Quirk It Up

Quirks. Not only is the word incredibly entertaining, but the gems it denotes are pretty awesome too.

Quirks are one of those aspects of characterisation that often get overlooked - I mean, it's bad enough trying to give a three-dimensional personality, backstory, and workable motivation to a figment of your imagination without trying to go into details that probably aren't remotely important to the story.

However, I think quirks are pretty fantastic.

No one human who came into being without time-shifts, duplication, or an unfortunate encounter with a wonky wand and a jar of marmite, is exactly the same as another. Likewise, we are shaped by a variety of factors that determine who we are. For the sake of simplicity, I'm confining the nature-v-nurture debate to my Ethics essays, but I think most of us can agree that the way a person is brought up, what they experience, and how that affects their personality will have a massive range of effects on their overall character.

Exposition on how a character's backstory affects their behaviour, however, is generally considered a bad idea outside of the works of Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo, and getting tangled up in the detailed nuances is like hunting for a munchkin's wedding ring in a vat of month-old spaghetti. Yet, sometimes, there are moments in the story when the reader's awareness of a certain past experience of a character is important.

So, why not give them a quirk that reflects it? The term "quirk" that I refer to here is not strictly an idiosycratic aspect of the character - I'm referring to habits, either physical or otherwise, usually something the character does without really noticing, that reflect some facet of their nature or experience.

Par example: say you have a character who, at some stage in their lives, has been involved in the army, but you want to show this to the reader rather than telling them outright. In which case, maybe they have a trigger-finger reflex when holding something gun-shaped, or stand in a parade-like manner when being addressed by an authority figure. Conversely, it might be something in the type of language they used - if they were in a position of command, maybe in a situation of action they revert to the command words and tone of voice they used in a combat situation? Whether anyone understands them, though, is a far more debatable matter.

This, of course, is a fairly simple example, but the principle remains the same. It works outside of professions, too - a nervous character might have a habit of wringing their hands when nervous, and one who struggles with a bad temper may grind their teeth or crack their knuckles when something piques their annoyance.

None of these quirks have to be made overtly ostensible to get the reader's attention. When someone is very interested in a character, they will often pick up on very small things about them as a result. What's more, the presence of the quirks themselves can add a subtle edge of realism to the character - real people chew their nails and annoy their classmates by eternally clicking the end of their ballpoint pen, so why shouldn't fictional ones? In the case of non-human characters, a relatable trait can really help in overcoming the initial boundary of culture and species (which is exactly why my teen-foot-tall, sharp-toothed, semi-psychotic assassin with mind-based magical abilities is addicted to chewing coffee beans to alleviate a craving for caffiene).

Overall, quirks are endlessly useful in their versatility as exemplars of backstory, personality,  and relatability. How one uses these quirks is up to the author - are you going to exploit it for comic effect, pathos, or as a hint to that gut-wrenchingly good plot twist that will have your reader flipping back through the pages screeching 'HOW DID I MISS THAT!?' in less time than it takes to make a cup of tea?

Do you like to use quirks for any of these purposes? Do you like using character quirks at all, or are they just a waste of time? Let me know in the comments!

~ Charley R

"Of Chairs, Cataclysms and Character Abuse": Teens Can Write Too! Blog Chain, April 2012

Yes, yes, I know I'm not supposed to post today, but as I'm not going to be around over the weekend, I think I'm allowed to break my rules just once. Especially for something as cool as this.

I've been a follower of the awesome Teens Can Write Too! blog for some time and, though nowadays I find it hard to comment due to overwork, funky internet connection and frequent distraction-by-shiny-object, I have finally taken it upon myself to join in one of their famous blog chains! The theme this month is...

“What are your writers’ habits and eccentricities?”

Let’s face it, we all have them. Maybe you have a certain article of clothing you like to wear when you write, a la Jo March. Perhaps there’s a certain kind of character or situation that you strongly love or dislike to write. Is there a particular way that you must go about editing? Tell us about it!

Writing eccentricities? You's-a talking mah language! As if writers weren't weird enough from the outset, it turns out some of us can take our sometimes-strange behavior to whole new heights by decorating it, like a three-year-old's creatively constructive Christmas confection, with a delightful range of eccentricities and personal quirks.

And now, dear readers, for your enjoyment, I give you ... mine.

Number One: Death By Biscuits!
When writing, I find I often come up with my most dastardly ideas when I am licking the crumbs of a particularly delicious snack off my fingers. But, weirdly, only when it's a very specific type of biscuit. Unless I have my daily fix of these three-part tickets to sugar-and-raisin-based utopia, there ain't much evil in the barn tonight! So, rather than pelting me with rotten fruit for being such a little sadist, you can - literally - blame it on the biscuits. It's like a sugar high for my inner evil genius.

Number Two: If I Fits, I Sits.
Fun fact of the day: Charley hates chairs. Due to a combination of bony backside, long legs and an incurable fidgeting habit, I find sitting still for any period longer than about fifteen minutes to be a very uncomfortable experience. Cushions help a little, but, overall, the physical discomfort chairs cause me is enough to sometimes put me off writing.

To fix this, I have taken to sitting in / on / around anything that isn't a chair. At school, I like to sit on my bed, with my pillows propped up to make a sort of mini throne (half these pillows aren't necessary, but I like my throne shape). At home, I substitute my pillow throne for a specifically-shaped beanbag. I can literally spend ten minutes wriggling it into the correct shape for Writing Mode after I've slouched downwards while reading or browsing the internet. Edges of tables, comfortable wall niches and even a cupboard have also been locations in which some innate force has told me that writing is a good idea.

Number Three: The Dragonborn Comes!
Not only is the song one of the most awesome pieces of gameplay accompaniment I have ever heard, but my little buddy Llewellyn has been my constant companion through many of my most epic typing phases. Thus far he's invigilated two NaNoWriMos, a trilogy, multiple short works and, most recently, chapters of St Mallory's Forever! 

In fact, he's sitting with me right now. I wubs my widduw buddy! I always feel like something's missing when his head doesn't slightly obstruct my right wrist while typing.

Number Four: Author's Darlings.
This one is probably a little obvious, but I don't like "normal" characters very often. I just can't stand writing about those typical "so-and-so is an average guy/girl/being-of-indefinite-gender" premises. Even if it is only unusual taste in takeaway and a penchant for fluffy scarves, I feel I have to make my character engaging and interesting to the reader. The fact that I mostly write high fantasy and dystopian-style stories may or may not be related to this need for excitement and escapism beyond the hum-drum. This doesn't, of course, mean I take overdoing the original-ness of a character as a good thing. Trust me, you don't want to get me started on those.

On a similar note, I am a terrible offender when it comes to over-indulging my favourite characters - the nasty ones. Rin could give you a spectacular account of the horrors I allowed his various foes to get away with; from ridiculing his background and vicious name-calling to mass homicide and sadistically-driven maiming that left him with more than his fair share of battlescars, he had the lot. Of course, not all the characters I indulge are neccessarily villains - many of them are just nastily-inclined anti-heroes, or even unintentional allies in the end - but they're genuinely always two things: one - unpleasant by name and nature and two - able to convince me it's okay to let them get away with anything and everything.

No wonder I never know how to let the hero win anymore...

Number Five: Earthquakes! Wars! Plagues! Lumpy Custard!
Inevitably, an author who fawns on her nastier creations is more likely to be inclined to inciting disaster at every turn. But, I hear you cry, is that not the point? Stories need conflict, otherwise there's no point! This isn't an eccentricity, you cheater! Also, to most who know me, I'm a very friendly, upbeat person whose aversion to conflict and sensitivity to the sadness of others would indicate I'm probably no worse - and probably less inclined to - than your average author when it comes to sticking in nasties. 

Hehehehe. You know nothing, dear readers. Where most people would settle for one or two major conflict points in a story, I have more. A friend of mine once asked if I was some sort of repressed megalomaniac in my past life, because of how gruesomely I once described a battle scene. During the Aeserion Trilogy, said friend said she very nearly had to stop reading because the story was getting too dark and depressing for her to cope with much more. 

Call me evil at its worst, but I feel that I'm not doing my duty as an author if everything is running smoothly. I probably overdo it at times, but I am not ashamed to admit it. My characters no sooner have to poke their heads above the parapet before I'll send a panopoly of bullets, knives, arrows and flaming tribbles flying towards them. Nothing delights me more than orchestrating wars and disasters, and watching people battle like stink to get out of it again.

And if you think this is bad, you should see what happens when I play The Sims ... Mwua ha ha ha ha ha ha!

And, last of all, on a less psychotic note:
Number Six: Remember My Name!
I'm one of those people who takes great care over naming their characters, and I won't rest until I've got the right one for them - even if it means running an intensive "Search and Replace" through my 300-page Word document at multiple points in the story. I have to check it matches up with their nationality and background (though I'm less often inclined to check the name's meaning, unless I'm really in a corner about a name). Baby name websites are frequent raiding spots - especially those that have names from unusual cultures. Seriously, if the name does not fit, the story will not go. Thus is the unspoken Law of Charley's Brain.

Overcomplicated names are not a problem for me either - blame my good linguistic skills - so, unfortunately, I'm going to be one of those authors who has to put a pronounciation guide in the back of her books, and provides copious amounts of nicknames, to avoid tying my readers' tongues in knots.
Advance apologies to Lywellen, Caiafal, Triskaedekaphobia, Deladier and Erinestionavarial. Especially the last one ... sorry fella. It's a good thing you're cute with a name like that.

***

What about you lot? Got any eccentricities you want to share? Tell us all about them in the comments or, if you're feeling particularly inspired, write your own blog post about it!

The rest of the blog chain can be found here:

April 5– http://correctingpenswelcome.wordpress.com–Comfy Sweaters, Writing, and Fish

April 6– http://towerofplot.blogspot.com — The Leaning Tower of Plot

April 7–http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com–Lily’s Notes in the Margins

April 8–http://weirdalocity.wordpress.com– From My Head

April 9–http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com–This Page Intentionally Left Blank

April 10–http://thewordasylum.wordpress.com–The Word Asylum

April 11–http://rachelsbookreviews.com–Rachel’s Book Reviews

April 12–http://noveljourneys.wordpress.com–Novel Journeys

April 13–http://delorfinde.wordpress.com–A Farewell to Sanity

April 14–http://swordofink.com–Sword of Ink

April 15–http://thedreamersadventures.blogspot.com–The Dreamers Adventures

April 16–http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer

April 17–http://herestous.wordpress.com–Here’s To Us

April 18–http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com–Teens Can Write Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)

- Charley R