storytelling

I've been thinking a great deal about the introduction of characters into an already flowing narrative. Something that I'm never quite sure of is how much detail is the right amount. We all know (you all know) that the right detail makes a passage, and the wrong details will drag that same passage into the nether regions of hell. Any detail provided has to work on a couple of levels: so the reader can see the character and also get a sense of who s/he is as an individual, and as an actor in the narrative.

I am often tempted to spend more time on very minor, very fleeting characters than I really need to. I don't like glossing over anybody, though of course I do it from time to time; it's unavoidable. But what about people who have a small role to play and then move tidily to the background to provide atmosphere? How much do you want to see?

It's also important to remember that the details provided tell the reader as much about the person observing them (the POV character) as they do about the person being observed. Here's a raw piece of dialogue which contains the introduction of a minor character.

"You better pay attention to the game. Tab's about to steal second."

"You know Tab?"

"He's been over to the house. I know all these guys, except the ZZ Top type playing shortstop."

"ZZ Top?"

"The beard."

"Ah. That's Wyatt Horton. Minored in low-end hallucinogens when he was at Ogilvie back in the day, been teaching English at the high school the last ten years. He's supposed to be a good teacher."

"According to who?"

I haven't give you any underpainting here (no indication of body language or tone), but a lot comes through anyway about all three characters -- the two talking, and the one they are talking about. The most factual information is about Wyatt, of course. you know that he's a big guy with a long flowing beard to his waist (if you know who ZZ Top is, which one of the speakers doesn't, and what does that mean?). You know (if you've been reading along in the novel) that he went to an exclusive private college and experimented with drugs while he was there. You know that he looks something like a biker or a backwoodsman, but in fact he teaches high school English, and has made a success of it. You also have a bit of a sense of the town he lives in. It's probably not an expensive suburb of Chicago or Indianapolis, because it's harder to imagine this particular teacher in a school there. You know that people who have a history aren't necessarily run out of town. You know that it's a small enough place that most people know most people, but big enough to be home to an exclusive private college.

What you don't know is, of course, a lot. You don't know if Wyatt's got classic good looks or terrible acne scars or if he's bald. You don't know if he has halitosis or a Boston accent or a taste for expensive wines. Do you need to know these things? Will they add anything to the story, or to the experience of reading the story?

This is the kind of thing I struggle with all the time. I try to err on the side of not too much, but reserve the right to go back and provide more detail. When I'm reading, I like to have a good description of characters. Major characters especially, but also minor characters. When an author takes the time and effort to make me really see the flight attendant or the clerk or the mayor whose droning on at the podium, I feel taken care of. I'm in the hands of a good storyteller, and I can relax and let it flow.

This is my take on things, but I wonder about other people's preferences.

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