What do our sins say about us?

kuwisdelu · Jul 31, 2008

I'm sure we all have characters who drink, smoke, gamble, do drugs, enjoy their more exotic sins of the flesh. But how often do we really use these corporeal pleasures to their full extent as far as characterization go?

My girlfriend (who's also a writer) said something very interesting the other day. We were talking about what kind of alcohol our main characters drink. And we started talking about how what someone drinks says something about that person. She told me how she chooses her character's drink(s) of choice very carefully, to fit his or her personality exactly, because you can tell a lot about a person by what he or she drinks. Does he guzzle down beer? Is he a gin person? Whiskey? Does he enjoy a nice scotch or cognac? Fine wine? How old? What label?

I've started to do the same in one of my most recent stories, though not quite so immaculately.

So as I sit here, I begin to think what other sinful pleasures our characters are enjoying, and what do they say about them? Do we always use these little insights to their fullest we could?

What can you already tell about a character who smokes two packs of Camels a day versus a character who hand rolls his own cigarettes every morning? What about a character who smokes a pipe he bought in England? Or the character who relaxes every night, enjoying his hookah from his trip to Egypt before his last year of college?

What do we already know about a person who sits at the nickel slots, pulling the lever again and again, who is attracted to video poker and is always hoping for the jackpot? What do we know about the character who sits at the baccarat table and bets a half million dollars every game?

I can tell you these simple things, and I'll bet many of you already have a picture in mind of exactly who this person is, their personality, maybe even what they look like.

How many of you let your characters' pleasures speak as loudly as they can? In that scene at the bar, is your character downing a vodka because it's the first thing that popped in to your head, when he should really be ordering a Black Russian?

maxmordon · Jul 31, 2008

Even though I have never drank in my life more than a cup of wine I have noted in my stories people drink more whiskey than anything else.

Also there is something peculiar on the treatment of women. The main women are either unreachable semi-goddesses or deviant she-devil; of course, there are regular women like men are (please don't think of me as a sexist!) but I have noticed that these two kinds are the most protagonistic kind of women. Men aren't much better, though. There are either a bit of pathetic shy figure full of rage and fear or socially akward frustated borderline sociopaths; again, there are regular men but I mean that these two types have more protagonism in my stories

Richard Martin · Jul 31, 2008

What's home-stewed prune brandy say about a fella?

A lot of my characters' favorite sin & pleasure is self-deception.

mab · Aug 1, 2008

Interesting thoughts! I think we all have our sins and weaknesses so our characters should too. Maybe they indulge in something which was scarce when they were younger (eg if they come from a family of repressed puritans, they may grow up to have lots of meaningless sex to try and rebel...)

I think a lot of Kuwisdelu's examples seem to come from a desire to escape but also to create a new reality on what we wish were true. In particular the hookah and the English pipe seem quite affected (rather than normal cigs from any cornershop) that it seems the person is escaping into a fantasy of who they wished they were.Which says a LOT about the character. Never considered this in the past, will think on it when writing.

WriteKnight · Aug 1, 2008

What does your definition of 'sin' say about you?

Sorry, couldn't resist

You're spot on, in talking about charcterization by association of course. What aspects of our characters that are exterior, help to illuminate their interior psyche?

DOES your character drink, if so - what? If not, why not? Gambling? The same. You use the word 'sin' to which I would reply 'vice' - or 'addiction' or 'obsession' -or, dare I say it 'hobby'?

These things that pre-occupy the character speak volumes, and thereby allow us to use a shorthand in character development. Careful they don't become cliche'd or a crutch.

The hard boiled detective with a bottle of scotch in the bottom drawer - cliche. The hard boiled detective with a bottle of Yuhoo.... quirky.

kuwisdelu · Aug 1, 2008

WriteKnight said:
What does your definition of 'sin' say about you?

Hehe, I don't really consider them as such, I just needed a word to distinguish such characteristics from aspects that typically get more description/attention like hobbies/work/etc. (I don't know the difference between a "sin" and a "vice," which shows you how much I know about sin...) Perhaps a better word may be "indulgences"? At 2am, I don't always have the best diction.

Clair Dickson · Aug 1, 2008

Good advice-- I do this. And I also spend a lot of time figuring out WHY a character is doing or choosing a particular thing. Especially things that are different from what I do (like smoke or drink or break the law. [Yes, if I were any squarer I'd be a cube])

Sometimes understanding an underlying reason to a behavior can add another layer to a character, something a little more real, a little more human, and a little more interesting.

mab · Aug 1, 2008

WriteKnight said:
The hard boiled detective with a bottle of scotch in the bottom drawer - cliche. The hard boiled detective with a bottle of Yuhoo.... quirky.

I LOVE it!

Maybe the sweet taste reminds him of more innocent days...? I like when people's vices aren't the ones we expect, and its such a useful way to make the character more realistic.

citymouse · Aug 1, 2008

I give all my characters choices, just as we all face in our lives. Some make bad choices for perceived good reasons. Others make good choices for bad reasons. Each then must deal with the consequences that derive from those choices. As Rudyard Kipling so correctly observed, "The sins we commit two by two we pay for one by one."
C

kuwisdelu · Aug 1, 2008

mab said:
I think a lot of Kuwisdelu's examples seem to come from a desire to escape but also to create a new reality on what we wish were true. In particular the hookah and the English pipe seem quite affected (rather than normal cigs from any cornershop) that it seems the person is escaping into a fantasy of who they wished they were.Which says a LOT about the character. Never considered this in the past, will think on it when writing.

Hmm. For me it can go two ways. For some people it could certainly indicate escapism, or a desire to appear more "unique" or quirky," or think of themselves are more interesting than they really are. For others, I see it as a mark of sophistication, a more cultured indulgence, a different quality of time. Similarly, hand-rolling to me suggests a preference for taking one's time, a more discerning taste, a desire to do things oneself, carefully and methodically, and independence.

WriteKnight · Aug 1, 2008

Yuhoo? Yoohoo? I forget the right spelling. Almost typed Yahoo... which would be funny enough in itself.

Yes, the vices and hobbies ARE a convenient shorthand for character illumination. Like in a film, when a character is carrying a bag with a loaf of french bread sticking out of the top - okay, they've come from a grocery store - but also a bit of a cliche'. Our challenge is to make the choice not only interesting, and illuminating - but INTRIGUING. ]

He keeps a bottle of YOOHOO in the drawer??? WTF? I'm going to keep reading and find out why!

kuwisdelu · Aug 1, 2008

WriteKnight said:
The hard boiled detective with a bottle of scotch in the bottom drawer - cliche. The hard boiled detective with a bottle of Yuhoo.... quirky.

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about... I'm sure we all think about why characters indulge themselves, but do we always think about with what exactly, and what the particular choice says about the character.

maxmordon · Aug 1, 2008

I am almost convinced I can't write a single normal character

Mumut · Aug 1, 2008

My main characters on the side of the MC don't drink. Baddies do. It's YA fantasy and I don't harp on it. It is there quietly in the story.

citymouse · Aug 1, 2008

It all depends on your metric for determining "normal"

To answer your question, yes! If not, what would we write about?

C

smoothseas · Aug 1, 2008

What do our sins say about us, you ask?

To quote one of my favorite writer's,

"we are who we pretend to be...."

ideagirl · Aug 1, 2008

kuwisdelu said:
My girlfriend (who's also a writer) said something very interesting the other day. We were talking about what kind of alcohol our main characters drink. And we started talking about how what someone drinks says something about that person. She told me how she chooses her character's drink(s) of choice very carefully, to fit his or her personality exactly, because you can tell a lot about a person by what he or she drinks. Does he guzzle down beer? Is he a gin person? Whiskey? Does he enjoy a nice scotch or cognac? Fine wine? How old? What label?

I think the way you describe it in your last paragraph--the "pleasures" of our characters--is what you're really talking about here: not their sins, but quite simply, their tastes. What do they like? What do they hate? What do they eat, wear, drink, read, etc. etc. etc. All these things tell us a lot about them.

ideagirl · Aug 1, 2008

kuwisdelu said:
Similarly, hand-rolling to me suggests a preference for taking one's time, a more discerning taste, a desire to do things oneself, carefully and methodically, and independence.

It can also, oddly enough, indicate an interest in health and "naturalness." I have known people who hand-roll with certain kinds of allegedly cleaner or more natural tobacco (e.g. American Spirit) because they feel that regular cigarettes are full of chemicals and additives--not just in the tobacco itself but in the paper and the filter. And there's also the possibility that the person is expressing a rejection of modern commercial/industrial culture--a "back to the land" approach. For such a person, hand-rolling or pipe smoking (or, of course, not smoking at all) fits far better than buying Marlboros at the local gas station.

willietheshakes · Aug 1, 2008

It's all part of the texture of the character.

The main character in my new book has a litany of sins, all revealing in some way. He drinks vodka that he keeps in the freezer, straight up. He "usually" has one cigarette a day, a reward for a day well-lived, but as the novel goes on, he smokes more and more, and has to re-stock the freezer more and more often. He goes to strip-clubs with a childhood friend, but when a stripper makes eye contact he looks down at the floor...

To my way of thinking, characters are just people -- if you can imagine them fully enough, you know what they drink, if they smoke, whether they screw with the lights on or off. And you're right, those sorts of details can serve as both a sort of shorthand, and as a way of exploring character more deeply.

Mr Flibble · Aug 1, 2008

Similarly, hand-rolling to me suggests a preference for taking one's time, a more discerning taste, a desire to do things oneself, carefully and methodically, and independence.

As a hand roller I think it says I'm a) addicted and b) can't afford tailor-mades. Of course I've been hand rolling so long now, that tailor-mades make me ill.

Plus when I say 'I'm just gonna roll a fag' it makes you yanks come over all peculiar.

The reasons for our pleasure are not always all deep or anything. They can be very straightforward.

I drink cider because...I like the taste? I don't drink whiskey because throwing up on the barman tends to offend?

I'd be wary of defining my character by what they drink. Still, an interesting excercise, and adds texture to a character.

kuwisdelu · Aug 1, 2008

IdiotsRUs said:
As a hand roller I think it says I'm a) addicted and b) can't afford tailor-mades. Of course I've been hand rolling so long now, that tailor-mades make me ill.

Certainly our reasoning isn't always so deep. There's no particular reason I prefer scotch to cognac other than I prefer the smoky taste to the more syrupy one. But I never drink beer, which may say something about me, I think.

As a hand roller, myself, I was describing me.

The price is just a bonus.

vixey · Aug 1, 2008

WriteKnight said:
He keeps a bottle of YOOHOO in the drawer??? WTF? I'm going to keep reading and find out why!

Your comment sparked a new thought in page turning for me. I understand that part of engaging our readers' interest is to generate suspense, angst, conflict, blah, blah - but the simple notion of attaching a character to an incongruent prop or behavior (vice, sin, fru-fru or otherwise) fascinates me as something that makes someone want to read on. I agree! I absolutely want to know why this hard-boiled detective drinks Yoohoo! Does he have a bra on underneath his kevlar vest, too?

NeuroFizz · Aug 1, 2008

ideagirl said:
It can also, oddly enough, indicate an interest in health and "naturalness." I have known people who hand-roll with certain kinds of allegedly cleaner or more natural tobacco (e.g. American Spirit) because they feel that regular cigarettes are full of chemicals and additives

Irony of the Week Award.

Back to the original post...

The danger of relying too heavily on "sins" like this is it can become cliche very quickly. I do love the unexpected and the quirky, though (like the Yoohoo). I wonder what brand of cigar Bill Clinton prefers.

The best way to build characterization is to have your characters do stuff. The little sins, if too heavily done, are too much like props (to me). Have the characters do some serious sinning...

I'm reading a story by a long-time bestselling author right now, and he had a character pour a brandy after a harrowing experience, and he named the brand of brandy. He mentioned the snifter twice more in the next page and a half, and used the brand name each time. By the third time, I was thinking she'd better puke or do something else special with that name-brand snifter, which she didn't. Also, this was well into the story, after the character was well developed due to her actions thus far in the story, so that brandy thing really did nothing for her characterization. It could have been a Yoohoo and it wouldn't have made one bit of difference in how I perceived the character. I guess my nudge here is it all depends on where in the story the "sin" is used, and most important, even when in a good place, it shouldn't be overdone.

tehuti88 · Aug 1, 2008

My characters usually engage in particular behaviors for particular reasons--I don't see the point, usually, in including a very specific detail unless it has some bearing on that character's personality or mindset--but it's not something I tend to do in an obvious, "I want this to illustrate what kind of person he is" way. It's just part of the larger whole of trying to create a convincing character and having his actions speak louder than words.

So...I do try to make all the little details like those you mentioned (both "sins" and not sins) illustrate the character and who he is, but I don't really do it "consciously," it just happens.

The actions should definitely speak about the character, but in a way that seems natural, not "loud" or obvious. More like in a way the reader doesn't even notice until they stop to think about it and realize how much they know about this character based on what he's done, and they weren't even aware of this knowledge until now!

Quossum · Aug 1, 2008

Great question! I do try to use details like that to indicate "something" about that character. Of course, in real life there are a multitude of decisions we make for non-character-defining reasons, but hey, this is fiction. Like the gun on the mantlepiece, if I make a point of mentioning a character's predilection for Manhattans, there should probably be some reason doing so.

--Q

What do our sins say about us?

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