A Bit of Advice from Rick Riordan
Posted by annastan on May 31st, 2010. Filed under: Craft, Writing Rants.There was a discussion about dialogue on the Blueboards recently: how much to use and how much is too much. Someone chimed in with this bit of advice from Rick Riordan: “Define a character through action, first. Through dialogue and description, second. Through explanation, never. The character should be primarily defined by the choices he makes, and the actions he takes.”
I just love this advice! It’s simple but gets at what writers often struggle with. We forget that in order to move a story forward, characters need to be doing something. This is just like the stories we tell in real life. When we tell people about things that happened, the interesting thing is what someone actually did.
We might also talk about what people said to us (or to each other) but ultimately we want to know if that conversation led to any action. What did you do after your best friend told you you look like a chihuahua? Did you laugh it off? Did you storm away? Did you get into a fistfight?
As for “explanation, never” – that is also a brilliant piece of advice. When your friend says you look like a chihuahua, you don’t need to explain why this might affect you (as long as we know what a chihuahua is). No explanation necessary. What we want to know is what happened next!
May 31st, 2010 at 9:59 am
Great advice, Anna. I like to not give my readers many details about a character’s appearance, so they can create their own picture through the characters’ actions and behaviour.
May 31st, 2010 at 12:01 pm
I really like this advice. I think I’ll put it on a post-it in front of me. Define through action first. I’m reminded of another piece of advice I read recently about showing, not telling: Nobody likes to be told what to think about a situation, and when we tell the reader that so-and-so is angry, that’s what we’re doing. Instead, we should use action, such as clenching fists or throwing a book across the room (oh, I’d never do that!)
May 31st, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Interesting! I think that’s hard for some of us writers because we’re naturally “word people,” and what’s said seems like the most important part of an encounter to us. Must… remind… self… the whole world is not obsessed with words.
May 31st, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Great advice. It will help avoid having passive characters & pages of talking heads in which nothing really happens. Guess that’s why Rick Riordan’s books are such page-turners!
May 31st, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Great advice, Anna! I like it when authors don’t give away too much information about a character’s personality and appearance. It’s so much more rewarding to discover it for yourself through the character’s actions and choices!
May 31st, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Great advice. I think we want to “explain” to reader so that they really get it. But our readers are smart and we should give the more credit — especially when we show them in action/dialogue what we mean.
That poor dog, LOL.
May 31st, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Well said. I often find the beginning of a novel really tricky where I have to introduce what’s going on and who’s doing what – and why it all matters. I’ve rewritten the start of my current WIP countless times!
May 31st, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Thanks for posting this! It had me going through my manuscript and doing a little more tweaking! Great advice.
May 31st, 2010 at 8:10 pm
It’s great advice. RR is my fav MG author eva!
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
May 31st, 2010 at 8:40 pm
I love that quick piece of advice. Thank you!
May 31st, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Andrea, I’m the same way. As a reader, I like being able to imagine what characters look like without being told too much.
Tricia, this is so true: “Nobody likes to be told what to think about a situation.” Readers like to be given a bit of freedom to make up their own minds.
Shoshana, that’s a great point. While we can play with words as much as we like, we have to remember that things can’t just sound good!
Ruth, Rick Riordan certainly follows his own advice! Besides being action-driven, his stories are also about characters we actually care about.
Laura, I agree! It’s nice to have hints here and there about how a character is feeling and what he’s thinking, but actions are often more powerful than words.
May 31st, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Karen, that is absolutely true. We want readers to understand what’s going on, but we don’t want them to feel like they’re being hit over the head.
Roz, I think that’s why beginnings are SO tough, because you want your readers to know the situation and to care about the character without spelling it all out for them. Sounds practically impossible, doesn’t it?
Terry, I’m so glad this was helpful! Your manuscript must be even more awesome now!
Angela, he’s definitely a favorite of mine, too. I absolutely devoured the Percy Jackson series – can’t wait to pick up his new one!
Julie, you’re very welcome. Happy writing!
May 31st, 2010 at 11:03 pm
This is fabulous advice, Anna. Thank you so much for sharing it!
June 1st, 2010 at 7:21 am
Great post, Anna, and great advice! Thanks!
June 1st, 2010 at 9:20 am
Great advice and hilarious picture. I just bought Rick Riordan’s latest for my son (of course I must read it, too!)
June 1st, 2010 at 10:12 am
This really is a clear way to describe what to do with characters. I feel like I have learned it the hard way. What if I had learned that first? Would I be so much closer?
June 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
PJ and Andrea, you’re both very welcome. Happy writing!
Kelly, I can’t wait to read Riordan’s latest book, but I need to get through the rest of my TBR pile first! Enjoy!
Tina, you never know – if you’d come across this advice earlier, you might not have known what to do with it. I think often we have to learn things the hard way in order for them to really make sense to us.
June 1st, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Great advice, Anna. I love it when things are simple and helpful.
June 1st, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Great advice. I really like when points are ranked in important, numbered, bulleted, etc. Really adds to clarity somehow.
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:43 am
I’d started to read this the other day, but had to go before I finished. Love the first paragraph. Very powerful and to the point. Thanks Anna for sharing it with us. I’ve heard about Blueboards. I must get over there.
June 6th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Great advice! RR does a great job doing just that.