Another thing I observed about these stories is that most of them don't go very far inside a character, don't reveal very much of the character. I don't mean that they don't enter the character's mind, but they simply don't show that he has a personality. Again this goes back partly to speech. These characters have no distinctive speech to reveal themselves with; and sometimes they have no really distinctive features. I could not remember one image or one metaphor from the seven s
◆
Comments
Loading comments…
📖 Notes & analysis
This advice works because personality isn't stated, it's leaked — through word choice, rhythm, the specific metaphor a character reaches for when no one else would reach for that one. A reader forgets plot summaries but remembers the character who compared heartbreak to a stalled car engine instead of a wilted flower. That specificity is what makes a person feel inhabited rather than sketched.
To apply it: give a character one verbal habit or one strange, personal image tied to their history, then let it surface unforced in dialogue or thought — not explained, just present.
The caution: don't overcorrect into quirk-stuffing, where every line strains for a clever metaphor. If everyone sounds equally vivid and equally strange, distinctiveness collapses back into sameness, just with more decoration.
Comments