On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [76]
It was a bit too long to be labeled classically pretty, just as her nose seemed a bit too prominent to be called pert. But those eyes and the lush contours of a generous mouth, along with high, prominent cheekbones and the sultry sweep of eyebrows a shade darker than her golden-brown hair made a very striking, very feminine picture, indeed. The hair was the finishing touch, her "crowning glory," as the Scriptures said. Thick and straight with a healthy, satiny shine, it hung well past her shoulders, almost to her elbows.
In this passage we see the heroine, but we also get to know a lot more about the hero because of the specific details he notices and chooses to describe.
• Through habits or individual traits. Bad habits are often more illustrative than good ones, though either can be used to characterize. A man who issues a lunch invitation and then dodges the check creates a lasting impression. In her chick-lit novel Can You Keep a Secret?, Sophie Kinsella paints a quick but effective portrait of the heroine's grandfather:
"I never throw away cards." Grandpa gives me a long look. "When you get to my age; when the people you've known and loved all your life start to pass away ... you want to hang onto any memento. However small." ...
I reach for the nearest card and open it. ... "Grandpa! This is from Smith's Electrical Maintenance, 1965!"
In just a few words, Kinsella has shown us a guy who's not only got a collection of stuff but a sense of humor about it.
• Through the props that surround the character. A character who clings to a favorite ratty sweater, her mother's teddy bear, or a scrapbook full of clippings gives the readers a view of the things she thinks are important—and thus of the kind of person she is. If the hero walks in carrying a tennis racquet or a shotgun or a Bible, the readers will know quite a bit about him before he says a word.
Lots of women like chocolate, but in her chick-lit novel Third Time Lucky, Claire Cross shows us a heroine who's almost defined by chocolate:
I know the fundamental right of every mortal to eat chocolate is in the Geneva Convention. ...
Many foods have been banished from my kitchen and diet because of their betrayal of me in those dark teenage years ... but my relationship with chocolate is beyond such restrictions.
Our love affair borders on the divine. ... I handle chocolate as a controlled substance, since prolonged exposure results in extreme lateral growth. One chocolate bar every month and not one bite more is my allotment. ...
I buy the chocolate on the first of the month ... and ogle it in the fridge for as long as I can stand it. ...
After that introduction, any time the heroine mentions chocolate the readers get an instant picture of the character's state of mind.
• Through the character's name. A man named Sylvester creates a much different picture in the mind than one named Jake. A woman named Elizabeth is a whole different creature than one named Betsy. Does the name you've chosen for your character fit her personality, her time period, her job, her background? How does the name affect and reflect her personality? In her historical single title The Warrior, Claire Delacroix captures not only the personality but the time period as her hero and heroine discuss what she should call him.
"I would not have matters so formal between us. ... You need not address me as your lord when we are alone."
"Shall I call you Magnus? ... Or Michael?"
"The choice is yours, lady mine."
"Then I shall call you Hawk. ... For your repute seems to fit your nature well. Does the hawk not tear out the heart of what it kills, then leave the rest as carrion?"
Here we also get a picture of this historical hero's willingness to compromise, unusual for a real man of his time, and also of the historical heroine's typical independence. Even when she's in his power, she can't resist tweaking him.
• Through narrative description. Simply stating a character's type or traits, without showing examples of behavior or thoughts to illustrate the statement, requires the readers