Building Your Character

Greetings from the Hermit WRiter.

When we first start writing we are locked into a mindset that the story has to be told, that the elements come together from describing.

I think I had to move to my tenth or eleventh novel before it started to sink in. Telling jumps off the page at me now.

Browne and King in Self-Editing For Fiction Writers categorize four methods of building character.

• From another character’s statements
• From dialog
• From beats (physical action)
• From character’s viewpoint