Process

Characterization

You might say: showing character, bringing characters to life

How the text shows who someone is. Burroway’s direct methods are appearance, speech, action and thought; authorial interpretation is the indirect one.

What it does

Lets readers build the person from evidence, so the person feels real.

Ask

What does she do, say or notice that only she would?

Trouble

The narrator says she is brave, but she never does anything brave.

Catalogue: Method

• Appearance (direct): Clothes, objects and body show inner values: scrubs two sizes too big.
• Speech (direct): What she says, how she says it, and what she avoids saying.
• Action (direct): What she does while pursuing a goal. Checking a drip three times shows fear and care.
• Thought (direct): Private thoughts, judgements and feelings that only the reader hears.
• Authorial interpretation (indirect): The narrator tells us what she is like. Quick, but the reader must take it on trust.

Connections

• See also: Dialogue

Sources

1. OpenStax, Writing Guide, §4.5, Characters and VoiceWhen creating characters, make sure the characters’ language and behavior reflect their characterizations.

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