{"id":111,"date":"2014-06-10T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2014\/06\/10\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing_10\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:22:16","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:22:16","slug":"tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing_10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing_10\/","title":{"rendered":"Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self-Editing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nThe word characterization <\/i>is tossed around quite a bit in a writer\u2019s world,
\nbut what does it really mean?<\/p>\n

Characterization is what makes a
\ncharacter who he is. An author draws upon several aspects to develop a
\ncharacter:<\/p><\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nFamily background: A kid raised in the slums of
\nNew York is definitely going to behave differently than a kid who grew up on a
\nfarm in Oklahoma.<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nEducation: Someone with a fifth grade education
\nisn\u2019t going to see the world through the same eyes as someone schooled at Harvard. I\u2019m not saying that the person with the fifth-grade education isn\u2019t
\nsmarter than the Harvard grad because often times, common sense shows a higher
\nintelligence than \u201cbook learning.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nMoral values: We’re not talking exclusively Christian values, although the ones who know Christ should have a pretty high moral standard. Overall, though, moral values can be good or bad. They are derived through childhood or through rebellion. They are what makes a person appear good or evil. They are also what provides depth to character–even when a character doesn’t practice what he knows is right<\/div>\n
\n.\u2022      
\nBack story: Yes, back story is always important
\nto characterization. However, not all back story is relevant to the story at
\nhand except that it builds character. Only what is relevant to the story should
\nbe brought in, the rest should be a tool for development of character.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nConflict: How a person deals with conflict shows
\nthe reader that character\u2019s strengths and weaknesses.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nRepetitive actions, speech attributes, and
\nmannerisms are a great way to develops a character.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nTherefore, it only goes to prove that three
\ndimensional characters are created when:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nThey are given a unique pattern of behavior
\nbrought on by their background, education, and values.<\/div>\n
\n\u2022      
\nThey are placed in situations that are not
\ncomfortable for them and then react in ways they normally would not behave.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nA few modern-day characters exhibit a depth of characterization. Let\u2019s dissect one of the most popular
\ntelevision characters for today\u2019s audiences: 
\nDr. Sheldon Cooper from The Big
\nBang Theory.<\/i><\/div>\n
    \n
  • Family background: Sheldon\u2019s father was an alcoholic;
    \n his mother is portrayed loosely as a Christian. Sheldon has a twin sister,
    \n who does not have his high intellect, but both his mother and his sister
    \n exhibit far more common sense than does Sheldon.<\/li>\n
  • Education: Sheldon is a highly educated genius, but he
    \n lacks social skills.<\/li>\n
  • Moral Values: Like it or not, Sheldon does exhibit the
    \n moral values instilled upon him by both his mother and his beloved
    \n \u201cMemaw,\u201d yet his scientific exploration has him doubting the God his
    \n mother worships.<\/li>\n
  • Back story: Sheldon was a childhood genius who was
    \n often picked upon. His genius propelled him through school and is most
    \n likely the reason for his social ineptness.<\/li>\n
  • Conflict: Sheldon is a very me-centered individual.
    \n He\u2019s also OCD, and he behaves in very funny ways when his comfort zone is
    \n invaded. He also, on occasion, shows compassion and a child-like persona,
    \n which adds depth.<\/li>\n
  • Repetitive actions: Sheldon has created words such as
    \n \u201cBazinga,\u201d and he has made the saying, \u201cI\u2019m not crazy. My mother had me
    \n tested,\u201d very popular. His OCD has him always knocking on Penny’s door
    \n three times while calling out her name. Sheldon also insists that no one
    \n sit in his spot, and when someone brings him food, he has a lists of
    \n questions to ask about it. These all draw the audience to his unique
    \n character.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n<\/div>\n
    \nCharacterization is important to a novel. It is the fleshing out of our
    \nnovel\u2019s cast members. When self-editing, an author should review his manuscript
    \nwith an eye toward characters who live in an ordinary world yet who make that
    \nworld extraordinary by the things they see, the conflict they face, and the way
    \nthey see the world around them.<\/div>\n
    \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The word characterization is tossed around quite a bit in a writer\u2019s world, but what does it really mean? Characterization is what makes a character who he is. An author draws upon several aspects to develop a character: \u2022       Family background: A kid raised in the slums of New York is definitely going to behave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[79,80,81,82,67,21,70],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-back-story","tag-characterization","tag-characters","tag-conflict","tag-editing","tag-editing-advice","tag-self-editing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}