by David Rawlings, @DavidJRawlings

I find characters memorable when they have a certain something that stays with me when they’re gone. That doesn’t mean they’ve got the stereotypical chiseled jaw and swept hairline, but it’s more that they’ve got a habit that is quirky. Quirky can be memorable. Like the character that sucks in air through his teeth while he’s thinking. Or thrusting her hands into her pockets when she’s mad.

Where do you find these quirky habits that can give your characters another layer of connection with the reader? It’s what readers notice – I’ve had them email me asking why the Baggage Handler smiles wistfully. Or why a mysterious film processing lab operator keeps rising on the balls of his feet in The Camera Never Lies whenever he challenges the protagonist about truth.

I find it really hard sometimes to just come up with them off the top of my head… my first drafts are full of eye rolls, shrugs, eyebrows raising and lowering. It’s something I’ve committed to improving – to give my characters not just depth but shape.

That’s why I take notice of the mundane.

I’m currently writing this while on the train. (If you’ve read my blog posts before you’ll know that this is how I recapture 90 minutes a day for writing). A train trip is mundane; a chance for many people to lean their forehead against the window and either watch the world go by or sleep.  But I’m taking notice of them, and I can see things in them that would make great character traits or habits. Just by looking around my carriage, I can see things that could deepen a character by giving them a trait that goes beyond eye rolls:

• There’s a young guy five seats away who looks up from his phone but only moves his eyes before resuming the text he’s thumbing. It’s as if he thinks movement will give away what he’s up to, but he still needs to check for threats… 
• There’s a businessman cradling his briefcase as if it’s an infant. I notice him because it’s pushing his tie up under his chin. My guess is he’s carrying some papers that are about an issue close to his heart.
• A woman has one earbud in and one out, and she’s obviously listening to the conversation across from her, while pretending not to. And each time she gets caught looking at the people talking she starts bobbing her head in time with the music. 
• There’s a man who polishes his glasses every two minutes while reading, almost as if he can’t believe what’s on the page.
• A young woman is talking into her phone with her hand cupped over it. It’s a shame she’s talking so loudly we can all hear her. So maybe she thinks this conversation is private, but wants to be acknowledged.   
• There’s a large ruddy-faced man in a rain jacket with chunky headphones on. And he’s mouthing along to whatever he’s listening to, to the point I can tell it’s a podcast and not a song. He’s obviously listened to it a number of times now –  I wonder why….

All of these things – noticed on a mundane train trip – could find their way into my next novel. And they’d give another shade or more color to a character who would otherwise roll their eyes or shrug like every other character does.

Why not try it?

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Where the Road Bends

Four friends reconnect fifteen years after graduation on a promised trip to the Australian outback. Time has changed them. At graduation life was all about unfulfilled potential. Fifteen years down the track, it feels a lot like regret. As they get lost in outback Australia they find more than harsh beauty of an unspoilt land… … they discover how the road of life delivered them to where they are now. And getting back requires them to determine where they’ll go from here.  

Based in South Australia, David Rawlings is an award-winning author, and a sports-mad father-of-three with his own copywriting business who reads everything within an arm’s reach.  He writes that take you deeper into life, posing questions of readers to explore their own faith and how they approach life. Where the Road Bends – a novel based in outback Australia – is out now! Why not take a virtual vacation during your time at home? David’s debut novel – The Baggage Handler – won the 2019 Christy Award for First Novel.   His second novel – The Camera Never Lies – focuses on honesty in relationships and is now available.  He is currently signed with Thomas Nelson and represented by The Steve Laube Agency.