Post #219 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Matilda Butler
Five Essential Tips for Developing Characters in Your Memoir
Full disclosure: my characters, whether in fiction or non-fiction, tend to arrive alive and well, or DOA, and I have not had much luck in resuscitating the DOA ones.
At least that’s what I’ve always believed. However, through writing my memoir and closely studying other memoirs (and novels) I’ve learned there are specific strategies a writer can employ to bring a character to life (and even memoir characters are “characters” in the sense that you recreate them for your story). Looking back, I think that without realizing it, I had stumbled upon these strategies when I succeeded in breathing life into a character.
Following are five tips for making your characters come to life, followed by three writing exercises to help you put the tips into practice.
Tip #1 The thumbnail sketch
By using one or two striking details to describe your character – clothing, gestures, idiosyncrasies – you can bring her vividly alive in the reader’s mind.
In A.L. Rowse’s memoir, A Cornishman at Oxford, he paints a portrait of his fellow undergraduates with a few deft strokes, such as in the following passage:
“… a year senior, Robin Burn, became a good friend. Full, even in those days, of fascinating and original ideas about early Greek history, he was also a devoted mountaineer and…was for ever climbing about the roofs of colleges.”
Simply stating that someone likes mountain climbing doesn’t elicit a particularly striking or unique image. But adding that he is “forever climbing about the roofs of colleges” creates the impression of an eccentric and engaging young man who stands out on the page.
From the Memoir "The Night Climbers of Cambridge" by Whipplesnaith
Tip #2 Rounding out your character
It’s fine to demand that we round out our characters, but how, exactly, are we supposed to accomplish this?
Most characters – even evil ones – usually have a contrasting hidden or less visible side (I believe that purely evil people exist, but that’s a subject for another essay). You can round out an unsympathetic character by revealing a universal dimension to his or her personality, something that everyone can relate to. The same goes for a sympathetic character. By presenting a darker or even a dippy aspect of your character, you make her more real. People are complex creatures, and your major characters should reflect the internal conflicts and contradictions that make us human.
Tip #3 Exaggerate one aspect of your character
Even in a memoir, it’s okay to highlight one trait in a character while diminishing others. After all, in life each of us sees an individual differently, according to our own personalities and perceptions. Adept storytellers intuitively cut out what is extraneous to a story while emphasizing or exaggerating what makes the tale funny, or sad, or memorable in some way. It’s the same with characters; highlight aspects of the character that serve your narrative.
Tip #4 Juxtapose contrasting personality traits
My stepmother, Pauline, was a gifted pianist, scientist, and gardener. But she was also wacky; juxtaposing her competence and iron-like discipline with her particular brand of wackiness made her more human, and my story more entertaining.
The next and last tip relates to you as the character.
Tip #5 Show your reaction at the time
Let yourself be in the moment you are writing about. I call it “long ago in the here and now.”
Following is an example from my forthcoming memoir. In this excerpt I am a young newly-wed, desperately trying to escape our apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I have just come across an ad for a country cottage for rent ninety miles north of New York City, but the ad is a month old and I’m sure it’s too late:
New York was overflowing with couples trying to escape their rat-and-roach-infested apartments on the Lower East Side and move to a country cottage, I imagined. This one must have been snapped up immediately. But I called anyway. Miraculously, the cottage was still available. There was only one snag.
“Lots of people have called, but their energy wasn’t right,” the owner told me on the phone. “I could tell just by talking to them.”
“How’s our energy?” I asked anxiously.
“I’ll have to meditate on it.”
I hurried off to Martine’s tall handsome cousin, Jim.
“Jim, you have to do voodoo to fix our energy.”
Jim scowled. “Voodoo is serious stuff. It’s nothing to mess with.”
“Please? We have to get this country cottage!”
I don’t know what dark rituals Jim performed, but later that night the owner called back to tell us the country cottage was ours.
In writing that section, I had to be who I was; a gullible young woman who will do anything to escape the city. Of course, sometimes in memoirs we do reflect with our older, current (extremely wise of course) selves, but most of the time we have to be just who we were. For your memoir, that’s exactly who you want to be.
Following are three writing exercises to further help you with character development:
Writing exercise #1: The thumbnail sketch
Chose a character and describe him (or her) in two colorful sentences. Make one sentence something visible, such as hair style or a way of dressing. The other sentence might be something physical – a gesture, tick, or mannerism. Combine these two sentences for a thumbnail sketch.
Writing exercise #2: Rounding out your characters
If you have an unsympathetic character in your story (and most of us do) make a list of her (or his) more appealing personality traits. You might describe a mean-spirited person who possesses a rich sense of humor, for instance, or a self-centered person with a surprising generous streak.
Writing exercise #3 Be in the “now” of the past
Close your eyes and mentally return to an episode in your memoir. Take your time setting the scene. Think of it as building and painting a stage set; try to recreate all the visual and sensory details as accurately as you can. Once you have the setting firmly in mind, visualize the scene unfolding around you. Feel, smell, see and hear what you did then. Notice who you are in the past, reinhabit your former self. If the scene involves another person or a conversation, have that conversation. Glance around you as you imagine it, just as you did then. Notice all the details (you may chose not write about all these, but being aware of them will enrich your recreation.)
We would love to hear your thoughts about developing character in memoir, so please leave us a comment. And look for our post next month on how to be more you on the page! Remember, you are a very important character in your memoir!
[Matilda’s Note: If you would like feedback or suggestions for developing the characters in your memoir, Pamela Jane is available. You can even begin with just your first 10 pages to see if you have your hook and your characters already etched in the mind of the reader. You don’t have to wait until you have finished your memoir to take advantage of Pamela’s expertise. Click here for more information.]
Pamela Jane is the author of over twenty-five children’s books. Her new Christmas book, Little Elfie One (HarperCollins, illustrated by NY Times best-selling illustrator, Jane Manning) has just been released.
Here’s a recent review:
In recent years, many picture books have used the structure, rhythm, and cadence of the old counting rhyme beginning “Over in the meadow,” but few writers have come up with a version that works as well as this cheerful text, or one that ties up so well in the end. Capturing the upbeat tone of Jane’s verse, Manning’s lovely watercolor illustrations are brimming with warmth, spontaneity, and joy. A magical visit to Santa’s home base on Christmas Eve.”—Booklist
Pamela Jane‘s book for adults with co-author Deborah Guyol, Pride and Prejudice and Kitties: A Cat-Lover’s Romp Through Jane Austen Classic, was featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and BBC America.
Her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer’s Story will be out in February 2016. She has also published essays and short stories in “The Antigonish Review,” “The Philadelphia Inquirer,” and “Literary Mama.”
[UPDATE: Pamela Jane’s memoir is now available for pre-release purchase. Be among the first to get your copy. Just click on this link.]
{ 0 comments }
