Write a character portrait.
Writing a character portrait is a subtle art and it's a fantastic opportunity to just write.
Last semester, during an Introduction to Writing unit for my Professional Writing major, I discovered a love and passion for developing character portraits. Because you really don't need a plot or a storyline. You just need to engage your keen observational senses and begin to write.
Writing character portraits will enhance your writing. They will develop good writing habits because they are easy and quick to do every day, and they will encourage further writing. In fact, I challenge you to sit down and do a character portrait and not be inspired. Try not to get too hung up on developing a story at this point, though, rather stay focused on writing the details, and creativity and inspiration will follow. The key is developing a character in such a way, that you are capturing more than just appearances. When an artist paints a portrait, they are painting more than just features; they are capturing a mood, a persona, they capture a moment. A writer should similarly capture such things. When you write your characters, you want your reader to engage with them and possibly even relate with them. You want the reader to imagine the character because your writing is showing and not just telling them. The key to doing this is engaging all of the senses. What the character is wearing, or how a character looks is very one dimensional. When you insert a feeling or emotion, a smell, a sound or an object, that is when the reader begins to experience the character for themselves. How a character looks is important, but even then we must complete our portrait in such a way that goes far beyond the obvious. This is why practicing to write character portraits is such a useful exercise.
Here are 3 ways to get you started:
The Observational Portrait
This one is simple and you can really do this anywhere and anytime. Get outdoors somewhere, observe and then write.
The Interview Portrait
This is perhaps a little less convenient, but still try to practice this at some stage. The key is to conduct an interview and note every detail. The way your interviewee greeted you, sat, spoke, breathed, etc. You'll see here how this builds a character and a scene. You'll see how the details start to form and in-turn those details are transforming your writing.
The Research Portrait
This is a fun and challenging exercise that requires you to research someone. Maybe they're famous for whatever reason, or they might be infamously well-known? It doesn't really matter who they are, what matters is the detail of your character portrait. You can study a piece of art, a writer, a sportsman or historian. Begin researching and create a detailed snapshot that captures your character through the research you created.
Tips:
Before you get started, I'd like to note that it is best to create character portraits with people you don't know. Why? When you write the people you know well, you are creating a subjective description of that person. When you describe a stranger, however, you can see them objectively. It's just how we are built as humans, we like to make sense of things and see the world in patterns. When we get to know people, we instinctively and subconsciously categorise them for memory. Have a go at creating a portrait of someone you know well, then create a portrait of a stranger and you'll see what I mean.
try to keep your portrait to 500 words.
now that you have your portrait, create a story- using any genre you like- with the character you created. To see how I have done this, read the character portrait below, and then read my personal essay here.
Be sure to maintain an ethical position in your representation of each character.
Here's a handy site to get you started. https://thewritepractice.com/character-portrait/
Here's one of my character portraits:
Smitten and Terrified
By Leah Skinner
A recent observation of a patient in the maternity ward prompted me to represent the inspirational moment when a woman becomes a mother.
Sitting in the parent’s lounge of the maternity ward is a much-needed break from the confines of the six compacted ‘rooms’ that seal you in by curtains and reflect an artificial purple glow. The parent's lounge isn’t much better for light, but the room is large and comfortable with lounges, and a sweet and spicy aroma wafts through the aisles- obviously coming from the staff kitchen as opposed to the hospital cart. Three people sit huddled in the far-right corner of the lounge as they chat candidly whilst waiting for visiting hours to commence at 3pm. A gentle shuffle echoes down the hall and then she appears- the one they’re waiting for. Her belly is still swollen from pregnancy, only she carries her baby on the outside now; her baby is tucked up in the nook of her elbow. She enters slowly, wearily greeting the visitors waiting patiently to meet her son. They gasp and gush and cry.
Pain is etched on her face with tight brows, jagged mouth, and a wrinkled nose as it can’t be more than 24hours ago that she’d given birth. She winces slightly, mouth ajar as a tiny yelp escapes her lips while she shifts all the weight on her right side; scrunching her hands into tight balls as if her fists can hold off the aching. Her chest dips in as she draws in a quick breath, and her shoulders stay tight up near her ears as she continues to fight the pain. Her husband stretches a hand out for her in support and everyone gestures for her to sit. She forces a half smile from her mouth, shakes her head and says, “I’m okay” (personal communication, March 28, 2018); but her body is screaming for sleep. By the look of the darkness under her eyes and the slump of her back, it’s been a while since rest. Her blinks are long and slow, and she peers off into nothingness often. She’s even dressed in PJ’s as if saying, BED. NOW. PLEASE. Her legs are weak and tired, barely carrying the weight of her body, but still, she shuffles slowly the same way that she came in: feet dragging along, barely moving forward in an effort to be closer to her baby and stay present with her visitors.
Bub whimpers- he’s with grandma now- and the new mum’s eyes grow wider. With every snivel and cry her tiny creation calls out to her and her alone. At least, that’s how she appears to receive it. She bends in to the cradling arms of grandma and tenderly places a kiss on the cheek of her baby. Her eyes become glassy and patches of red form around her cheeks and eyes. Her lips become pursed as she holds her breath in an effort to stop herself crying. A flicker of confidence and pride enters her. She stands a little taller now as if saying, that’s my son. But right about now she’s somewhere between smitten and terrified; she’s a mother now.
That's it from me.
Continue to Write, Read, Talk, and Live life. #writereadtalklive #writinglife #writerslife
Leah x