| One Monday, almost nine years ago, my husband
suffered a heart attack, two cardiac arrests,
twenty minutes of CPR and a triple by-pass in
the span of four days. He had just hiked the West
Coast Trail with a 50-pound pack. Everyone was
shocked.
The Sunday before, my purse was broken. The snap
would not stay closed and I asked George to fix
it. Two minutes later, he handed it back to me
in perfect working order. I was elated.
However, during the next seven days, I sat alone
in the hospital and watched my husband. Would
he live or die? I did not know. Yet each time
I pulled out my purse, I asked myself, "Will
this be the last thing George ever does for me?"
How do you build character and evoke emotion
by using an object? First, you take an item that
is important or useful to your character. Second,
as they—or their circumstances—undergo
change, you change the object. Preferably from
the last time your character used it.
On Sunday, George was healthy, and my purse was
broken. On Monday, George was dying, and my purse
was fixed. The fact that he was the one to repair
it adds more potency, for each time I opened my
purse, I was faced with my fears.
Clothing is a very subtle but effective tool
your character can use to either hide or reveal
their emotions.
A mother insists that her son look nice for her
new boyfriend they are dining with tonight at
a restaurant. As they sit down at the table, the
boy takes off his jacket. He wears the same blue
shirt he has worn to bed since his parents’
divorce. It bears the number 49 on the front;
the number his father wore when he played college
football.
A jacket has many pockets, which can hide many
secrets. A wife suspects her husband of having
an affair and checks every pocket in his jacket
for clues. She finds nothing. However, just the
night before, his wedding ring lay tucked in his
breast pocket as he dined with his mistress.
Example one reveals the boy’s emotions
while example two hides the husband’s infidelity.
How can an everyday object, like a glass, change
from one day to the next?
Frank comes home from work and finds his wife
drinking water at the kitchen table from the same
glass that used to hold her booze for the past
four years. However, for thirty days now, she
has been dry and sober. He smiles.
Then he hears her laugh. All his anger, fear
and pain boil to the surface as he realizes it
is not water she is drinking, but vodka. He storms
across the room and snatches the glass from her
hand. As the fumes of alcohol reach his nose,
he flings it to the floor. He looks down and sees
all his hopes and dreams shatter with the glass.
One day, his wife was sober and the glass held
water. The next day his wife was drunk, and the
glass held vodka. Now it lay shattered on the
floor. A simple glass reinforces his own shattered
hopes and is far more effective than simply writing,
"He was shattered."
What about a plain wall mount kitchen phone?
How can that change from the day before?
Shirley’s teenage daughter lives on the
phone. But yesterday, there was an accident. The
hospital phoned. Friends and family phoned. The
priest phoned.
Today, as Shirley cries at the kitchen table,
her silent pleas for the phone to ring go unanswered.
It sits against the wall and is deathly quiet.
Just like her daughter.
When you use an object to enhance your scene,
ask yourself this question. How did my character
use the object yesterday that is different from
today? Change your object to reflect the conflict
in your scene and it will grab your reader in
a far tighter grip than if you focus only on your
character.
Ask. Imagine. And then breathe new life into
your words. You will be amazed.
Wendee Guthrie has been writing for a number
of years and is a member of the Greater Vancouver
RWA® chapter.
Articles may be reprinted in RWA® chapter
newsletters, attributed to the Spotlight.
Non-RWA® newsletters may not reprint articles
without the permission of the authors.
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