Sometimes, it becomes neccasary to have a character in a scene without ever telling anyone that the character is there.  This happens a lot in mysteries, but I really love doing it in The Athele Series.  Often, a character who seems to just be pulled out of no where and has no real bearing on anything pops up again, turning out to be a fairly important person.  The reader thinks “Oh, well, we’ll never see them again” and, if they’re paying attention, will later go “well played, author.  Well played indeed.”

Except without the mauling and screaming. Usually.

There are several ways to do this kind of sneakiness, and I’m going to describe them for you.  I’ve used them at one time or another.  Some are obvious, some less so, but there are four basic ways of sneaking a character into a scene.  I will give you two today and two in the next post!

#1 Description

This may be the most obvious, but it’s also the most versatile and the most used.  The thing to remember with this one is consistency.  You have to consistently describe a character in the same basic way in order for a reader to recognize them and make the connection later.

Consider Homer, for instance.  If you’ve ever read a well-translated version of The Odyssey or The Iliad, you will notice that certain characters are always described in the same way.  Bright Eyed Athena.  Cunning Odysseus.  Those tags come up over and over again, such that when Athena comes to Odysseus’ son in disguise as a boy, as the readers, we know it’s her because the boy is described as ‘Bright Eyed’.

No, not that one.

You don’t have to do with with any special characteristic, and in fact tagging the feature too often can clog up your writing flow.  But with careful writing, it’s an effective way to achieve the sneakiness.

#2 Speaking

Everyone knows that depending on where your from and who you’ve met, you have different speech patterns and accents.  It’s difficult to get across in text though, and can also horribly disrupt the dialogue.  As an author, you have to strike that balance between ‘character quirk’ and ‘trying too damn hard’.

I choose one or two words which are either altered or repeated enough to be recognized.  One character mutters “Aieya” when dismayed, confused, or surprised.  One of Michael’s characters calls his daughter ‘baby doll’, which gives him away to the reader in a variety of circumstances, while preserving secrecy to just about everyone else.  Again, you have to be certain to establish the pattern before you can expect the reader to pick up on the cue.  But it’s a great way to tag a character as well as have some fun with dialogue.

Yes. Just like this. But please don't let the comparison put your off...

There’s the two for today!

Don’t forget, we’re having a giveaway!  All you have to do is tweet or reblog the contest post (it’s Here!) or like the facebook page (that’s here!  or to the left side of the screen!).  We’re giving away some pretty cool stuff, including Korean sweets and a hand written letter!

See you in the next post!