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Every Monday through the end of April 2018, MYSTERY OF CHARACTER FEATURING SHANNON MUIR focuses on the art and craft of writing, from Shannon’s perspective or that of guest authors. To catch up on all posts, check out the MYSTERY OF CHARACTER FEATURING SHANNON MUIR portion of the website! Please note that the column will move to second and fourth Tuesdays beginning May 2018.
This week features Shannon’s thoughts on how appearance doesn’t say everything about a character.
A character’s description can help set the tone for first impressions about him or her. In turn, this can set a story’s tone and expectations. However, the initial idea people get of a character may not be accurate.
There’s also the saying of faking it until one makes it. If a character pretends to be who he or she is not, and the reader doesn’t have any frame of reference as to how the character should be, it could skew a reader’s view of the story world. For this reason, unreliable narrators should be used eith a great deal of restraint.
Until next time!