by Pat Bertram
Member since:
October 4, 2007

Internal Traits -- No Whine, Just Champagne Writing Discussion #177

February 08, 2012 09:46 PM UTC
views: 0 | 3 people recommend this | comments: 42

Characters are the heart of the story, and internal traits are the heart of a character. Such traits can be acquired or be inborn, can be invisible to other characters but visible to the reader or visible to both, can be overt or subtle.

Examples of internal traits:

Intelligent: sees the cause and effect of things that are hidden from others
Unintelligent: sees only what is directly in front of her eyes
Certain: has no room for doubt
Uncertain: tormented by doubts
Open-Minded: interested in what others have to say
Close-minded: inflexible
Imaginative: creative, perceives hidden truths
Unimaginative: cannot improvise
Curious: always searching for answers
Incurious: thinks "so what?" rather than "why?"

And on and on and on. There must be hundreds of possible internal traits to show what characters are like on the inside, to show how they feel, to motivate them.

What are your character's internal traits? Are the traits inborn or acquired? (For example, a person can be born timid or they can become fearful because of a trauma.) Is the character aware of the traits? Do other characters see the traits or just the reader?

As always, any topic that will help us improve our writing is fair game in these discussions, so feel free to bring up any of your writing concerns.

Let's talk.

The group No Whine, Just Champagne will meet here at this article for a live discussion about writing and the writing life on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 9:00pm ET (8pm CT, 7pm MT, 6pm PT). Hope to see you, but if you can't make it then, the discussion will continue during the days afterward, so please stop by and tell us what you think.

Comments: 42

L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:10pm UTC
OMG I'm the first to post! That has never happened!
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:13pm UTC
Hi, Lori!! So glad to see you. Actually, I'm twice glad -- it's always good to see you, and I was afraid I'd be here talking to myself tonight.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:17pm UTC
where is everybody? gather shutting them out? i had some trouble getting in myself.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:21pm UTC
I don't know where people are. Maybe writing. Maybe having trouble with Gather. Maybe doing something more exciting than internetting.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:12pm UTC
Most of my characters are curious, always searching for answers, though not nosy. The answers they search for are answers to the meaning of their own existence, and they are only interested in others as they pertain to this quest. Most seem unwordly, even naive, which would make them seem trusting, but in truth, they are distrustful, having doubts about what they find out, weighing the evidence, wary of others.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:15pm UTC
My characters are generally not respectful since their wary natures make them see beyond the facade to the truth of those in authority (for example) but they aren't disrespectful, either. They simply want to know the truth.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:19pm UTC
They seem to be cautious in the beginning, very self-protective, setting up routines, but as they story progresses, and they start digging for the truth about their past and their very nature, their more courageous sides take over, and they push forward resolutely.

I never realized it, but apparently my characters have several internal layers that become revealed as the story is revealed.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:29pm UTC
That can make things more interesting, having one create more problems for the other, even if unintentionally.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:33pm UTC
Exacerbating problems is the height of story telling. If a character always does what he sets out to do, there is no real suspense, because the reader knows that everything will work out. If things go wrong despite the character's best intentions, it escalates the tension.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:21pm UTC
My characters tend to be a variety.

In Men of Twelve, there is a woman who is just nasty to the core, a womanizer, a man who is self-absorbed in his grief over his lost wife (who the nasty woman murdered, by the way, so she could marry him for her own purposes that I don't even know yet). There are men with bravery and men with none. There is a girl who is too kind and considerate for her own good and a nasty little twisted and deformed creature who turns out to be good despite herself. And, of course, the old guy who keeps popping up in mention that is very elusive in why he is there until it is revealed.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:51pm UTC
I love the way you describe your characters. The next time I have a writing project, I think I'll define it by pithy descriptions of the characters to keep me on track. Mine generally aren't so colorful
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 10:00pm UTC
Thanks. I tend to think of them in more generic terms, instead of in a more narrow idea of who they are. On a plus, I find it leaves me more open to who they are beneath and who they can become. I could probably better describe it as a feel of who the character is that I usually can't put into words.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:23pm UTC
In last year's nano novel, there are the typical housewives who are nothing like those on Desperate Housewives, but are desperate enough for sabatoge when the constant grinding of construction trucks drives them to it, the wierd old geezer, the wierder old woman who tries to poison people for reasons only she knows, and various personalities and traits in the contruction people - and a mysterious person of unkown age who is witnessing much of it through their window.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:27pm UTC
In the wip I'm currently trying to finish, there's the bad guy who kidnaps and kills women who is trapped in his own tortured past, the cop who's fixated on the one victim who got away (for a while), the unlikely detective who knows more than he lets on, the odd reporter who is a coward yet puts himself into dangerous situations for more than the sake of just getting the story (he's really obessed with fixing the problem), the abused woman who becomes a victim only to steel the perp's heart, and the 1st victim who has to be stronger than she is. And, of course, the mystery guest who is a big part of the whole story, with is own tormented soul and dastardly deeds, but not revealed until later.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:36pm UTC
Lots of scope for such characters! And that, perhaps, is the key to good stories. Giving the characters plenty of space to create themselves in a variety of circumstances.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:40pm UTC
I also find that by having a big diversity in personalities and traits, it makes the setup and ideas for new obstacles and problematic situations pop up pretty much on their own. Every time I go back to review or edit, the story gets a little deeper as new ideas pop up. For me, they really evolve through writing and editing from a very basic idea to become more with every review, proofread, and edit as new twists pop up until the whole thing feels right. Surprisingly, I don't find myself doing a lot of re-writing. Only the odd scene that didn't feel right when I initially wrote it.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:37pm UTC
This year's nano novel is much less so far, but I was also sick with one virus after another all of November.

There's the twisted priest who brutally murders people and dessicrates graves and corpses in his extreme faith, the blind followers with their own flaws, the father who kidnaps his own daughter from his house with the priest in the honest belief he is doing what he must (apparently this priest is very convincing), the blood-letter who is more concerned with saving face than the victims -er- patients, the unfortunate man who is a very gentle soul that ends up fighting for the life of the man's daughter, the girl's fiance who forsakes her (and helped kidnap her, this priest is really convincing), and the young woman (the daughter) who was a free spirit of a girl and must become focused and find her true self if she is to survive. While I don't think I'll actually have any vampires, it is all centered around the old myths about vampires.
Mickey Hoffman Feb 9, 2012, 9:37pm UTC
In a mystery, the curious trait is naturally a very useful trait for characters to have. It allows them to snoop, interfere, look for answers. What would an external trait be, then? Something like being talkative? I've never really separated the two kinds of traits when I've thought about characters.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 9:42pm UTC
Myself, I tend to think of internal traits as being those we don't vocalize or show outwardly, but will act on. Those are the traits that others usually don't notice, unless they are paying attention.

External traits are those that we put out there for the world to see. Outgoing vs shy, friendly vs irritable.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:49pm UTC
Hi, Mickey!! So glad to see you!

I've never really separated the two types of traits either, but I pick topics by randomly opening my notebook, and this was what my finger landed on.

But yes, talkative would be a good external trait -- the way the character acts. Being sociable or persuasive would also be good external traits for a curious character.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 10:06pm UTC
Sounds right. And then what he does somehow escalates the problem, which sets up another scene with a variation of the issue.

For example, a thoughtful character who is respectful of authority would call the cops when threatened by a neighbor. This, in turn, would cause the neighbor to escalate the threats or even to act on them, perhaps by killing the character's cat. Then the character has to think of a new solution, but this time might have less respect for authority and decide to take matters into his own hands.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 10:13pm UTC
Or, not even about less respect for authority but rather a feeling of desperate inadequacy and helplessness because the authorities won't help with a dead cat and no proof or witnesses of how it died.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 10:38pm UTC
Lori, that's a good result of the first try, and when his second try doesn't work, then he could become really desperate.

It's the three bears scenario. First try is too little, second takes all his knowhow and still doesn't work out, then something happens to change him into the person who can solve the problem, and the third time he gets results, though not perhaps the way he envisioned them.
Mickey Hoffman Feb 9, 2012, 9:47pm UTC
Yes, I see that. But I think inward ones will usually manifest outwardly anyway. I suppose you could have a character that was a very good actor and inwardly had some phobia but controlled it to the point no one noticed, etc. I guess the important thing is that they're all motivation sources.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:54pm UTC
I agree. Internal traits do manifest themselves outwardly, though the other characters might not be aware of the traits. For example, an intelligent man who is quiet might seem stupid to the other characters, since loquacity is often associated with intelligence.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 9:59pm UTC
Also, a cautious character can seem uncooperative since the character would be questioning others on the team, perhaps, rather than being gung-ho.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 10:03pm UTC
They will manifest outwardly, but in a subtle way that most people would probably overlook.

More of an I'm shy and I know it, and I know you know it vs. a trait that directs the characters actions without the character being consciously aware of it all the time and others noticing only if they are observant and paying attention.
L V Gaudet Feb 9, 2012, 10:04pm UTC
Most people don't pay attention to anything beyond the obvious. It;s the writer's job to hint and tease at it and bring it to their attention.
Pat Bertram Feb 9, 2012, 11:35pm UTC
Lori, Pat, and Mickey, thank you for talking with me tonight. It was a joy, as always.
Angela A. Feb 10, 2012, 12:37pm UTC
Sorry, I forgot about the chat last night. I was out having dinner with my family. My son Chris made the Honor Roll for this semester, we were so proud of him.
I read most of the comments. It was a great chat

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