As a development editor, I come across many manuscripts that introduce every character with a detailed description. The description might tell me what the character looks like, where and how he grew up, what she does for a living and prefers to eat for breakfast.
As a reader, it’s hard to digest all that information at once.
The plot comes to a screeching halt, all suspension of disbelief is gone, and I realize that I’m meeting a new character in a novel.
As a writer, you don’t want that.
How do you create characters?
Let’s say one of your characters is the President of the United States. The simple fact that the character is the President will conjure up certain ideas that may be informed by real-life presidents or by the qualities connected with the office, such as power, responsibility, or a specific political platform. How do you steer these preconceived ideas to create the unique President in your novel?
Imagine that your President is sitting in the Oval Office, alone, poring over papers. Suddenly someone knocks at the door. A quick glance at his watch tells him that it is time for his meeting with the Speaker of the House. The President knows that within a few seconds, the Speaker of the House will step through that door.
Let the President chew gum
Now imagine that your President is chewing gum. What does he do in the split second between the knock on the door and the Speaker’s entry? Does he swallow the gum? Does he take it out and throw it in the waste paper basket behind him? Does he take it out and stick it under his desk, where plenty of other gum is stuck already? Or does he keep chewing?
Not everyone will have the same connotations with these four different behaviors. To me, a person who sticks his gum under the table seems a bit mischievous, like a person who still has a lot of boy in him. A person who throws the gum in the wastepaper basket, on the other hand, does the right thing, likes order and cleanliness. A person who swallows the gum is someone who thinks he has done something inappropriate, yet is not ready to stand by it. Such a person is not strong or self-assured. For if he was, he’d keep chewing the gum. So, the person who chews the gum even though his archenemy will notice, seems like someone who is sure of himself, a leader who does not care what others think of him, because nothing will affect his natural authority.
Actions speak differently to different people
Your readers may have different connotations with these simple actions, but first, this is how it is in real life – our actions speak differently to different people – and secondly, together with the other behaviors you will show us in other scenes, the fully developed personality of your very own President will emerge.