Thread: Need help developing a character

I have a tendency to tell rather than show, and I'm trying to reverse that. My main character has just met a supporting character. How can I show the supporting character's traits like: impulsiveness, spitefulness/vengefulness, obsession with order, unpredictability, and ruthlessness. These will be observed from the main character's point of view.

The subtler the better at this point. I will demonstrate these traits more strongly deeper into the book. Any ideas are appreciated.

Originally Posted by C.M. Aaron

I have a tendency to tell rather than show, and I'm trying to reverse that. My main character has just met a supporting character. How can I show the supporting character's traits like: impulsiveness, spitefulness/vengefulness, obsession with order, unpredictability, and ruthlessness. These will be observed from the main character's point of view.

The subtler the better at this point. I will demonstrate these traits more strongly deeper into the book. Any ideas are appreciated.

how about a symbolic observation from the main character's pov where he notices something the supporting character wears like a cross symbolizing he's religious -just an example, can be any other kind of trinket too like a knife or sword whose craftmanship is definitely foreign to the region, or a clan or ethnic or political tattoo, or even a scar. accents and phrases are also good for telling a character's place of origin or beliefs.

There's also things that the supporting character may hold priority over that might conflict with the norms your main character might be used to. for example he might not care about the death of a criminal but stops to pay his respects to the death of someone's pet dog.

put them in abnormal situations. Think about it, if you meet a punk fanatic at his work in the office, he's not going to show you his bad side. Make the dialogue throw him off his usual facade, and force him to show his true colors.

I usually show a character's personality through their interaction with one another, and as their relationship develops. I'd say that's the easiest way to go about it.

Action is character. For an impulsive character, watch a movie like The Godfather, and look at Sonny Corleone. Sonny was kind of an on-the-nose character (meaning that it was kind of "too obvious" that the writers were trying to make him the hot-headed type), but if you take that and dial it back a bit, you have a solid character type to work from. Remember to see things their way, though. If your character is impulsive, that means he'll often speak before he's fully processed his thoughts. You see that on the outside and think he's an idiot. You see it from the inside and you realize that he hates that he does it (I'm impulsive and do this constantly).

A bit of advice, though: don't set up a scene to reveal character. Set up scenes to push the plot forward, and your characters will reveal themselves within the scene based on how they approach the obstacles and goals before them.

I agree with kinetika. A character's personality is gradually revealed through how they act and react to situations. This can be revealed by how they respond to a person's questions as well as how they go about asking questions of their own. There are also their physical responses to things. A patient person when confronted with something they don't like may raise a finger to their lips and think on the situation. An impatient/violent person would slam their fist on the table!

Thanks for starting this thread. It's helping me develop my characters and plot. I hope it was just as helpful to you.