Egyptian British International School

English Department – Year 6

Important Narrative Writing Techniques

What is characterisation?

Characterisation in literature is the process authors use to develop characters and create images of the
characters for the audience. There are two different approaches to characterization, including direct
characterisation and indirect characterisation. With the direct approach, the author tells us what he or she
wants us to know about the character. With indirect characterization, the author shows us things about the
character to help us have an understanding of the character's personality and effect on other characters.

Why is it important?

Characterization is a crucial part of making a story compelling. In order to interest and move readers,
characters need to seem real. Authors achieve this by providing details that make characters individual and
particular. Good characterization gives readers a strong sense of characters' personalities and it makes
characters vivid, alive and believable.

An example of direct characterisation

"George was cunning and greedy.

An example of in direct characterisation

On the crowded subway, George slipped his hand into the man's coat pocket and withdrew the wallet,
undetected.

 Methods of Characterisation

1- Tell the reader directly what a character’s personality is like :

When an author describes a character explicitly to the reader, via a narrator or through another
character’s eyes, this is called direct characterization.

“Mrs. Freeman could never be brought to admit herself wrong on any point”

2- The second type is called indirect characterization because it is implicit (it shows rather than tells)
We understand the character through actions, responses ,behaviour, attitude and lines of dialogue
Example 1
 Wendy was angry when she came into class this morning . I mean, she was really really, REALLY
angry!! (This is "telling”)

 Wendy flung open the door to the classroom, stomped to her desk in the back of the room ,threw
her self into her seat, and slammed her books to the floor .
. "What's wrong ,Wendy? her friend asked.
"Shut up!" Wendy snarled. (This is "showing”)

" Showing" involves a description of what the character says and does that reveals the character's mood
and personality. It makes a character sketch come alive and allows the reader to come to know the person
through that person's words and actions.

Example 2

Mary is a character that you've already introduced, but now you want to introduce her father who she
just met and now lives with.

 Mary's father was rude, imposing and a bit over-the-top. He didn't know what he had Gotten
himself into taking in his teenage daughter as a result of her mother's death. (This is telling)

 Mary's stomach eased into knots when she saw his car approaching her school. Her mind was a
roller coaster trying to navigate all the possible ways to tell her dad she'd gotten suspended after
only her second day at her new school. "This should be fun," she mumbled.

Although Mary had just met her father the day of her mother's funeral, she could already detect
something vile in him that made her cringe. When he slammed the brakes, the car stopped
.precisely so that the door was right in front of her. Mary grabbed the handle. The lion awakened

Hurry up! What the hell is taking you so long to get in! Why are you moving like a snail," he "
roared. Before she could close the door, her father sped off. "What the hell have I gotten myself
into taking in a teenage girl," he whispered just loud enough for Mary to hear. Louder, to Mary, he
bellowed. "Your mother always did want the last word. I guess she got it and the joke's on me!"
His hearty laugh was chilling. ( This is showing)

.This example says the same thing about her father as the "Telling" example

To sum up

Try introducing your character through an action. Describing an action can be more telling of a character’s
.personality than trying to describe who your new character is to the reader
 3- Physical appearance can also tell a lot about characters

Characters might be described as tall, thin, fat, pretty, etc. We might be told the color of hair or something
about the clothing of the character. How the character dresses might reveal something about the character.
Does the character wear old, dirty clothing, or stylish, expensive clothing?

Example
Read the following paragraph and see how Great-Aunt Dymphna 's appearance is described and
what effect it creates on the reader

The first impression of Great-Aunt Dymphna was that she was more like an enormous bird than a great -
aunt. This was partly because she wore a black cape, which seemed to flap behind her when she moved.
Then her nose stuck out of her thin wrinkled old face just like a very hooked beak. On her head she wore
a man's tweed hat beneath which straggled wispy white hair. She wore under the cape a shapeless long
black dress . On her feet, despite of it being a fine warm evening, were rubber boots.

4- Use dialogue to allow a character's words to reveal something important about his or her nature:
What the character says provides a great deal of insight for the reader. The character might speak in a
shy, quiet manner or in a nervous manner. The character might speak intelligently or in a rude manner .

Example

Unable to contain herself , Mrs. Bennet began scolding one of her daughter," Don’t keep coughing so ,
Kitty , for heaven’s sake! Have a little compassion on my nerves. You tear them to pieces.”

5- Reactions(Effect on others or what the other characters say and feel about this character.)

We learn about the relationships among the characters. How does the character make the other characters
feel? Do they feel scared, happy, or confused? This helps the reader have a better understanding of all the
characters.

Read the following paragraph and see the feelings and the thoughts of the children when they
met Great-Aunt Dymphna for the first time.

The children gazed at their great-aunt, so startled by her appearance that the polite greetings they would
have made vanished from their minds. Naomi was so scared that, though tears went on rolling down her
cheeks, she didn't make any more noise.

6- Inner thoughts
Showing readers your characters’ thoughts gives useful insights into their personalities, What the
character thinks reveals things about the character.
Example
‘For they might be parted for hundreds of years, she and Peter; she never wrote a letter and his were
dry sticks; but suddenly it would come over her, if he were with me now what would he say? – Some
days, some sights bringing him back to her calmly.