By Patricia Crisafulli
“The minute you stroll out this door you present your character to everybody who sees you.”
Once I was younger, my mom admonished me into good conduct with these phrases. What she didn’t know, and I couldn’t absolutely respect till a few years later, was simply how helpful her recommendation was for writing.
Layer by layer, we reveal the character of our protagonists and antagonists by what they are saying and do, significantly in interactions with others.
There are limitless prospects in character-driven novels like cozy mysteries, whereas additionally advancing the plot. Listed below are some examples from my Ohnita Harbor Thriller Collection:
- Edgy, Has Belief Points, Buries Emotions: That’s the thumbnail description of my protagonist Gabriela Domenici, a 40-year-old single mom who needed to go away her dream job on the New York Public Library and transfer again to her hometown, and now longs to return to New York Metropolis. In my first novel, The Secrets and techniques of Ohnita Harbor, I started revealing the various sides of her character as Gabriela reacts to the tragic drowning demise of an area banker with whom she’d had a quick alternate earlier that day.
“… She made a cup of tea, scrubbed splotches from her counter, then began cleansing out the vegetable bins within the fridge. As she labored, Gabriela replayed her dialog with Ellyn that morning and the invitation to have lunch. Possibly it hadn’t been simply social—maybe Ellyn had been troubled and needed to speak. And she or he had been too busy to find time for her … Gabriela started scraping a dried spinach leaf from a glass shelf contained in the fridge, attempting to evade one more reason she had averted Ellyn’s invitation till she needed to confront the thought. She didn’t wish to turn out to be invested in anybody on this city in order that when she left, it could be a clear break.”
Prickly and even off-putting at instances, sure. However in that manic scraping of the dried spinach leaf we see Gabriela’s grief, the bitterness of her remorse, and her need to do one thing to channel these emotions.
- Human vs. Nature. It’s one of many basic conflicts in literature and a chance to disclose one other facet of character. Within the opening of The Secrets and techniques of Nonetheless Waters Chasm, a hike on a good looking fall day turns into emotionally triggering for Gabriela when she’s abruptly overwhelmed by irrational fears.
“As she hoisted her backpack, Gabriela imagined yellow eyes peering out of the woods and her ideas soured. Would these animals slink away from them, not eager to be seen, or would they sense the vulnerability of two people alone? Out of the blue she felt sure one thing actually was watching them. Her chest tightened and her breath quickened. Her ears strained to detect any sound aside from the wind swishing the branches. A twig snapped and the clearing appeared to darken, as if thick clouds blotted out the sky. Her throat constricted, and he or she fingered the one-inch scar on her throat from a knife that, simply three months in the past, had flirted together with her carotid artery. Glancing over, she noticed Daniel adjusting the laces of his climbing boots as if nothing had occurred. As a result of nothing did, she scolded herself.”
In that scene, a lot is revealed about Gabriela’s interiority, together with her need to dismiss her fears and desensitize herself to trauma (that are main motivations for a way she acts within the novel).
- Battle Sparks Self-Disclosure. In my newly launched novel, The Secrets and techniques of the Previous Put up Cemetery, Gabriela’s assumptions about how her world works are challenged after her boyfriend, Daniel Crimson Deer, is accused of a critical crime and hospitalized with important accidents (slight spoiler alert). When Daniel’s sister, Rose, involves city, Gabriela tries to guarantee her that the state police know him, which she believes will work in his favor.
“‘Look, you don’t get this,’ Rose shot again. ‘The legal guidelines that shield you blame us.’ Warmth flooded Gabriela’s face. Rose was proper; she had no concept aside from what she learn—how the Thanksgiving tales she’d realized as a baby of pleased Pilgrims and pleasant Indians had cloaked uglier truths of lands stolen from sovereign peoples and ailments used as weapons. Daniel was half Native American, however he by no means talked a lot about what that identification meant to him. Afraid of claiming the unsuitable factor, she hadn’t requested him both. To be his life accomplice, she must change their dialogue.”
A Few Ideas:
- Present your characters among the many individuals they care about to disclose their compassion, kindness, loyalty, and different constructive features. Who makes it secure for them to show their softer facet, and when do they maintain again?
- Disclose their insecurities, self-doubts, and emotions of inadequacy as they work together with those that problem them. What’s their response—do they cower or bully others?
- Immerse them in a setting to point out the place they’re most snug (relaxed, at dwelling, in management)—and the place they’re uncomfortable (fearful, irritable, challenged).
Layer by layer, our protagonists and antagonists reveal their character via interactions with others. What we be taught simply may shock us.
Patricia Crisafulli is a New York Instances bestselling creator and an award-winning fiction author. Her newest novel, The Secrets and techniques of the Previous Put up Cemetery, was revealed in October 2025 by Woodhall Press. It’s the third novel within the Ohnita Harbor Thriller Collection.
