Characterisation

What is characterisation?
Characterisation is the process by which the writer reveals the personality
of a character. Characterisation is revealed through direct characterisation
and indirect characterisation.

Direct characterisation:
Direct characterisation tells the audience what the personality of the
character is.

Example: The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered
and did not disobey their mother.

Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience the

personality of these two children. The boy is “patient” and the girl is
“quiet”.

Indirect characterisation:
Indirect characterisation shows things that reveal the personality of a
character. There are five different methods of indirect characterisation.
You can use the mnemonic device STEAL to remember these:

Speech What does the character say? How does the character
speak?
Thoughts What is revealed through the character’s private
thoughts and feelings?
Effect on What is revealed through the character’s effect on other
others people? How do other characters feel or behave in
reaction to the character?
Actions What does the character do? How does the character
behave?
Looks What does the character look like? How does the
character dress?

Source: Read-Write-Think

Now it’s your turn to write some examples of indirect characterisation.

Instructions:

SD adapted by EW
 Use the personality trait given to you and then select which method you are
going to use. You can even combine a few methods!

Write your example in the final column. This may be 1-3 sentences.

Method/s Personality/quality Your example of indirect

characterisation
An intimidating person

A compassionate
person

A rebellious student

A diligent student

A pessimistic person

A selfish person

An introvert

Character in a Sentence
To continue to help you to create fascinating characters, we are going to learn how to write a character
in a sentence.
Read through the methods and their corresponding examples. Then, write your own!

Method Example Your turn to write an

example

SD adapted by EW
 1 physical quality + 1 action A woman with broad shoulders
they regularly do who always eats fast.

1 physical quality described by He had thick black hair and

a colour + 1 personality trait never spoke to children.
that can be described using that
colour

2 physical qualities that have Her hair now grew flat about
developed as a result of their her ears from where the
personality headphones found their place.

1 piece of history from that He had never learned how to

character’s past that has
created a physical attribute or
scar
tie his shoelaces – luckily, he
had grown up in the age of
Velcro and the slip-on shoe –
but he could never imagine a
different way to describe the
scar on his knee.

1 action they regularly perform She could maintain a quiet

but they secretly wish they voice if she had to (an ‘inside
didn’t voice’ as her mother used to
demand), but it required such
an effort to remember and
think about, and there would be
no way for her to prevent the
creeping escalation of her
volume as it rose to touch each
corner of the room.

Characterisation in a story
Using ONE of the examples above, write an opening to a narrative and introduce your
character.
Your narrative must start in the action.
Here are some writing prompts to get you thinking:

 Write a story involving a friendship between two different people

 Write a story inspired by a memory of yours.

SD adapted by EW
  Write about light returning to a place that has been deprived of it for a long time,

literally or figuratively.

 Start your story with someone stepping out of their comfort zone

Source: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/page/3/

SD adapted by EW