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Posing Your Characters: Don't be a 'poser'
by Sue McKlveen (with thanks to Judy Buresh for help with the title)
What is a ‘poser’? If you look it up, you’ll see that it’s someone who poses, or a challenging problem.
I’m going to make up another definition for writing. A poser is a writer who shows us every movement their character makes, whether it has anything to do with the plot. They ‘pose’ their characters, much as an animator working with claymation, slowing down the plot just as much.
For example, in this excerpt, see if you can figure out how much posing is taking place:
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"I don’t like your attitude," John said, leaning against the desk. He ran his fingers through his hair and faced Jane. "And furthermore…" He raised his finger at her and wagged it, making her feel like a child. "I’m not so sure if I want you working for this company."
Jane stood up and faced the brute. "No one treats me like this. My father started this company from the ground up." She leaned closer, narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. "I can have you fired in an instant. I have friends."
John crossed the room and stared out the window. "That’s exactly my point. You do have friends, but I have more powerful friends." He kept looking out the window and finally crossed his arms. "There’s something I haven’t told you." He scratched his head.
Jane rose from her seat, straightened her papers on her desk and pulled out her mirror. She re-applied her lipstick then cleared her throat. "Yes?"
John spun around and faced her. He took two steps, then stopped, staring at her. He took a few more steps, stopped, pulled a pen and a paper from his pocket, made a note, then walked the rest of the way to the desk. "I’ve bought out the company."
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Now, what did all his ‘posing’ do for the reader, other than slow down the pacing? Who cares if he took a few steps, or if she took some valuable time away from the reader to apply lipstick? As a reader, I would’ve thrown this thing away. The writer knows nothing about pacing and arguments. Never slow an argument or you will lose the reader.
Here’s the same excerpt, without all the posing:
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"I don’t like your attitude," John said, facing Jane across the desk. "And furthermore, I’m not so sure if I want you working for this company."
Jane stood up and faced the brute. "No one treats me like this. My father started this company from the ground up." She lowered her voice. "I can have you fired in an instant. I have friends."
John crossed the room and stared out the window. "That’s exactly my point. You do have friends, but I have more powerful friends. There’s something I haven’t told you."
"Yes?"
John spun around and walked toward the desk. "I’ve bought out the company."
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In writing, I’ve found that leaving some of the extra description and posing up to the reader makes for a better and faster-paced book. The reader doesn’t care about the tiny details, or so I’ve found, because they want to know the plot. Plot matters…not so much for the details. Think of it this way…if you took out everything but the plot, how important would it be to the book? Are you posing your characters too much just for word count? If so, rethink the plot…because that means it’s weak. And never, ever, break up an argument with back story or extra posing within dialogue.
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