I haven't gotten a lot of writing done because at the beginning of the week I felt as though I had burned out. So instead I have been brainstorming plot lines and character arcs while I take a short break. But before my pause, I did edit chapter three and four.
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After you have created your character and you know exactly what their personality is, where they are from, what arc they will have, it is time to write them into your story. You want to be able to share with the reader everything there is to know about them, but most of the time you will only ever show a small portion of everything that you have created. So while you might know that Stacey prefers jam on her toast instead of butter, the reader will never know that. Perhaps that knowledge was useful to you while creating her, but it will bore the readers. While such a small detail doesn't seem like much, they eventually add up to page filler.
Most of the characterization for secondary characters that I do can be found in the dialogue. The main character's should be present in the narrative, the description, everything. When the protagonist is describing a forest they will see a majestic show of nature if they appreciate it, or a dirty place infested with rodents if they don't like it. Emotions can also be shown this way. Perhaps one day the main character is in a bad mood so when they describe things everything is drab and grey due to their unhappiness.
Secondary characters are always easier because you don't have to think about them as often. While you always have to be on your game for the main character because you are seeing the world tinted through their eyes, a secondary character is only being perceived. You can have your protagonist thinking about how prudishly the other person is staring, or how forward it is for them to put their feet up on the couch. Even the description of other people should be biased in terms of the main character. If the protagonist doesn't like blonds because their ex-girlfriend was a blond, that might influence their thoughts.
But dialogue is the only place where the protagonist's bias does not have any influence. Dialogue is where you can drop all the hints you want about how people truly feel about a situation. If they talk a lot about a certain topic, there is a reason. It could worry them. It could intrigue them. It could puzzle them. They might have a favourite phrase that they repeat over and over again.
The main character might view them as evil but it is in the dialogue that you reveal that they are actually a nice person. The protagonist only perceived them to be mean because they never took the time to get to know them. Or else you show that a person isn't actually nice and supportive because of the dismissive way they speak. So while the protagonist doesn't notice, the reader does.
As you can tell I prefer indirect characterization where the reader is left to surmise the personality of a character. That is why consistency is so important. There is nothing worse then thinking that you know something about a character that is proven false one chapter later simply because a writer wasn't careful. If a protagonist is going to be impatient with one person but not with another, there has to be a reason behind it. Maybe they have all the patience in the world for their mother because they respect her over everyone else. Or they are impatient when they are hungry. There needs to be a reason.
I don't like direct characterization which is why I am bad with physical description or simply telling the reader something. My style of writing is third person point of view, but it is basically first person because of how closely linked the narrative is with my protagonist. Therefore there is never a subtle way of saying that the main character, Saehan, is a busybody without making it sound awkward and forced.
However with this perspective I can talk about how Saehan views other people which does end up being biased through her critical mind. But that way I can introduce a new character and add to Saehan's personality all at the same time which is fun.
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