.
Demonstrate that to yourreaders really through their
actions, through what they'redoing, rather than saying, oh,
they were happy in their head.
You know, you need to use your,your, your movement.
(13:29):
You need to use actions.
So Movement and charactertraits can signify emotion.
For example, tapping fingers Ifsomeone's sitting tapping their
fingers there are a lot ofdifferent motions that that can
be showing.
It could be showing tension, itcould be showing irritation.
It could be someone that'stapping their fingers because
they need to move, because theyhave to do something as well as
(13:55):
talk.
They need to multitask to calmthem.
There's lots of differentthings.
Can't look someone in the eyes,crossing their arms, grinning
there's that grinning again.
Punching the ear.
What do they all signify?
I mean punching the ear usuallymeans yes, that's good.
Or it can mean something else.
(14:15):
Totally, it could be we'regoing to get victory.
You know different things itcan mean, so you can use it for
many different things.
I'm going to give you someexamples.
So if we were saying anger.
We don't say Joe was angry,because that's one-dimensional.
We want to get the readersknowing what he's doing.
(14:37):
So you can say legs plantedwide.
You wouldn't say Joe plantedhis legs wide, but you could say
he stood with his legs wide,you know.
Flared nostrils, a shaking fist, moving close to someone,
shaking with anger, shooting totheir feet, slamming doors,
(15:01):
throwing things, clenching theirfists.
These are just examples.
There are so many more.
And what I'd like you to do, youcan either stop the podcast now
, or, if you're in the car, youknow, or wherever you are, you
can stop the podcast anyway.
But stop the podcast and thinkof other actions that signify
anger.
You know it's a good exerciseto do.
(15:26):
So another one I'm going togive you some for happiness.
So, humming their eyes,lighting up, they laugh, they
smile, tears of joy.
I also said grinning, but hey,my character seemed to do a heck
of a lot of grinning, don'tthey?
So I haven't put that one in.
(15:47):
But laugh, smile.
What other ones can you thinkof?
There must be so many.
I just did these off the top ofmy head before I did the podcast
, by the way, because I'veactually planned it out, believe
it or not.
It's not just me doing it offthe top of my head, but there
are others that you can think of.
There's singing, you know.
There's lots of differentthings.
(16:08):
You can say that signifieshappiness.
So there are a lot of otheremotions, and I'd like you to do
an exercise.
Usually I tell you everything,but I'm going to give you
exercises to do for this one,because it's important that you
start to think of different ways.
You can do this of your ownaccord, rather than just
(16:30):
listening to me now and thenyou'll have forgotten it three
days later.
So here's an exercise.
What I want you to do is thinkof actions which display the
following emotions so regret,disappointment, scorn and
frustration.
And there must be so many ofthem.
Well, there are so many of them.
(16:51):
I know that for a fact.
So why don't you think of someactions which display them, and
then you'll have them at yourfingertips.
Write them down.
Don't just think of them.
Write them down, do a chart.
Go to your computer and do achart.
Then you've got them ready forwhen you want to use them the
next time in your work inprogress.
(17:13):
When you're writing, they'll bethere at your fingertips.
You don't even need to look forthe notebook.
You just need to open yourcomputer document and there it
will be.
Excuse me, I'm going to have totake a drink because I've got a
frog in my throat.
Sorry about that, guys.
So it's a good thing to do.
(17:35):
I've got a book that I use, anotebook that I use and I've got
a lot of different thingswritten down.
At the moment I can't get myhands on it because everything
is everywhere at the moment inmy house because of the flood
and fire and pestilence.
However, I will get my hands onit when I get back to normal.
(17:56):
It didn't flood out, thankgoodness, and that's a very good
way of having things at yourfingertips to be able to use in
your writing.
You also need to give yourcharacter flaws.
Flaws are important and a flawis a fault or weakness in a
character.
Nobody is 100% lovely, nobodyis 100% perfect.
(18:22):
Even Mary Poppins waspractically perfect in every way
.
I would say her flaw was shethought of a lot of herself.
Hey, I love Mary Poppins, butthat is a flaw and that's why
she's practically perfect inevery way not fully perfect,
because none of us can be andher flaws help to lift the
(18:44):
character off the page.
It makes them more rounded, morethree-dimensional, it makes
them more likeable, believe itor not, nobody likes a 100%
perfect character, because wecan't see ourselves in them.
We just think, oh, they're toogood to be true, they're too
nice.
Nobody's that nice all the time.
Everybody always has a flaw.
(19:06):
Nobody is all good or all bad.
Ever.
Not one person in the world isall good or all bad.
They've always got a flaw orsomething nice about them.
You know, it might be the factthat their mother loved them, or
it could be the fact they lovetheir mother, you know.
But nobody's all good or badand flaws can be minor, major or
(19:29):
fatal.
Smoking is an example of aminor one.
The next one is a major oneBeats her husband.
Now look, I've deliberatelysaid Beats her husband rather
than Beats his wife, becausethat's a different flaw.
(19:49):
Nobody expects a wife to bebeating her husband.
And you can change the flaws sothat they're still more powerful
again.
So it lifts your story out ofthe mundane because you've
twisted it around.
So think of ways that you cantweak the flaw to make it
different, to make it original,to make it better, or it could
(20:13):
be fatal, it could be a crookedcrop who brings about their own
destruction.
Oh, there's a dog just comingin the room so we've got a husky
who might start howling in amoment.
Sorry, because she'll belooking for treats.
If she does, hey, I told youshe would start howling.
I knew that was going to happenbecause she wants a treat.
But it doesn't matter.
(20:34):
You know here that's a flaw inmy podcast tonight.
The husky is in here.
Nova's lovely, but she likes atreat at this time of night.
So think I'm going to say themagain, just so you know, smoking
can be a minor, beats herhusband can be major.
Make it different.
And a crooked cop who bringsabout their own destruction
could be fatal.
(20:54):
And it provides conflict.
Flaws provide conflict andnarratives are much better if
they have some conflict.
So just some examples.
And if someone is emotionless,you can say they might often
have their own version ofemotion.
It's just not our version ofemotion.
(21:16):
They might need an internaldriver, or the emotionless may
drive conflict, or it could bethey could be fueled by others.
Emotions and descriptive wordchoices are things like shuts
down, cold eyes, lack of passion, undemonstrative, no empathy.
You know you can show all ofthat in your writing and
(21:41):
positive character attributes.
Every character has somepositive.
They have to have some positive.
So characters you're cheeringon, these are the ones that you
want to really succeed.
But also you need to show yourhard characters in a positive
light as well.
So, for example, in one of mybooks I had a serial killer.
(22:03):
She wouldn't harm a child, sheloved children, she cared for
children and she might kill theparents in the most horrific way
, but she would nurture and carefor the child to make sure they
were safe until someone cameand found them.
Or you can have a thug who buysa meal for a homeless woman.
You know and do it that way sothey're seen in a positive light
(22:28):
as well.
Everybody's not all bad.
You need balance.
You need balance in yourcharacters.
So some more examples If peopleare funny, you could give them
witty replies.
They could tell stories in afunny way.
They could do pranks.
They could poke fun atthemselves.
They can laugh at themselves.
Use pauses appropriately anduse pauses appropriately to
(22:51):
judge reaction.
That's important.
You need pauses.
They will sorry, I'm gettingthis all wrong, I'm tongue tight
tonight they will use pausesappropriately to judge reaction
of the people around them andyou can say that in your
narrative.
If someone is professional, youcan, instead of saying they're
(23:12):
professional, you could saythey're a team player, that was
always on time, they haveattention to detail, they dress
appropriately, they're reliable,they're a good communicator.
These are examples of how youcan show things without telling
people and which I've done in mynarratives.
Now we just discussed somethingthat was witty and I want you to
(23:32):
do another exercise which willyou could think about, and I
want you to think about sitcomson the television that are
perfect for Analyzing comediccharacters and the dialogue they
use and to the spring to mindfor me and to my favorites to
analyze.
In the first one, particularly,is Dinner ladies.
Dinner ladies is set in acanteen.
(23:54):
All the action happens in aKitchen.
It's a factory canteen.
All the action happens in akitchen and in the canteen
itself, where people eat.
That is it.
There's nowhere else it goes.
But every single line ofdialogue is used to perfection
to Demonstrate the differentcharacters.
(24:15):
And if you analyze dinnerladies, if you can get hold of
it, you will be able to work outthe perfect way of showing
characterisation without sayingthis character was this, this
character was that, and Dinnerladies was written by the late
Victoria Woods, who is a sadloss to the entertainment world.
(24:37):
She was an absolutely brilliantcomic and she wrote dinner
ladies and acted in it and it isoutstanding.
The other one is dad's army.
If you can get hold of that,most people can watch dad's army
and again, that will show youhow they've Lifted, they've
changed characters, they'veknocked everything on their head
.
They've turned things upsidedown.
(24:58):
It's not what you'd expect.
For example, the sergeant inthe second world war and not in
the second one is in the homeguard, an officer in the first
world war and and then the thecaptain is was a sergeant in the
first world war, but he's now acaptain because he's a bank
(25:19):
manager, so he is in charge justbecause.
So it's about how to twistthings and make things different
.
It's brilliant.
Both of these are brilliant foranalysing characterisation, and
there are many, many more, andI would like you to think of
some From your country, becauseI am aware that not everybody
(25:40):
that's here watches Is in the UKand of course, comedy is
different depending on whatcountry you're in as well.
So think of some sitcoms youcan watch that you can anal and
sit down and analyse why they'refunny, what they're doing, what
they're saying and how they'vetwisted things.
(26:01):
So I've got another exercise foryou as well.
This is just another one, andit's for your book that you were
discussing earlier, yournotebook or your file that
you're going to use.
Think of ways of showing thefollowing that someone is kind,
responsive, talented, helpful,welcoming all of these.
(26:21):
Go and think about it now andWrite down how you can say,
using action, what they're doingthere.
So I'll give you one and Foreach of them and I'm doing this
off the top of my head right nowOkay, to show their kind, you
could have them sitting down andchatting to a homeless person,
(26:43):
not just throwing a pound atthem or a dollar at them, and
moving on.
You know, responsive, they dropwhat they're doing and Focus on
the person that's speaking tothem.
That they're talented.
You could have them singing abeautiful aria.
Or, while they're washing thedishes, that they're helpful.
(27:04):
You could show them helpingsomeone wash the dishes that
they're welcoming.
Open the door, come in, wouldyou like a cup of tea?
That's a Scottish thing.
Everybody that comes throughthe door in Scotland gets
offered a cup of tea or coffee.
That that's the way you do.
It is welcoming.
So it's easy for us in Scotland, and I'm sure you all have your
own ways in your country.
(27:25):
So think of other ways as well.
Think of ways that you can showthat people how they are and
what type of character they are,without Without actually
telling them, telling us whatthey are like.
I'm going to give you somewriters guides that you can use.
There's the writers theosaurusseries and by Angela Ackerman
(27:48):
and Becca Puglisi, and there'sthe emotion thesaurus, the
emotional wind thesauruspositive trait thesaurus
negative trait thesaurus.
I had all of these before theyDisappeared in a flood.
I will be buying them all againonce so I get back into my
house because these books areoutstanding and I will be rebuy
(28:08):
them, absolutely 100%.
So it's a good these books are,but there are others out there.
If you don't like them, take alook at them.
Take a look inside to lookinside.
If you don't think you likethem, there are others out there
.
You can choose others.
I've got no skin in the gamewith these ladies.
I don't know them and I'vespent a fortune on their books
(28:30):
and I'm about to spend anotherfortune on their books Just
because I like them.
I recommend them to everyone.
So that's the end of the show.
Again, as I say, next week I amgoing to be talking to I'm going
to be talking to Danny Petrie,who we've heard on the show
before, and this time we'regoing to be talking about
(28:52):
setting and how setting is Alsoone of the characters.
So this is one of the reasons Idid characterization this week.
So I look forward to seeing youagain next week and it will be
a pleasure to have you here andI'm looking forward to
interviewing Danny.
So until then, keep writing andkeep reading and have a great
(29:14):
week.
That brings us to the end ofanother show.
It was really good to have youon the show with me today.
I'm Wendy H Jones and you canfind me at wendahjjonescom.
You can also find me on Patreon, where you can support me for
as little as three dollars amonth, which is less than the
(29:36):
price of a tea or coffee.
You go to patreoncom.
Forward slash, wendy H Jones.
I'm also Wendy H Jones onFacebook, twitter, instagram and
Pinterest.
Thank you for joining me todayand I hope you found it both
useful and interesting.
Join me next week when I willhave another cracking guest for
(29:56):
you.
Until then, have a good weekand Keep writing, keep reading
and keep learning.
Hi and welcome to the Writing and Marketing Show
brought to you by author Wendy HJones.
This show does exactly what itsays on the tin.
It's jam-packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news
to help you with the business ofwriting.
It's all wrapped up in onelively podcast.
So it's time to get on with theshow.
(00:23):
And welcome to episode 196 ofthe Writing and Marketing Show
with author entrepreneur Wendy HJones, and it's an absolute
pleasure to be here with youagain.
I know it seems like I'm onlydoing one of Fortnite at the
moment, but due to the fact I'mstill bouncing around from place
(00:43):
to place, I'm doing my absolutebest and last week, due to
signal problems not being ableto record with Wi-Fi, the whole
thing was really a bit of adisaster last week and it had to
be cancelled.
I do have an interview for you.
I was going to interview DannyPetrie today.
Unfortunately, we weren't ableto record because of various
(01:09):
reasons.
I was trying to do it from thepublic restaurant and bar, from
the place I'm currently staying,so it wasn't going to work
because there was music on,there was a lot of people in
there and obviously that's notsuitable for a podcast.
So, for professional reasons, Idecided not to go ahead with
that.
We're going to try againtomorrow and do it using data
(01:33):
from a phone and we'll do ourbest, and I'm hoping we will
have Danny Petrie next week andwe're also talking about setting
with her.
However, today I am going to betalking about characterisation
and showing, not telling, andit's something that's always
interested me, but it'sinteresting me more.
(01:53):
I've done a talk on itpreviously and I'm going to be
doing another talk on it and Ithought it would make an
excellent podcast episode.
Before that, what has beenhappening in my life?
Well, I've got a very busy timecoming up, I have to say.
First of all, I'm off to theWester Wootatelle and Spa in
(02:16):
Newcombe, bernalde, and I'mgoing to be running a writing
retreat there for five days.
We have people coming from theUK, the United States and from
Australia, so it's very excitingreally.
I'm very much looking forwardto that retreat and to helping
authors and new writers moveforward on their writing journey
(02:40):
.
It's going to be great fun andI'm sure I'll bring you an
episode on writing retreats andrunning them, probably after
I've run that one, because it'sin a couple of weeks.
Then in March, I'm off down toLondon for about 12 days.
I was going to go for a bitlonger.
However, I've got to come backearly because I have an event
(03:00):
and I will tell you about thatin a moment.
I'm off down to London BookFair, and London Book Fair is,
for those of you who don't know,I'm sure most of you do that
are listening to this, but it isa huge event and people come
from all over the worldpublishers, agents, all the
(03:22):
business of books, really.
I have got a press pass forthat and I'm going to be going
with my writer's narrative headon and I'm hopefully going to be
interviewing some people forthe podcast as well, which would
be great.
There's a lot going on thereand I'm very, very much looking
forward to that.
I'm going to be meeting with myagent while I'm there as well,
the lovely Amy Collins ofTocquehort Notch Literate Agency
(03:45):
.
She's coming over from theStates for it and she's going to
be pitching books to everyonethere, to publishers, for
foreign rights, translation, foraudio rights, everything like
that.
So it's going to be a good timein many different ways.
I'm also going to be meeting upwith some of my sisters and
(04:06):
crime friends there, which willbe nice.
We seem to only see each otheronce a year at the London Book
Fair, but it is good to be going.
I'm going to be listening to alot of the talks this year.
I'm going to go to as manytalks as I can go to both so I
can talk about them in writer'snarrative, but also so that I
can talk about them on thepodcast.
(04:28):
So you'll be getting updates onvarious aspects of the industry
when I get back from LondonBook Fair.
I'm having to come back slightlyearly.
I'm leaving early on theThursday.
The reason for that is becauseon the Friday I have an event at
Carim, your library, where I'vegot an author talk about
writing crime fiction, and I'mvery much looking forward to
(04:51):
that because I love visitinglibraries.
Libraries are so important andI love doing it and I've also
never got back from all of that.
Then I'm off back to the Westof Lutotel in Spain, cumbernauld
, where I will be going to theScottish Association of Writers
as an attendee, and I'm verymuch looking forward to that
because for the last five yearsI was the president of the
(05:13):
Scottish Association of Writersand I had to run the conference.
I'm very much looking forwardto going and relaxing, and I'm
going to go a day early so I canmake use of this spa, so it's
all very exciting times at themoment.
I've got some other thingscoming up later in the year.
I haven't quite firmed up plansfor them, but I do know I will
(05:33):
be going to Australia in.
I will be going to Australia inOctober where I will be running
a writing retreat in Australiawith my Oscott publishing and
retreat business hat on, and I'mvery much looking forward to
that as well.
But I'm hoping to firm up a fewother things while I'm out
there and maybe even go over toNew Zealand.
(05:55):
So busy, busy time.
I'm also hoping to go out tothe States and attend some
conferences and book eventsthere and do some book signings
again.
So busy year for me really, butI'm loving it.
I'm absolutely loving it.
So I'm trying to think thatsomething else came up for July
(06:15):
as well, and I've completelyforgotten what it is, but I will
tell you when I remember.
So the reason I'm telling youall of this is, first of all, I
told you the bit at thebeginning because don't sweat it
.
If things go wrong, what canyou do?
What can you do.
I get stressed when I cannot dosomething that I'm meant to be
doing.
But it can't be helped.
Things happen, life happens,and I'm telling you the rest
(06:37):
because it's amazing when you'rean author how much you can end
up doing and how much you canenjoy it all because I love it.
So before we get on with theshow and talk about
characterization, I would liketo say it's an absolute pleasure
to bring you the show each week, even though it's not each week
at the moment, but it will be.
I am planning on doing it eachweek.
(06:58):
It's a pleasure to bring you it, I enjoy doing it, but it does
take time out of my writing.
So if you would like to supportthis time, then you can do so
by going to patreoncom forwardslash wendagejones.
It will let me know that youare enjoying the show and that
you would like me to keep doingit.
And to be honest, it's $3 amonth, which is the price of a
(07:22):
tear coffee for a month.
In fact, when I was in theStates I was paying more than $3
for a cup of coffee, and youwill get cut an edge advice on
the show which will help youfrom industry experts.
So it's worth signing up.
But if you can't afford it, Iunderstand that times are
(07:42):
difficult at the moment.
If you go to my website,wendagejonescom, you can support
me for the price of a tea orcoffee, and I would be very
grateful because, again, ithelps me to keep doing the show.
Excuse me, I've got a frog inmy throat, as well as everything
else.
This is all I need, isn't itwhen I'm trying to do a podcast.
(08:03):
So what of characterization?
I've been thinking a lot aboutit lately, and I've been
thinking about showing, nottelling, because very often we
can tell the reader what theemotions are of our characters,
but it's better to do it byshowing, and so I know we do a
(08:26):
lot of that with you know, Ithink I can't remember who it
was said it, but they said Ithink it was Stephen King said
don't tell me.
There's a piece of glass there,show me the glint of moonlight
on the glass.
I think it was Stephen King.
Apologies if it was someoneelse.
I'm, as I say, my brain's a bitfried at the moment with one
(08:47):
thing and another betweeninsurance companies and bouncing
around, but that's nothing todo with anything tonight.
So we're going to talk aboutshowing, not telling when it
comes to characterization.
So first of all, I'd like totalk about words.
What is an award?
I think it's important that wemake strong word choices.
Now we all know that we have todo this when it comes to verbs.
(09:10):
Instead of saying she movedvery quickly, you can say she
scurried or she ran or shebolted or she sprinted, and
we've all got into the habit ofthat in terms of verbs.
But we can do it whendescribing our characters as
well.
We can use stronger wordchoices and we can use phrases
(09:32):
that will let people knowcertain emotions without
actually telling them what theemotions are.
And this is important for a lotof reasons, but one of them is
it's more likely to draw thereader in.
You know, if you said she washappy, they're not really going
to be engrossed in what's goingon.
(09:54):
But if you use different wordchoices, then you're more likely
to draw your reader in and itgives your story depth.
To be honest, when you're usingstrong verbs, when you're using
strong phrases for emotions,then you're giving the story
depth, and we all like depth inour stories.
We don't want a wishy washy, youknow story that's not really
(10:17):
got any meat in it.
You know we want something thatwe can get our teeth into, but
it also gives our charactersdepth and I like that, the fact
that our characters need to bethree-dimensional.
We're moving out of thetwo-dimensional into the
three-dimensional when we usebetter words and phrases and
(10:37):
giving them emotions.
And it can move your narrativeout of the mundane, because when
we use when we use weak wordsand weak phrases, the story
might be all right, but it'snothing special.
You want to move your narrativeout of the mundane and keep
your readers reading.
That's what we all want.
(10:58):
We want our readers to get theoh my goodness, I love this
character.
I want to know what's happeningto them.
Oh my goodness, they're so real.
I can identify with that.
That's what we want.
It can also help give realism toyour dialogue and it can play
with the reader's emotions aswell.
You want the reader to feel theemotions that your character is
(11:20):
feeling and you're more likelyto do that if you choose good
phrases and good actions forthem rather than saying they
were happy, they were sad, theywere worried, you know.
And also it prevents repetition, because if we say they were
happy, well, a bit later onwe'll be saying they were happy
and a bit later on we'll besaying they were happy.
(11:40):
So it avoids the repetition,because you can use different
phrases each time and I have tobe careful when I say use
different phrases each time.
My, my characters seem to do alot of grinning in the first
draft, so you do need to lookfor things like that.
I grin a lot, obviously, as mycharacters grin a lot, which is,
(12:05):
you know, we've got to becareful of that so you can look
at what you're doing and preventrepetition.
So what about emotions?
Why are they important?
Well, emotion is what drivesyour characters, whether it's
anger, whether it's a need forjustice, whether it's a right
crime.
So this is why I'm coming upwith this, to start with.
(12:26):
Whether it's, you know, theywant to have a romance, it's all
emotion that drives yourcharacters.
We're all emotional beings.
Every last one of us is anemotional being, and our
characters need to have emotions, otherwise they're just going
to be flat, they're going to betwo-dimensional.
(12:47):
We want them to bethree-dimensional.
And now, obviously, if you'redescribing a certain character
that is narcissistic or doesn'tdisplay emotion, then you're
going to look at it in adifferent way, and I'm going to
talk about that in a bit as well, because sometimes you can feel
that the characters don't haveany emotion, but they do.
(13:08):
They have their own internalemotion and you need to
demonstrate that you know forwhat's.
Demonstrate that to yourreaders really through their
actions, through what they'redoing, rather than saying, oh,
they were happy in their head.
You know, you need to use your,your, your movement.
(13:29):
You need to use actions.
So Movement and charactertraits can signify emotion.
For example, tapping fingers Ifsomeone's sitting tapping their
fingers there are a lot ofdifferent motions that that can
be showing.
It could be showing tension, itcould be showing irritation.
It could be someone that'stapping their fingers because
they need to move, because theyhave to do something as well as
(13:55):
talk.
They need to multitask to calmthem.
There's lots of differentthings.
Can't look someone in the eyes,crossing their arms, grinning
there's that grinning again.
Punching the ear.
What do they all signify?
I mean punching the ear usuallymeans yes, that's good.
Or it can mean something else.
(14:15):
Totally, it could be we'regoing to get victory.
You know different things itcan mean, so you can use it for
many different things.
I'm going to give you someexamples.
So if we were saying anger.
We don't say Joe was angry,because that's one-dimensional.
We want to get the readersknowing what he's doing.
(14:37):
So you can say legs plantedwide.
You wouldn't say Joe plantedhis legs wide, but you could say
he stood with his legs wide,you know.
Flared nostrils, a shaking fist, moving close to someone,
shaking with anger, shooting totheir feet, slamming doors,
(15:01):
throwing things, clenching theirfists.
These are just examples.
There are so many more.
And what I'd like you to do, youcan either stop the podcast now
, or, if you're in the car, youknow, or wherever you are, you
can stop the podcast anyway.
But stop the podcast and thinkof other actions that signify
anger.
You know it's a good exerciseto do.
(15:26):
So another one I'm going togive you some for happiness.
So, humming their eyes,lighting up, they laugh, they
smile, tears of joy.
I also said grinning, but hey,my character seemed to do a heck
of a lot of grinning, don'tthey?
So I haven't put that one in.
(15:47):
But laugh, smile.
What other ones can you thinkof?
There must be so many.
I just did these off the top ofmy head before I did the podcast
, by the way, because I'veactually planned it out, believe
it or not.
It's not just me doing it offthe top of my head, but there
are others that you can think of.
There's singing, you know.
There's lots of differentthings.
(16:08):
You can say that signifieshappiness.
So there are a lot of otheremotions, and I'd like you to do
an exercise.
Usually I tell you everything,but I'm going to give you
exercises to do for this one,because it's important that you
start to think of different ways.
You can do this of your ownaccord, rather than just
(16:30):
listening to me now and thenyou'll have forgotten it three
days later.
So here's an exercise.
What I want you to do is thinkof actions which display the
following emotions so regret,disappointment, scorn and
frustration.
And there must be so many ofthem.
Well, there are so many of them.
(16:51):
I know that for a fact.
So why don't you think of someactions which display them, and
then you'll have them at yourfingertips.
Write them down.
Don't just think of them.
Write them down, do a chart.
Go to your computer and do achart.
Then you've got them ready forwhen you want to use them the
next time in your work inprogress.
(17:13):
When you're writing, they'll bethere at your fingertips.
You don't even need to look forthe notebook.
You just need to open yourcomputer document and there it
will be.
Excuse me, I'm going to have totake a drink because I've got a
frog in my throat.
Sorry about that, guys.
So it's a good thing to do.
(17:35):
I've got a book that I use, anotebook that I use and I've got
a lot of different thingswritten down.
At the moment I can't get myhands on it because everything
is everywhere at the moment inmy house because of the flood
and fire and pestilence.
However, I will get my hands onit when I get back to normal.
(17:56):
It didn't flood out, thankgoodness, and that's a very good
way of having things at yourfingertips to be able to use in
your writing.
You also need to give yourcharacter flaws.
Flaws are important and a flawis a fault or weakness in a
character.
Nobody is 100% lovely, nobodyis 100% perfect.
(18:22):
Even Mary Poppins waspractically perfect in every way
.
I would say her flaw was shethought of a lot of herself.
Hey, I love Mary Poppins, butthat is a flaw and that's why
she's practically perfect inevery way not fully perfect,
because none of us can be andher flaws help to lift the
(18:44):
character off the page.
It makes them more rounded, morethree-dimensional, it makes
them more likeable, believe itor not, nobody likes a 100%
perfect character, because wecan't see ourselves in them.
We just think, oh, they're toogood to be true, they're too
nice.
Nobody's that nice all the time.
Everybody always has a flaw.
(19:06):
Nobody is all good or all bad.
Ever.
Not one person in the world isall good or all bad.
They've always got a flaw orsomething nice about them.
You know, it might be the factthat their mother loved them, or
it could be the fact they lovetheir mother, you know.
But nobody's all good or badand flaws can be minor, major or
(19:29):
fatal.
Smoking is an example of aminor one.
The next one is a major oneBeats her husband.
Now look, I've deliberatelysaid Beats her husband rather
than Beats his wife, becausethat's a different flaw.
(19:49):
Nobody expects a wife to bebeating her husband.
And you can change the flaws sothat they're still more powerful
again.
So it lifts your story out ofthe mundane because you've
twisted it around.
So think of ways that you cantweak the flaw to make it
different, to make it original,to make it better, or it could
(20:13):
be fatal, it could be a crookedcrop who brings about their own
destruction.
Oh, there's a dog just comingin the room so we've got a husky
who might start howling in amoment.
Sorry, because she'll belooking for treats.
If she does, hey, I told youshe would start howling.
I knew that was going to happenbecause she wants a treat.
But it doesn't matter.
(20:34):
You know here that's a flaw inmy podcast tonight.
The husky is in here.
Nova's lovely, but she likes atreat at this time of night.
So think I'm going to say themagain, just so you know, smoking
can be a minor, beats herhusband can be major.
Make it different.
And a crooked cop who bringsabout their own destruction
could be fatal.
(20:54):
And it provides conflict.
Flaws provide conflict andnarratives are much better if
they have some conflict.
So just some examples.
And if someone is emotionless,you can say they might often
have their own version ofemotion.
It's just not our version ofemotion.
(21:16):
They might need an internaldriver, or the emotionless may
drive conflict, or it could bethey could be fueled by others.
Emotions and descriptive wordchoices are things like shuts
down, cold eyes, lack of passion, undemonstrative, no empathy.
You know you can show all ofthat in your writing and
(21:41):
positive character attributes.
Every character has somepositive.
They have to have some positive.
So characters you're cheeringon, these are the ones that you
want to really succeed.
But also you need to show yourhard characters in a positive
light as well.
So, for example, in one of mybooks I had a serial killer.
(22:03):
She wouldn't harm a child, sheloved children, she cared for
children and she might kill theparents in the most horrific way
, but she would nurture and carefor the child to make sure they
were safe until someone cameand found them.
Or you can have a thug who buysa meal for a homeless woman.
You know and do it that way sothey're seen in a positive light
(22:28):
as well.
Everybody's not all bad.
You need balance.
You need balance in yourcharacters.
So some more examples If peopleare funny, you could give them
witty replies.
They could tell stories in afunny way.
They could do pranks.
They could poke fun atthemselves.
They can laugh at themselves.
Use pauses appropriately anduse pauses appropriately to
(22:51):
judge reaction.
That's important.
You need pauses.
They will sorry, I'm gettingthis all wrong, I'm tongue tight
tonight they will use pausesappropriately to judge reaction
of the people around them andyou can say that in your
narrative.
If someone is professional, youcan, instead of saying they're
(23:12):
professional, you could saythey're a team player, that was
always on time, they haveattention to detail, they dress
appropriately, they're reliable,they're a good communicator.
These are examples of how youcan show things without telling
people and which I've done in mynarratives.
Now we just discussed somethingthat was witty and I want you to
(23:32):
do another exercise which willyou could think about, and I
want you to think about sitcomson the television that are
perfect for Analyzing comediccharacters and the dialogue they
use and to the spring to mindfor me and to my favorites to
analyze.
In the first one, particularly,is Dinner ladies.
Dinner ladies is set in acanteen.
(23:54):
All the action happens in aKitchen.
It's a factory canteen.
All the action happens in akitchen and in the canteen
itself, where people eat.
That is it.
There's nowhere else it goes.
But every single line ofdialogue is used to perfection
to Demonstrate the differentcharacters.
(24:15):
And if you analyze dinnerladies, if you can get hold of
it, you will be able to work outthe perfect way of showing
characterisation without sayingthis character was this, this
character was that, and Dinnerladies was written by the late
Victoria Woods, who is a sadloss to the entertainment world.
(24:37):
She was an absolutely brilliantcomic and she wrote dinner
ladies and acted in it and it isoutstanding.
The other one is dad's army.
If you can get hold of that,most people can watch dad's army
and again, that will show youhow they've Lifted, they've
changed characters, they'veknocked everything on their head
.
They've turned things upsidedown.
(24:58):
It's not what you'd expect.
For example, the sergeant inthe second world war and not in
the second one is in the homeguard, an officer in the first
world war and and then the thecaptain is was a sergeant in the
first world war, but he's now acaptain because he's a bank
(25:19):
manager, so he is in charge justbecause.
So it's about how to twistthings and make things different
.
It's brilliant.
Both of these are brilliant foranalysing characterisation, and
there are many, many more, andI would like you to think of
some From your country, becauseI am aware that not everybody
(25:40):
that's here watches Is in the UKand of course, comedy is
different depending on whatcountry you're in as well.
So think of some sitcoms youcan watch that you can anal and
sit down and analyse why they'refunny, what they're doing, what
they're saying and how they'vetwisted things.
(26:01):
So I've got another exercise foryou as well.
This is just another one, andit's for your book that you were
discussing earlier, yournotebook or your file that
you're going to use.
Think of ways of showing thefollowing that someone is kind,
responsive, talented, helpful,welcoming all of these.
(26:21):
Go and think about it now andWrite down how you can say,
using action, what they're doingthere.
So I'll give you one and Foreach of them and I'm doing this
off the top of my head right nowOkay, to show their kind, you
could have them sitting down andchatting to a homeless person,
(26:43):
not just throwing a pound atthem or a dollar at them, and
moving on.
You know, responsive, they dropwhat they're doing and Focus on
the person that's speaking tothem.
That they're talented.
You could have them singing abeautiful aria.
Or, while they're washing thedishes, that they're helpful.
(27:04):
You could show them helpingsomeone wash the dishes that
they're welcoming.
Open the door, come in, wouldyou like a cup of tea?
That's a Scottish thing.
Everybody that comes throughthe door in Scotland gets
offered a cup of tea or coffee.
That that's the way you do.
It is welcoming.
So it's easy for us in Scotland, and I'm sure you all have your
own ways in your country.
(27:25):
So think of other ways as well.
Think of ways that you can showthat people how they are and
what type of character they are,without Without actually
telling them, telling us whatthey are like.
I'm going to give you somewriters guides that you can use.
There's the writers theosaurusseries and by Angela Ackerman
(27:48):
and Becca Puglisi, and there'sthe emotion thesaurus, the
emotional wind thesauruspositive trait thesaurus
negative trait thesaurus.
I had all of these before theyDisappeared in a flood.
I will be buying them all againonce so I get back into my
house because these books areoutstanding and I will be rebuy
(28:08):
them, absolutely 100%.
So it's a good these books are,but there are others out there.
If you don't like them, take alook at them.
Take a look inside to lookinside.
If you don't think you likethem, there are others out there
.
You can choose others.
I've got no skin in the gamewith these ladies.
I don't know them and I'vespent a fortune on their books
(28:30):
and I'm about to spend anotherfortune on their books Just
because I like them.
I recommend them to everyone.
So that's the end of the show.
Again, as I say, next week I amgoing to be talking to I'm going
to be talking to Danny Petrie,who we've heard on the show
before, and this time we'regoing to be talking about
(28:52):
setting and how setting is Alsoone of the characters.
So this is one of the reasons Idid characterization this week.
So I look forward to seeing youagain next week and it will be
a pleasure to have you here andI'm looking forward to
interviewing Danny.
So until then, keep writing andkeep reading and have a great
(29:14):
week.
That brings us to the end ofanother show.
It was really good to have youon the show with me today.
I'm Wendy H Jones and you canfind me at wendahjjonescom.
You can also find me on Patreon, where you can support me for
as little as three dollars amonth, which is less than the
(29:36):
price of a tea or coffee.
You go to patreoncom.
Forward slash, wendy H Jones.
I'm also Wendy H Jones onFacebook, twitter, instagram and
Pinterest.
Thank you for joining me todayand I hope you found it both
useful and interesting.
Join me next week when I willhave another cracking guest for
(29:56):
you.
Until then, have a good weekand Keep writing, keep reading
and keep learning.
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Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.