Thursday, September 21, 2006

Characterization

What I'm reading now: Creating Characters, Let Them Whisper Their Secrets.

Every now and again I like to go back and read "how to write" books. It reminds me of things or teaches me new things. The book I'm currently reading offers a lot of advice and reminders on how to create larger than life characters.

For instance, it says that everytime you meet a new person, you notice something about them, and most people notice the same thing on each person. Do you notice people's shoes? The way they talk? Their hair? What do you notice about a person upon first meeting them?

I had to think about this for a minute. I don't notice anything, do I? I try not to judge people's shoes or the way they dress, because I hate to be judged. What if you meet me for the first time and I dressed in grunge clothes to make a quick run to the grocery store? I'm all about comfort, LOL. But I've learned that just because I notice them doesn't mean I'm judging them, nor they me. I've also learned that I need to be more observant!

For me, I mostly notice hair and eyes. Eyes are the window to a person's soul, right? What about you? What do you first notice?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I notice hair a lot, but I'm a hairdresser 9-5, so that's always where my eyes dart.

Lora Darling said...

This is going to sound really icky, but I notice whether or not the person is clean. If they are, I look at the face. Eyes, hair, mouth...all very important :)

Anonymous said...

Teeth and hands. I don't know why.