It shouldn’t come as a surprise that characters should be interesting. But what makes them interesting? If you caught my recent article about unpredictable dialogue, you know that one of the best ways to engage readers is to keep them guessing. That’s not just a plot issue, with unforeseen twists. It’s also a character one. As I demonstrated in the article referenced above, one way to show our characters’ individuality is through unpredictable dialogue. Another is through unusual quirks and mannerisms. But what are these, and how do we decide what the main character’s quirks should be?
As some of you know, I’m working on finalizing my current novel for an October 2023 release date. It was finished (in my estimation) about a year ago. I worked with beta readers and it was my best work at the time. However, it’s been a year and though I haven’t been writing novels, I’ve been writing a lot of other things and my writing has improved dramatically. In addition, I changed my mind and decided to self-publish my work (more on that here, if you’re interested). Before sending the manuscript off to editors, I want to polish it one last time.
Part of that process has been a sharper look at my main character and her engagement in the story. I want her to stand out, to be the kind of character that readers remember, to be the sort of person that surprises and delights. That means that she can’t just go through the motions. She needs to have some quirks of her own – more than I’ve written to date. Thus, I’ve been working through this process myself.
But first, what am I defining as a quirk?
What Are Quirks?
Some people limit a quirk to what I would call a mannerism – a way of speech, a fidgeting tendency, a unique form of body language. I would include those, but I’m extending the term quirk to mean more than that.
To me, a quirk is something that encapsulates the unique ways in which a character responds (verbally), acts, moves, etc. It’s the sum total of her individuality. Within that, we could point out her body language when she’s defensive, or what she says (or doesn’t say) when someone confronts her.
It’s easy to fall back into the status quo: a character who’s confronted will either fight back verbally or physically, or will cower in some way. The problem with that is that too much of that and we lose the readers’ interest. It’s too predictable and there’s nothing more boring than predictability.
What about a character who laughs when confronted? Or who sets fires when he feels defensive?
That’s surprising. It grabs us. But choosing these haphazardly can be inconsistent with what we’re writing, so how do we decide what quirks our character(s) should have?
Deep Characterization
Whether our character laughs at funerals, or holds make believe concerts in cemeteries, or refuses to respond to authority figures in anything other than pig Latin stems from deep characterization: who they are. To put it more succinctly:
- What they believe
- What they value
Let’s work through a quick example, with a main character. We’ll call her Maddie. On the surface, Maddie looks like a smart, witty young adult. But Maddie comes from a long history of disappointment. Her father promised her the moon – and meant it – but then died in a car accident when Maddie was only twelve.
Her mother struggled as a single mother. She was a very competent woman, like Maddie, but she tended to overextend herself. Anything and everyone that asked her attention received it. But there was never enough of her to devote to so many others. Maddie soon learned that her Mom would never deliver most of what Maddie wanted and some of what she truly needed.
In addition, Maddie had several setbacks as a child. She desperately wanted to act in the school drama club, but was routinely overlooked. She wanted to go to prom junior or senior year, but wasn’t asked. Other girls might have gone with friends, or written it off as insignificant, but for Maddie it was a reflection of her identity.
On top of this, what Maddie wants most in life is to feel a sense of belonging. She wants to be part of something. A family, a drama club, a community, a relationship. She believes that this will define her.
When you put Maddie’s belief and value systems together, it’s easy to understand why she has internalized her circumstances as proof that something is wrong with her. That she’s not good enough and not worth loving.
But how will that show up?
Characterization in Action
There is more than one way Maddie could act as a result of who she is, what she believes and values, and what she has experienced. Start by brainstorming these. As you work through the possibilities, look for the more unique responses. They’ll often be later ones whereas the first things that come to mind will usually be more predictable.
Perhaps Maddie tries too hard. She talks too much, clings to those who accept her friendship, and, like her mother, overextends herself.
Maybe she does just the opposite. In order to protect herself from disappointment, after she establishes a new relationship or finds a community where she is accepted, she burns bridges, cutting off others. She’s overly critical of everyone and then walks away from each situation with the sense that they weren’t good enough for her – just the opposite of what she believed about the many disappointments she experienced early in life.
Or, if you’re writing something a bit darker, perhaps Maddie interjects herself into as many communities and relationships as possible. As she does, she manipulates the situation to make others dependent upon her. She might be the treasurer, the dominant girlfriend, the neighborhood social chair. But then she finds ways to undermine each of these, leaving others disappointed.
To take it a step further, as the story escalates, she devolves and begins to kill these people who depend on her. At a deeply subconscious level, she is trying to kill a part of herself – to put to death that sense of not being good enough and always being disappointed.
Mannerisms
In our example above, Maddie most likely walks quickly and decisively. She is quick to hug others or throw her arm around someone’s shoulder. However, people begin to suspect that she’s dishonest and inauthentic, but she doesn’t see it. She’s so desperate for the inclusion that she’ll later discard that she’s willing to do and say whatever necessary to be seen as part of the group.
She has a stiffness about her – a rigid posture that stems from her defensiveness. She eats fast, but not in volume as she’s so self-conscious that she merely wants to get it out of the way before anyone can scrutinize her.
She’s lightly sarcastic most of the time, which others don’t realize is something of a warning. This reaches the point of being caustic and abusive when she feels defensive…
Conclusion
We could go on ad nauseum and doing so to some extent is exactly how we can brainstorm and pinpoint how our characters act in surprising ways. The key is that these unique ways that our character talks, acts, walks, etc. should always stem from the character’s values and beliefs. If we brainstorm long enough, we should find the right projection of these – quirks that are truly unique and surprising and yet fit with the story we aim to tell.
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