Lester Dents Wave Those Tags, Part 4 Now Make Use Of Characterization Tricks In Writing The Story

LESTER DENT’S WAVE THOSE TAGS, PART 4: NOW MAKE USE OF CHARACTERIZATION TRICKS IN WRITING THE STORY If you haven’t read the first three posts in this collection, return to Lester Dent’s Wave Those Tags, Part 1: Find a Name to get caught up. Then we’ll press on with the fourth and last a part of pulp icon Lester Dent’s have a look at characters… NOW MAKE USE OF CHARACTERIZATION TRICKS IN WRITING THE STORY These seem to be a number of of essentially the most-used characterizing methods. Wave the tags. It probably helps to introduce the hero very earlyâ€"in the first paragraph, oftenâ€"and have him strut his stuff, because first impressions are the strongest. This is simply about the No. 1 writing rule within the pulps. A hero may be constructed up by having the other characters refer to him when it comes to admiration or awe. The pitfall here seems to be that the references may be remodeled-dramatic to the extent that the gadget may strike somebody as apparent and silly. Villains could also be built as villains in the identical style, by having different characters mention their dastardly nature, their earlier evil deeds. Have the hero behave like a hero when faced by hassle. Hero might keep human, though. He can get as scared as the following man, but his braveness will carry him by way of. Minor characters can be built by having the other actors refer to them, both to their exterior tag, or to the type of stuff that is inside them. Often fairly a build-up could be given a character before she or he even makes a personal look within the story. This system is tough to make use of successfully in shorts, but it's often utilized in longer items. It is simple to overlook the only must of all, that of having the actors keep in character. The hero can hardly go round kicking dogs and making nasty cracks to people weaker than himself. If he makes a nasty comment to a weak and helpless person, he’s a cad so far as the reader is concerned. If he stands as much as the massive, imply boss and makes nasty cracks, that is totally different. And it goes without saying that the villain ought to conduct himself in a completely villainous fashion. There are black villains,* and half-likeable villains. The black villains never do or say anything pleasant. The half-likeable cads may be pretty good guys, however simply weak. The slicks seem to choose this sort of villain, however the pulps need ’em black. It doesn't seem to be a good suggestion to have the villain turn out to be too melodramatic in his villainy. If his badness may be spread out, if he could be kept consistently bad, the same impact may be achieved without the possibility of someone bursting out laughing. There are many tricks for getting character effects, but in all probability the easiest way of securing them is to wade through published material, purloin what appears good, and adapt the concept somewhat. Always remembering: WAVE THAT TAG. â€"Lester Dent Next week we’ll break this down and take a look at both its positives and negatives for a up to date creator. * Do I have to level out here that Dent isn’t referring to the villain’s race? Given the cover art of the magazines of the period in question, I in all probability do. But what he means right here isn’t the color of that character’s skin but in the sense of a personality who has gone over to the Dark Side, is a black-h earted beast, a blackguard, etc. About Philip Athans