It's true that the title of this blog does not look like anything to do with historical fiction, but the equilibrium between wildlife and humanity was not always so precarious as it is now. Finding the balance which existed at the time you're writing can be a very useful tool to setting a believable background for your writing. So here are a few mammal considerations... Wild mammals were everywhere - they still are, in fact! Whether you're writing about the middle of a city or the middle of nowhere, it should be a given that these animals will influence life. As well as the obvious and frequently maligned rats and mice, other mammals have cohabited our cities with us. Foxes have always had a partially urban existence, and the building of cities on waterways also often lead to otters and (depending on how far inland they were) seals being resident. Mankind knew how to find wild mammals - there is a continuous development in the scientific study of our wild mammals and this...
Saturday 2nd November 2019 – Characters: Part
One – Appearance
This is a tricky one!
To make your characters entirely believable, your reader wants to see
beyond the physical exterior. But, all
the same, you as the writer need to consider what your characters look
like. It can be slightly awkward when a
character’s hair colour suddenly changes, or they mysteriously grow a foot
taller in two weeks.
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| Photo by Tayla Walsh, Pexels |
Not many of us notice the colour of someone’s eyes the first
time we meet them. Instead, we usually
see their face as a whole and associate a certain emotion with them. People might have strict, pointy features,
or perhaps a sullen frown or laughing eyes. These descriptions are a lot closer to what
we experience when we meet someone, a sense you want your readers to have. They don’t want to imagine they're looking at a
photograph, they want to encounter your characters as an equal.
There are, of course, obvious exceptions to this. In some genres, the colour of someone’s eyes
may be significant. If you have a family
of characters, you might want to highlight a physical feature which make them
all look alike (for example, we have a “Temperton nose” in our family, which is
a very distinct shape).
So, here are a few things to think about:
- Know how tall your characters are. You don’t have to announce their height to the reader, but perhaps they are so tall they have to duck under lintels, or they’re short enough to fit under a table. Also – and this is a biggie! – know how tall they are compared to your other characters.
- What do they wear? You can tell a lot about a character based on their clothes and their jewellery. Do they have a wedding ring? Do they wear a suit? Do they have a logo on their t-shirt?
- Faces are animate objects. When one part of them moves, other features tend to take the strain. Example: when you frown, your forehead creases. So, you don’t have to constantly be writing about the shape of someone’s mouth, you can vary the way of detailing expression.
- Think of something your character is like. If someone is well-built, they might be as wide as an ox, or if they are light on their feet, they could be as graceful as a swan. There are hundreds of animals you can personify, and instantly your reader sees an added dimension to the character.
- All these things being said, think carefully about clichés in descriptions. Sometimes, clichés are so well used because they work, sometimes they just help lazy writing!
Virginia Crow
www.crowvus.com
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