From Dickens to Orange: The Enduring Power of Verbal Snapshots
“To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard.” ~ Allen Ginsberg
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange got me thinking a good deal about portraits and character sketches which helps writers develop richer, more nuanced characters in both fiction and creative non-fiction.
From Tell it Slant by Brenda Miller and Suzanna Paola:
One of the most popular essay forms of the 19th century, the sketch or portrait, held ground partly because of the lack of other forms of communication – the average person traveled little, even after the invention of photography, saw far fewer photos then we see today. Writers like Dickens stepped into the breach, offering verbal snapshots of cities, foreign countries, and people.
Today we have newspapers, TV, the Internet, but the power of language to provide not just verbal pictures, but emotional ones keeps the portrait and important form. Immediately after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon, The New Yorker magazine commission a handful of writers to capture that day in short verbal portraits, collectively titled “First Reactions.” The editors realized something crucial about the world-changing event: photos may best hold the searing image of the buildings, but a writer can also capture the reality of “stumbling out of the smoke into a different world” (Jonathan Franzen).
The character sketch is also integral part of the portrait form. Originally a kind of verbal photograph, portraits can still capture individuals in a way visual forms cannot, using imagery and description to lead from someone surface to their essence. Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman” forms at once a largely imaginary portrait of the author’s disgraced aunt and a portrait of her very real mother:
If I want to learn what clothes my aunt wore, whether flashy or ordinary, I would have to begin, “Remember Father’s drowned-in-the-well sister?” I cannot ask that. My mother has told me once and for all the useful parts. She will add nothing unless powered by Necessity, a riverbank that great guides her life. She plants vegetable gardens rather than lawn. She carries odd shape tomatoes home from the fields and eats food left for the gods.
What a world of information packed into this portrait!
The Difference Between a Character Portrait and a Sketch
Portrait:
In creative writing, portrait refers to a detailed, in-depth description of a character that goes beyond mere physical appearance. A portrait aims to capture the essence of a character, including their:
- Physical attributes
- Personality traits
- Emotional landscape
- Personal history
- Motivations and desires
- Unique mannerisms or habits
- Worldview and beliefs
A portrait is typically more comprehensive and nuanced than a sketch. It seeks to present a fully realized individual, often revealing complexities and contradictions within the character. Portraits can be presented all at once or developed gradually throughout a piece of writing.
For example in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s portrayal of Jay Gatsby is a portrait. We learn about Gatsby’s appearance, his mysterious past, his obsessive love for Daisy, his lavish lifestyle, and the contrast between his public persona and private vulnerabilities.
Character Sketch:
A “character sketch” is a briefer, more focused depiction of a character. It’s often used as a writing tool or as a quick introduction to a character in a story. A character sketch typically includes:
- Key physical features
- Dominant personality traits
- One or two defining characteristics or quirks
- Basic background information
Character sketches are often used in the planning stages to quickly establish the main traits. In the final piece, they might be used to introduce minor characters or to give readers a quick sense of a character before delving deeper.
Example: In a mystery novel, a detective might quickly size up a suspect, noting their nervous demeanor, disheveled appearance, and evasive answers. This brief description serves as a character sketch, giving readers just enough information to form an initial impression.
Key Differences
- Depth: Portraits are more in-depth and complex, while sketches are quicker and more surface-level.
- Purpose: Portraits aim to fully realize a character, while sketches often serve to quickly establish or introduce a character.
- Development: Portraits may evolve throughout a piece of writing, while sketches are usually static.
- Usage: Portraits are typically used for main characters, while sketches are often employed for secondary or minor characters.
Understanding the difference between these techniques can help you choose the best method for developing characters based on the character’s role in the story and your intentions. Samples of two from Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Blackbird. Question: Which one are these two? Portraits? Sketches? Post below or let’s talk about that in class!
Wandering Stars and The Character Sketch
Orange uses this technique to convey the diversity of Native American experiences which helps us to understand that indeed, detailed character sketches can reveal layers of personality, history, and motivation. Individual character sketches can also contribute to overarching themes in a larger work, can represent a range of experiences within a cultural group, and can create emotional connections with readers.
Sketches and portraits can also presents an opportunity to bring deeper life to real people in memoirs, biographies, or journalistic pieces, can represent a range of experiences within a cultural group and create emotional connections with readers.
Finally, sketches and portraits can help serious writers think deeply about character development and how individual stories contribute to larger narratives. This method can also bridge the gap between analyzing literature and creating it, offering valuable insights for both critical readers and emerging writers. Diverse character portraits.
PROMPTS TO CONSIDER for next week’s share (11/7): 1) Create three brief but detailed character portraits, inspired by Orange’s approach and focus on specific details that illuminate essence. In your meetings, work together to find thematic links or potential plot connections between them. 2) Consider a person from your own life. How would you approach writing both a brief sketch and a more detailed portrait of them? What details would you include or exclude in each, and why?
