Considering the Contrast Between Direct & Indirect Characterization in Liberal Arts    

Writing is an effective branch of arts. It paves the way for a good writer to make difference in society in many different ways. Besides, people do writing using several styles and methods. Literary writing encompasses story-telling, novel/poem writing, short stories, novellas, plays, etc. It offers a source of amusement and thrill to the readers and engages them through the uniqueness of the content.            

Literary Writing and its Categories

There is the following categorization of literary writing styles:

Literature-based on Reality

Based on true events or the ones almost close to our everyday lives. Realist literature doesn’t depict imaginative characters, places, situations, events, etc. Rather, they focus on real-world happenings to try to remain as much closer to reality as possible.             

Fiction

Any innovative story by the writer is a piece of Fiction. It is far from truthfulness and most imaginative.       

Thriller

Thrillers are the opposite of the humoristic genre. They are breathtaking and contain lots of twists, uncertain situations, and spine chillers. This sort of writing style keeps the readers guessing till the ending.        

Mystery

The mystery is generally based on detective novels. Transforming a reader into a detective trying to resolve the case himself by smartly putting together all parts of the puzzle.

History

Events that took place in historical times are elaborated using this technique. Everything belongs to the historical settings from people to places, manner of living, cities, infrastructure, etc.    

Sci-Fi

The unrealistic events or things inspire writers to create Science fiction novels or stories. Such as they contain a sense of either futuristic technology or depict some psychological imbalances that are generally difficult to accept in the real world.  

Fantasy

They are a result of the creativity of human minds. Containing characters and concepts that belong to some mythological influences.  

Romance

Romantic stories depict the intimate relationship between the leading characters. Falling in love and going through an arduous struggle to get the loved one in the end. They present happy and satisfied endings with lots of emotional aspects.

Understanding Direct & Indirect Characterization in Literature

Before going into the details it’s better to know about characterization. The process of defining the physical appearances and personality traits of the lead characters is called “characterization”. Apart from walking, listening, or dress code the major thing is behavior and how they react to various situations elaborated by the writer.

There are two ways writers use to describe their story characters.

1. Direct Characterization
2. Indirect Characterization

Direct Characterization

The definition simply means the writer pens down all the immediate details about the most important characters that are driving the story. From their physical features to instincts, actions, and etiquettes everything falls into the category of Direct Characterization. Besides, the writer does it in a quite direct manner as if he doesn’t want readers to make any guesses regarding characters created by him.

Most of the readers prefer this practice because they directly want to know instead of going through a spiral of events and happenings to find out the exact personality traits of most of the characters. It also works as a robust hook to grip the readers’ attention and enhance curiosity among the audience.    

On the other hand, Indirect characterization is another method in which creators take support of the STALE technique to define the readers how their characters look, act, perform and behave, etc. Now, what the STALE technique is?

S- the way the character speaks

T- thinks

A-acts

L-looks

E-effects character has on other characters

Indirect characterization

is put into practice to add a reasonable amount of profundity to the artwork. Instead of simply telling about traits, the writer lets readers closely analyze every main character and draw conclusions themselves. This generates suspense to a greater extent and the audience stays connected till the end.

In this sort of elaboration, the writer has to provide some extra and in-depth details to readers to reach a clear conclusion about characterization. Moreover, they have to be more vigilant to get a clear understanding and not to get puzzled and ask themselves “who was who?” kind of questions in the end.

Direct characterization, on the other hand, is when the reader or audience is informed what the character’s personality is. When it comes to indirect vs. direct characterization, the adage “show, don’t tell” might be used. Direct characterization tells the reader or audience exactly what sort of person a character is, whereas indirect characterization illustrates who a character is based on what he or she is doing and thinks. Thus, literature uses the terms direct characterization and indirect characterization to characterize direct and indirect characteristics, accordingly.

The Differences Between Direct Characterization and Indirect Characterization

Direct Characterization    Revealing- The writer himself develops a thorough description regarding principle figures making it easy for the audience to pursue without observing the actions of every main character. Instance:     Felicia is a smart, average height, a young doctor who has completed her graduation a few months back. She is a sincere and confident individual, working as a House Officer in a local city hospital.

Indirect Characterization Writers always try to indicate the personality of characters to the audience through giving a detailed description about looks, conduct, influence on others, etc. Meanwhile, the writer leaves it up to the reader to pull out the conclusions. Instance: Edmond drove his dad’s extremely expensive SUV recklessly all across the town hitting two bikers on his way. He didn’t even stop to help them reach the hospital in time resultantly losing their lives on the road.

Significance

Straightforward description aids the reader in imagining a believable individual. Excellent authors urge readers to fill in the blanks with their information, but some character traits are required for the narrative to move forward. Consider a character who tries to control others with their appearance or whose job as a cop sets them against another.

Direct description ensures that the reader receives all of the information they need about a character in these situations. Other non-essential elements can be left to the discretion of the reader.

Whereas, indirect characterization is the only beautiful way to uncover the extraordinary ability of a writer to reveal the untold truths about characters without directly pointing them out. They use words that indirectly explain complete personality is considered very important to develop critical thinking capabilities in the reader. By examining each character in detail, the audience tries to create links and consequently start enjoying the story or whatever they read. Their minds work as detectives solving mysterious cases totally on their own. This interests them tending to promote the writer’s name and efforts in the writing industry.              

Readers will always make their conclusions, but if you don’t provide enough indications via detailed work, they may develop conclusions that are distant from your purpose. This isn’t always a disadvantage, because readers come to your material with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. However, if you rely too much on indirect characterization for crucial story themes and the reader overlooks your hints, the resulting gap in comprehension may result in a frustrating reading experience.

What’s the best way to write direct/Indirect characterization?

It’s simple to write direct characterization. With storytelling, you convey the elements that make up your character. You can include everything you believe is essential for people to know about your protagonist in your bullet points.

The dialogue will be one of your initial techniques when crafting indirect characterization. The way a character speaks reveals a lot about who they are. Characters can communicate their worldviews through debate, as Rainsford does in our case.

You’ll also rely on a character’s actions to convey essential components of that character’s nature. You might, for example, have your primary antagonist kick a dog if you wished readers to know that he or she is truly horrible. It doesn’t get much worse from there.

When creating indirect characterization, consider how characters interact with one another. Assume your adversary is “puppy-kicking” bad. People around him will avert their eyes and feel uneasy while engaging with him in that circumstance.

Furthermore, you may employ a character’s inner monologue to provide readers with a better grasp of their motive. Your audience will automatically wonder why a figure smacks a pet. The beauty of genre fiction is that it allows you to give an opinion by providing readers a view inside a character’s mind. Perhaps your opponent despises vulnerability because she dreads going back to a moment since she was helpless. It’s something you may investigate and explain via the thinking of a protagonist.

Recommendations for Direct Characterization  

Here are some professional recommendations for employing direct characterization whether you’re new to creative writing or just want to improve your talents.

1. Make use of metaphors.

While explicitly stating things might be helpful for communication, it is not very interesting. Use metaphorical language in your descriptions to keep your readers interested.

Idiomatic phrases are a natural contrast to a flat and uninteresting description for smartening up a somewhat dull message. However, don’t go excessive with metaphorical language because too much of it might make your meaning muddled, and the purpose of direct portrayal is to be plain and simple.

2. Don’t Practice the hand-feeding

Providing too many details is also not a good idea. It makes the writing dull, monotonous, and unattractive. The readers will lose interest in it and are more likely to leave reading halfway.

This is counted as one of the negatives of direct characterization that the audience no longer finds themselves involved in the story. Whereas, indirect characterization invites the readers to be one of the characters and steer the story the way they want. Therefore, avoid incorporating too much clarity, in the beginning, to let your readers stay hooked till the culmination.   

3. Use descriptions to create excitement

Blocks of text—sometimes a single sentence, sometimes many paragraphs—are frequently used indirect characterization. While overusing them may stifle narrative motion and stifle momentum, you can strategically employ them in the correct places to enhance the tension and develop anticipation.

To drag out major plot elements and extend the suspense, try using direct characterization. You can mention another character’s facial characteristics as part of their reaction if a character just delivers a dynamite piece of conversation. This prolongs the thrilling moment in your tale and makes people even more eager to find out what happens afterward.      

Recommendations for Indirect Characterization    

For indirect characterization, including conversation and trying to explain the plot of the story, show their activities. Besides, demonstrate implications, use this technique. In perspective narration, use emotive words to develop character.

In the perspective telling, use expressive words to develop character.

Characterization may be enhanced by everything from character conversation and behaviors to the language you want to refer to a situation. Two characters, for example, may describe the same setting in very different ways. The way they depict this environment reveals important disparities between them.

When to use the Direct Characterization Technique

When first presenting a subject to your audience, use straightforward characterization. You may utilize direct characterization to provide readers with the most significant characteristics of a new character as they enter your story arc. Give out only the aspects of a character’s characteristics that will influence the plot. Some characteristics should be left for the audience to find on their own. Whenever we talk discuss indirect characterization, we’ll get into more detail on it.

Direct characterization can also be used to establish a strong difference between two characters, such as two parallel characters. Use storytelling to highlight the difference between your protagonist’s chilly and aloof nature and their finest relative’s kindness and generosity.

The Need to Employ indirect characterization

The show, don’t tell, is a popular piece of fiction writing advice. This guideline states that rather than conveying details about your figure through storytelling, you should build a plot of the story through their behaviors, speech, thoughts, and relationships.

Use indirect characterization to show rather than tell after you’ve established a personality and utilize direct description to provide the reader with a few crucial details. Use indirect characterization to reaffirm aspects about a character’s personality that you’ve already presented, or to convey fresh truths about your figure.

Closing Remarks

Whether you are good at using direct or indirect characterization methods, the only thing of paramount importance is that your sole purpose is to provide a strong story for your audience to feel entertained and not bored in the beginning, middle, and after finishing to read. Try to incorporate the most effective ways to your writing skills and go through the world’s most-read authors’ publications to get a bird’s eye view before jotting down your next artwork. Apart from this to get unmatched writing services, Craftive Content Writing Solutions will certainly be the best option to go for.