ShmoopTube

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If you wanna write fiction, you need to tell a story, but if you wanna tell a story, you [Guy thinking]

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need some characters.

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And characters don't just fall out of the sky! [People falling]

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Which…is probably for the best; if they did, they might dent a lot of cars and break

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a lot of patio furniture. [People falling onto patio chairs]

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Luckily writers have all sorts of tools to help them build and develop characters. [Guy using a chisel]

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Their main tools are descriptions and dialogue. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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As readers, we come to know characters through what they think… [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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…what they say…

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…and what they do.

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So by writing what the characters say in dialogue, and describing their thoughts and actions,

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the writer can give us a pretty good picture of the character. [Girl taking money from her mom's bag]

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Even if it isn't exactly the most flattering picture… [Mug shot of the girl]

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However, most stories involve lots of characters, and they can't all get equal space and time [Lots of faces crammed together]

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in the story.

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Sorry, guys.

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Them's the breaks.

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We get a lot of information about the main characters…

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…but a lot of the other ones get much less focus.

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It might not be fair, but no one said that fiction was about fairness. [Minor characters fall off the stage]

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And if someone has said that to you…don't listen to them.

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They're full of baloney!

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Mmm…what a delicious thing to be full of… [Woman breaks in half to reveal baloney inside]

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Since different characters often have different levels of development, writers will usually [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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use different approaches when developing main or minor characters.

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For a minor character, it's common for the writer to use direct characterization, which [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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is when they directly tell the reader about the character.

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So if one minor character happens to be a cashier at a grocery store who's always cranky… [The cashier looking angry]

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…the writer might just tell us: "Bob was a cranky old cashier."

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No point beating around the bush.

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However, with main characters, we get to spend a lot of time with them, so direct characterization

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can get a bit clunky. [Clock ticking by]

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After all, Bob the cranky cashier might not develop much as a character, but our main [Bob's gravestone]

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characters are likely to change and grow…

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…and who wants to read sentences like: "Sarah was becoming a better person"? [Girl looking bored]

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So for main characters, the writer can use indirect characterization, where the character's

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thoughts, words, and actions give the reader clues about who the character is.

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That way, as we follow the main characters' trials and adventures and see how they respond

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to various things, we can put together our own impression of who these characters are.

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Hopefully they're not all cranky cashiers…that could get old, fast. [The lift opens and there are lots of Bob's inside]

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