In a post on Writers in the Storm, Lynette Burrows offers advice for using description and sensory language to ground your characters – and your readers – in your story. Writers are often told to “ground” their characters, but this means more than place. “It also means where this character is in relation to the objects in the room and other characters in the scene. It reveals who this person is,” Burrows says.
Burrows offers some advice for putting ground beneath your characters’ feet.
- Focus. It’s not enough to give your characters unique ways of speaking. “Strengthen your story and put ground under your characters’ feet by choosing words that reflect what your character sees, senses, his values, judgments, and opinions,” Burrows advises.
- Be Careful. Be sure that your phrasing sounds natural. You might be tempted to cram in a lot of detail about your character and his surroundings in a few sentences, but this will probably feel forced. Focus your descriptive language on what’s important to the character.
- Use the Five Senses. “For a deeper dive into your character, try to include all five senses on each page,” Burrows says. Again, don’t force the description. “You don’t have to think about what you smell, or hear, or see, or taste, or feel. You just do,” Burrows writes. “Make certain your characters do the same.”
- Go Deep. Sensory input often triggers memories, reactions, emotions, and experiences. Be sure you give your character the same responses.
- Go Deeper. “It’s not only our past that colors everything we sense and do,” Burrows says. “Our education and our experiences form our attitudes, our opinions, and our voice.”
- Choose Word and Actions Carefully. “The region where we were born, the region where we live, affects our behaviors, our habits, and our word choices,” Burrows notes. “Even the season and the weather affect what we say and do.” However, spoken language isn’t the only way your character communicates. “Often their behavior, their micro expressions, and what they don’t say reflects more truth than the words they say,” Burrows adds.
- Balance Your Story. You don’t need to go deep in every paragraph. You might go heavy in early pages or sprinkle these kinds of details and observations throughout your story. Either one can work. To learn how, read widely and especially in your genre to see how other writers handle it.
