Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Writing Tips- Ticks

Sorry about how short this post is, I do not have much time to write it.


Personality Ticks

People do not always act the same. We each have our own ticks. Body language can make your characters come to life in more ways than one may think because it often tells us something the character does not want us to know.


Personality:
In Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, the character Wolf is never able to sit still. He bounces his knee or drums his fingers. He is all in all an energetic (and nervous) person. To say that he was not moving at all would reveal either fear or peace in him depending on the circumstances.



Emotions
In my book, Bonded Souls, Lan has this way of showing her nervousness even when she doesn't want to. She will bite her lip or knot her skirt in her fist. Any time I want to show this emotion in her, I only have to describe one of these things and it becomes obvious.


Ticks can be helpful but also harmful. Remember to use them sparingly. Not every character in your novel should have one. Those that do should also not have theirs mentioned in every scene. It would become repetitive and contrived in the reader's mind.

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