Lesson 4: Character Development: SHOWING not TELLING
Once you have completed this lesson, you will know how to reveal your characters to your readers through narrative description, dialogue, introspection, and plot action. You will practice SHOWING not TELLING your reader about your character in the final exercise of this course. For tips on creating compelling characters, on SHOWING rather than TELLING, from six different published writers, read the first section of The Writer's Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters.
Using Narrative Description
There are many ways to let your reader get to know your character. The most obvious way would be to provide some narrative description. Keep in mind however, that this method should be used sparingly. Narrative description slows the progression of your story, and if used excessively, your readers may lose interest. When using narrative description, try to do it in combination with some action, no matter how small. An example of narrative description would be:
His dark hair fell forward into his handsome face. His puppy-dog eyes peeked from beneath the strands of chestnut. He leaned against the door, staring down the hall… waiting for the sound of her footsteps, like a four-footed best friend.
