Character sketches in your novel: Yea or nay?

Info dumps aren't really in-vogue anymore. People want their books to be cinematic, and thus, paragraphs devoted to telling, rather than showing, tend to flop.

You can make ANYTHING work. You just can't make everyone like it.

My advice would be to avoid how-to-write books and just go with what looks right on paper and sounds good outloud.

Unless these "character sketches" function as a part of the story, to move the story along, I hate 'em. I like stuff to be an organic part of the story, not some aside, added on.

caw.

I like to give enough of a sketch to plant the seed, and prompt the imagination of the readers mind and let them sketch. TMI is boring in many cases and you must be an expert to get away with detailed character sketch, IMHO. Otherwise your readers tend to skim to the good stuff. I don't want my readers to skim.

I did it in the rough draft of my last novel, but dumped it on rewrite. I could tell that it was telling and not showing. I didn't do it at all in my WIP.

For me, I like to know what the character likes, what s/he looks like, their favorite things, ect. If the writer can't get that across in the context of the story (by showing), I would rather them do it with a character sketch than nothing at all.

Bartholomew said:

You can make ANYTHING work. You just can't make everyone like it.

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How very true.

I always have it in the first draft, but edit most of it out in subsequent rewrites.

Prawn said:

I started a thread about favorite how-to books and several people reccomended Self-Editing for Writers. I picked it up and am reading it. Ch 2 begins with the idea that a novel should not have character sketches. I remember someone complaining on these boards about authors like Tom Clancy who always introduce characters with a paragraph about them.

I personally like character sketches and so far have included them in my WIP. Have I committed a cardinal sin?

Do you use them in your writing?

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I guess it depends on what you mean by "character sketch." I don't think Clancy does any more than is absolutely necessary for the type of books he writes.

By and large, I don't like them. If the information is esential to the story, put it in, but it almost never is.

Are you referring to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and David King? If so, believe what it says! It is the best book about writing I've read.

I wouldn't call it a black-or-white rule. Certainly, it is okay to stop and describe the character when they are introduced from time to time, but you shouldn't do it every time you introduce a character else your writing might come off as stale.

I remember someone complaining on these boards about authors like Tom Clancy who always introduce characters with a paragraph about them.

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My co-writer reports very much liking what Tom Clancy did. I haven't read Tom Clancy, but I think having character sketchs for minor characters would be misleading to the reader. It would make the reader think the character is more important than he really is, on in the case of a Clive Cussler book (Black Rain) advertise that the particular character is about to become cannon fodder.

I personally don't use them in my writing. We do have descriptions of the characters, but background information about them is provided as part of what happens in the story itself. It isn't a sin, but be aware of the two issues I mentioned above.

I don't mind reading them, but I personally don't write them into a novel. I get an idea what my character might be like and do a short bio for myself, but I don't put anything in the book because my characters tend to take on lives of their own and do things/react to things in ways that I never intended sometimes. I would be forever going back and changing the sketch, if not taking it out altogether.

Unless it's a major life event that is necessary to know before hand, it's most likely going to come out as you tell the story in the MC's actions, his/her thoughts, the way he/she handle the situations you put before them.

It sounds like we're talking about info dump. I had no idea that had a PC term like character sketch. Kind of like tie-in novels for official fan fiction.

I don't mind a short description, but if it's long, there had better be something very distinctive about the person that catches the narrator's eye. If all the guy's wearing is jeans, a white t-shirt and no shoes, it would be a little silly to overdescribe that. However if he's just put on full battle regalia, I think it's justified.

I think of them as potted histories. I recently put down a book that introduced every character with a paragraph-long potted history--not just a description but the character's past and motivations too. It was completely amateurish. I couldn't get past chapter one, and I wonder how an agent/editor managed to get past it too.

I find giving a quick visual impression is a good way to keep the character memorable- Clancy sort of goes overboard, but it's nice to have a few details beyond the name and the dialogue.

But I never really thought about it before. Hm. Maybe I should be more careful with this in the future...

Clancy

Marlowe said:

I find giving a quick visual impression is a good way to keep the character memorable- Clancy sort of goes overboard, but it's nice to have a few details beyond the name and the dialogue.

But I never really thought about it before. Hm. Maybe I should be more careful with this in the future...

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Considerign the kind of novels he writes, I think Clancy is a bit underboard a good part of the time.

Okay. I just read a couple of his books, and when he was getting into the educational backgrounds of minor characters, it seemed a bit much.

There is something to writing character sketches that no one sees, as in the blueprints of those characters. Deep and interesting characters are a key part of any novel, and whatever method lets you know your characters on the most fundamental level, do it! Find what will help you establish all those interesting stories, unique characteristics, and stunning secrets. But remember, characters should speak for themselves, you don't need to hold the hand of the reader so that they're guided to your perception of the character.

In the end, the story and the characters must speak for themselves. If the reader gets lost in the story, rather in the fact that someone wrote it, you've given essence and life to the story. But that by: Your Name speaks for itself, too.

clancy

Marlowe said:

Okay. I just read a couple of his books, and when he was getting into the educational backgrounds of minor characters, it seemed a bit much.

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I think it probably is a bit much for those not used to reading in his genre. I wouldn't do it the way Clancy does in any other sort of novel I can think of, but in the kind of techno-thriller he writes, I find his character backgrounds are important in making me believe they can really do what he says they can.

I wouldn't like a character sketch, and I wouldn't write one. As everybody else has said, it's too much like telling-not-showing; also an information dump.
Also, it seems to me that, just like in real life, the reader will only gradually get to know the character. You don't know everything about somebody the instant you meet them, do you? Let the relationship between the character and the reader evolve.
A character sketch can be a good idea for yourself, if you find it useful, as long as you're not too committed to it. As Serenity said, the characters tend to evolve anyway. It's a recurring theme among writers that the characters often surprise us with what they say and do.

Tracy said:

I wouldn't like a character sketch, and I wouldn't write one. As everybody else has said, it's too much like telling-not-showing; also an information dump.
Also, it seems to me that, just like in real life, the reader will only gradually get to know the character. You don't know everything about somebody the instant you meet them, do you? Let the relationship between the character and the reader evolve.
A character sketch can be a good idea for yourself, if you find it useful, as long as you're not too committed to it. As Serenity said, the characters tend to evolve anyway. It's a recurring theme among writers that the characters often surprise us with what they say and do.

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I tend to agree, but there isn't room enough to show everything about a character's past. There's nothing at all wrong with giving the reader information about a character's past. In fact, I don't see any way of avoiding it. Doing so isn't an info dump unless it goes on and on.

Showing everything is never a good idea. Tell is also important, and there are times when tell is much better than show.

The thing is, all character's have a past, and unless some part of that past is given to readers, the chracter will seem to be born the day the story begins.

I suspect "character sketch" is a terrible phrase for this. This isn't what you're trying to do. The idea is to simply give enough information about the character's past to make that character a real person.

It's how well this is done that makes the difference. But you can't have realistic characters with no past life, and you can't, and shouldn't, show everything.

I would never shove a character sketch into a piece. I slowly introduce my character's so that they become well drawn within the first few pages of their introduction. I don't like seeing a chunk dropped in to explain all the details of a character. You do, however, have to get it done before you're halfway in though. Just be delicate with the way you release the details. No big awkward chunks that makes you forget the pace of the story.

I'm not sure I even know what a "character sketch" is. Is that describing what the character looks like? What's wrong with that? I like character descriptions. I like knowing if a person is a short brunette or a tall blonde.

Or are you talking about a situation where the author describes the character's background history, where he attended high school, what kind of college degree he has, and that he works in a small cramped office with milk crates for a desk? Personally, I've never seen that in anything I read. Or it hasn't left an impression on me.

To go a bit against the stream--if it's entertaining, I'll read anything. People rail against info dumps, for quite understandable reasons, but many of my favorite books are full of info dumps, character sketches, telling not showing, second person, and all the other horrors--but they're well written.

If you write very engagingly and well, you can do practically anything. Once you have established that you are a good and fun and entertaining writer, I will follow you through anything, just because you have convinced me that the ride will be worth it.

But, the key bit, is that you really do have to write REALLY engagingly and well, and most people--including a lot of published writers--don't. A book is like a road trip. There are people with whom I would take a road trip anywhere with, and the trip will meander and we'll get lost and it'll be fine because we'll be laughing too hard to read the map, and we'll stop at every scenic overlook and World's Largest Ball of Twine, and it will be a blast.

But there aren't many people like that, and most writers are probably better served to just get from Point A to Point B and not dither along the way. And many readers will much prefer that sort of trip. Not everybody wants to stop at the giant ball of twine. Some people insist on eating in the car and speeding past the scenic overlooks and will only stop at a rest stop when you threaten to ruin the upholstery.

So if you're a really fabulous writer, then go for it. If you're not, then be aware that your character sketch may drag you down.

Prawn said:

In the book I am talking about, the authors use it to talk about including a paragraph about a character's background and motivations, which they say should be worked into the dialogue.

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That sounds silly.

"Hey Bill, where you from again?"

"Oh, hi Jim. I hail from Bumflock, North Dakota, remember? I came here seeking fame and fortune as a pressman at a dry-cleaning establishment."

"Oh, yes, I recall that now. It was shortly after you finished your business degree in home interior decorating, right?"

"Yes Jim, you've got a mind like a steel trap. Must be from those years as a Navy Seal, huh?"