"The desire to write grows with writing," -Desiderius Erasmus
Yes, you heard me right. In less than 250 words, you can give your reader a full and well-rounded view of your character within the first page. And, if you're writing a short story or flash fiction, this is the blog post for you!
Now, you ask, cramming in as much information about your character into such little space must be bad writing, Olivia.
And, to that little voice in your head protesting that this isn't a good technique, I say that we're not cramming any information anywhere. I think we can all agree that writing a massive paragraph on what your character's personality is is a bad way to introduce a character.
All things considering, here are 3 tips on how to SHOW who your character is in less than 250 words:
1. Go Big or Go Home
A key to showing the reader the major parts of your character's personality is having said character in action. This action usually has to be something extreme or dramatic. Through introducing your character during this large event, the reader is able to see how your character reacts to the world.
For example, the two main characters in my novel, A Cactus In the Valley are introduced in medias res. Terra is introduced while she is still inside of the plane wreckage, and the first chapter is her trying to get out. Through this immediate conflict, we are shown how Terra reacts to barriers to success, strong emotions, and trauma - all integral parts of her character.
By having your character start off in an extreme situation, the reader will immediately know the larger parts of the character's psyche.
You can use this by dropping your character right in the middle of a space battle, have your character go to a party where the police show up, or even something as small as having your character fall right on their face in public.
2. Italicize
This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to italicize your character's thoughts all the time. What I mean is that the second key to introducing a character quickly is through their inner monologue, their voice, and their thoughts and opinions to the world around them.
By giving your character a unique and distinct voice, the reader will get to know the character's opinions and personality traits within a few lines.
In the second chapter of A Cactus In the Valley, parts of Wyatt's character are revealed through his thoughts and personal comments on what is happening in the story. These sentences show how Wyatt feels about Terra, his general attitude, and his sense of humor.
Through these small lines of thoughts, the lighter parts of the character's personality take center stage.
You can implement this by figuring out your character's personality, and then inserting the snide comments they'd make, adding in references to their past, or hinting at a deeper internal conflict.
3. Wrap it in Foil
Foil characters are one of the easiest ways to develop a character. A foil character is a character that acts as a 'foil' to another character. One character's traits contrast the other character's traits.
This tactic develops characters in that the foil characters make each other more distinct, and make the other stand out. Like salt and sugar, the two characters contrast each other: one is bitter, the other is bubbly; one is snarky, the other is tight-laced; etc.
Wyatt and Terra from A Cactus In the Valley are foil characters to each other. From even their first interactions, the reader is able to see that the two display distinctly different personalities through dialogue.
You can use this technique by introducing your character speaking to their foil, forcing two foil characters to interact, or arising conflict from said foil characters.
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These tips can be used in anything from a 150,000-word novel to 250-word flash fiction. And I hope at least one of them helped you out.
~The WordShaker
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