Character Qualities #2

My last post got me to thinking about character qualities, not just in my manuscripts but in real life. What makes a person the way they are? Can we tell someone’s personality by what they wear? Because I’m pondering these things I’m going to focus my blog posts this week on this topic.

Before I get too deeply into this I want to remind myself, if no one else, that Matthew 7:1 tells us Judge not, that ye be not judged. I am not in any way judging anyone with this post or any others like it.

As a writer I have simply found myself looking at things a bit differently. Seeing people in ways I didn’t used to. I also have to know my characters as well as I know myself. To do this it helps to notice how certain people act.

If I have a persnickety character, one that nitpicks about everything, complains about others, it helps if I can remember someone with that type of personality. My heroine in my work in progress is a strong woman whose fiancé refers to as a feisty handful, at best. She’s mouthy, she throws things when she’s angry, and she’s loyal to a fault.

Everyone has their traits that may be good or bad, usually both. Depending on who’s describing us we can come out as lovable and loyal or a pain in the backside that isn’t worth giving the time of day to. Hopefully, we get the first description a lot more than the second.

Now we are all guilty of judging others in one way or another at some time. It simply can’t be helped. We do it. Should we? No, but it happens. Writers are a bit different in this regard. We get to create whole people. Their past, their future, their everything is in our hands. Even whether they live or die.

I’m what’s known as a pantster in the writing world. I write as I go. I don’t plan my manuscripts. Occasionally I will ponder a few things for my work in progress, try to figure out if my character should or should not do something, but even then most times I wind up just typing and letting the story go where it wants. As a result my characters take shape as I work. They tell me who they are instead of me telling them.

But what makes them who they are? Can you tell what a person is like by watching them?