When thinking characterisation often the first thing that comes to mind is fictional characters and using creativity to bring them to life. The fictional writer has no limits. They can turn their characters into whoever they want. But if you are writing a memoir, and your characters are real people, you can't turn them into something they're not - so what does characterisation mean to the memoir writer?
To your reader, the people in your story (and that likely includes yourself) are characters such as in any story. While you might know the people in your story very well, and find them interesting enough to put them into the pages of your memoir, your reader probably hasn’t had the pleasure. So while you are writing about real people, just like the characters in fictional stories, your characters need to be brought to life.
While you may not have the flexibility of ultimate creativity, such as a fictional writer, there is still plenty of scope to portray your characters. Just because you are bounded by the fact that your characters are real people, you can still be creative in how you describe them.
New and Interesting Ways
Think about a character in your story. What makes him or her interesting or special or simply relevant to your story? Is it something they've done? What’s important about them in the context of your story? Describing the basics, such as what they look like, how tall they are and what they wear might not be enough for your readers to begin to see your characters as you do.
Remember, you know much more about these people, much more details than your reader can ever know, so how can you help your reader understand these characters a little better? Sometimes it something that the character says or does or doesn’t say or doesn’t do, that can say volumes about them. Perhaps it’s how they wear their hair or how they walk. Think about the interesting facts and little details that make them stand apart from the crowd.
See also Making Your Memoirs Real
Do You Really Know Your Characters?
Prepare a journal of all your characters and try to capture down on paper everything you know about each one, from the basics (what they look like, their age, their job as a few examples) to small details (where they like to go for holidays, how they get to work are just a couple of ideas). You might find that you know more about some characters than others; you may need to do some research to fill the gaps. See Research Tips for Memoirs. Remember the more in-depth you understand your characters the better you will be able to portray them as true to life.
What Your Characters Say and Do
As a memoir writer you don’t have the luxury of writing what your characters think. Unless of course they have told you what they thought. Generally though, with characters other than yourself, you will have to rely on what they say and do. Dialogue can reveal much about a character as does their actions. Think about what your characters said and how they said it. Consider their actions – how did they react to a situation? Do they have any typical mannerisms? How to they behave in normal situations? and then under stress?
Your characters are important elements of your story. Even though they are real people, as a writer it’s your task to create engaging and interesting characters. Sometimes when you know people very well, you need to step back and view them as others might see them. Study your characters in depth and take the time to be really creative in how you bring them to life in your memoir.
Real People, Real Characters: The WHO of Memoir is a helpful article of characterisation and memoirs.
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