When we read books with characters we love, we can learn how to write our own characters by studying what details the writers included. Which details do you need? Let's look at the advice Stephen King gives in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft about good description and apply it to two examples of character description: Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
6 Tips on Writing Exciting Character Description
When you write a story, you want your readers to believe that the characters you create are real. The character traits feel as natural as the people in your real life—both major characters and minor characters.
Stephen King, master storyteller and popular writer, shares tips about character description in his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
1. Read a lot
Good description is a learned skill, one of the primary reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read and write a lot.
—Stephen King
To learn how to write, we just can't buy books on writing, we have to read actual stories and write a lot. Not just a little, but a lot.
Right now I spend more time cleaning the seven litter boxes than I do writing. Perhaps I need to read more?
That being said, what should you read in order to grow as a writer?
In a word, anything. Or everything.
Read in your genre, and out of it.
Read authors you love, and read authors you've never heard of before.
Check out plays, short stories, and graphic novels.
Read anything you can.
By drinking from a diverse well, you'll ingest a wide variety of styles and approaches to the art of character description. Every author has his or her own way of bringing physical attributes and mannerisms to life, and it is to your advantage to read indiscriminately as you study your craft.
2. Visualize your reader's experience
King says too little character description leaves a reader bewildered and nearsighted. He also says over description buries the reader in details and images. We are supposed to use just enough description.
An author who specialized in “just enough description” is American author Mark Twain, author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the following scene, Huckleberry is shocked to see his father (a lousy drunk) waiting for him:
“His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and hung down, and you could see his eyes shining through like he was behind vines. It was all black, no gray; so was his long, mixed-up whiskers. There warn’t no color in his face, where his face showed; it was white… a tree-toad white, a fish-belly white. As for his clothes—just rags, that was all. He had one ankle resting on t’other knee; the boot on that foot was busted, and two of his toes stuck through….”
What a feast of physical details! Yet any thoughtful reader can link this list of physical traits to the character's personality.
Twain doesn't just state Pap's hair color—he uses physical descriptions that evoke the man's backstory of poverty, unkempt living, and cruelty.
These imagery fills the reader's mind with the same dread that the narrator and protagonist feels upon seeing him. Our first impression is one of disgust, and even horror.
Great character description brings fictional characters into vivid reality. In this passage, Pap is drawn with perfect precision, just by his grotesque physical appearance.
If I have read a lot of stories, I will know how much description is just enough.
3. Remember your main job
Your readers did not pick up your book so that they could read lots of details about your characters in a character sketch. They picked up your book so you could tell them a story.
A little character description can be helpful, but always remember to focus on your primary job: tell your readers a story. You may even find that when you focus on the story, you don't need much character description at all.
So while Mark Twain's description of Huckleberry Finn's father is dramatic and thorough, it doesn't stretch on forever. Once this passage wraps up, the conflict between violent father and rebellious son begins. Twain doesn't spend a moment more haggling over whether Pap has green eyes or brown eyes, and instead gets to the problem Huck must overcome of escaping an abusive elder.
In fact, Twain only chooses elements of physical characterization that are essential to the story.
Every element of Pap's appearance, from his filthy, vine-like black hair, to his fish-hued flesh, are tied to his personality traits. He is ugly on the inside, and the outside appropriately matches. If one were to write up a character profile on Pap Finn, as any high school student might be tasked to do, they would be able to link the character's actions, which go from despicable to outright evil in the book's early chapters, to his hideous appearance.
4. Use just enough detail
Good description usually consists of a few well-chosen details that will stand for everything else.
—Stephen King
What is the most important aspect of what your character looks like?
The reader doesn't need a description of every button, ribbon, loose thread, or hair follicle. Include only the details that give the reader the most important aspects of the person in the story.
While characterization is an essential task and tool of a story teller, it must be performed quickly and subtely. Most readers aren't too worried about eye color or a character's physical appearance, beyond the bare essentials.
Instead, they're worried about a great story.
This is a crucial lesson to learn as a writer, whether you are a novelist, poet, or screenwriter. Brevity is the soul of wit, so says the Bard.
Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, sums up the role of a character quite well:
“All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through time and changes taking place, and that's what we call ‘the plot'.”
One tempting mistake for new writers is to spend hours on characterization, worrying about the little details like those I've already mentioned.
However, this is ultimately counterproductive.
A story is about a character pursuing a goal. And in order for that pursuit to happen, the character must make choices that require some kind of sacrifice. This doesn't happen in a vacuum or without some kind of motion.
Veteran writers have found that by drafting their characters in action — meaning, making tough choices — they discover the most important details. Something as simple as eye color doesn't really matter that much… unless it weighs heavily on the difficult, sacrificial choices the character must make.
That, of course, brings us to Harry Potter.
5. Leave room for imagination
You do not need to tell your reader everything about your characters. Create a bond with your reader by leaving room for their imagination in your story.
J.K. Rowling didn't describe in great detail what Harry Potter as a baby looks like. She didn't describe Harry's pudgy cheeks, or his hands, his tiny fingernails, his eyebrows, or eyelashes.
We can fill in the details of what we think a baby looks like from our imagination.
She does, however, spend a good deal of time telling the reader that Harry has green eyes, because they are the same color as his mother. And for those who've read the books, this is a BIG deal.
Yet other than that, Rowling doesn't talk much about Harry as a baby. She gives the reader plenty more when he's grown, but again, it isn't terribly much:
“Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.”
Notice that the crucial details here are brief and potent. Hair and eye color are mentioned to give the reader a color connection, but notice the most powerful detail: the Sellotape.
Why?
Because Harry gets punched in the nose by some bloke named Dudley. That means conflict, which means the reader cares and wants to know more.
Why is this jerk punching little Harry?
Will Harry get Dudley back for being so mean?
The characterization pulls double-duty by establishing Harry as more than just a set of physical details. He is a real-life person because he is bullied.
I was bullied. Were you?
Odds are we can relate to Harry, even with this brief details.
Rowling gives the reader room to connect to the character. She keeps the story moving forward without bogging the reader down with boring details.
And based on those few, crucial details, the reader is left to imagine the rest.
6. Write a lot
I know. This tip was in the first tip, with read a lot. I repeated it because it is important, and it is the tip I need to be reminded of. I tend to read more than I write. And how can a writer get better at writing if they don't write?
As Stephen King says, “You can only learn by doing.”
That, by the way, is why this blog is called The Write Practice. Many new writers, myself included, start out believing that talent is king, and is somehow sufficient to tell a story that readers love.
It's not.
It's may be easy to write good character description the first time, but it is not easy to craft great character description that is highly relevant to the plot, story, and stakes.
While your character's superhero t-shirt may be a fun detail to help you remember what they look like, it can only be a potent detail if, perhaps, the character is insistent on being a hero, too—especially if it puts them in mortal peril.
So practice.
Practice a lot.
See failure, or even mediocrity, as a badge of professionalism. As William Faulkner once said, “You have to write badly in order to write well.”
Examples of Character Description
Now that we've dug into some principles of character description, including some gems from Stephen King, let's see whether or not J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins follow King's suggestions in the character description examples below.
Who is Katniss Everdeen?
The character introduction to Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games is mainly about her shoes:
I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet.
We know she hunts. Her ability to hunt is the most important detail about Katniss; it is the central theme of her story; it is what keeps her alive during the Hunger Games and in the rest of the series.
We don't find out the color of her eyes until page eight. Collins describes Katniss by comparing her to her friend Gale:
He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes.
Notice which characterizing detail comes first. Katniss's ability to hunt with her bow and arrow is a crucial character detail. It embodies her skillset and her determination.
This is a great example of tight, concise, and carefully-chosen characterization.
Who is Harry Potter?
Other than his eye color, what is the most important detail about Harry Potter when we first meet him in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?
Fill in the blank: The most important detail about Harry Potter is _____.
Did you say the scar on his forehead? You got it right!
As we already read, when we first meet Harry, Rowling gives us a few details: his hair color, and the scar on his forehead. Here's where Rowling provides a clear image fo the infamous scar:
Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a lightning bolt.
Alongside his green eyes inherited from his mother, the scar on Harry's forehead is the most important detail about Harry's appearance. Plot-wise, it is even more important, as it encapsulates the conflict of the entire series between Harry Potter and Voldemort.
We also find out from the title of the first chapter another important detail about Harry. He is The Boy Who Lived.
Like King and Collins, Rowling skips all the unimportant details and tells us the most important features of her characters immediately. We are not burdened or bored with too much information.
Read to Write
When we read books, books with characters we love, we can learn how to write by studying what details the writers included.
We can begin to notice when character description pulls the reader in—using these six details—and when it doesn't.
But of course, no writer ever gets better without writing.
So write, writer. And have fun with it!
How much character description do you think is necessary to include about the people in your story? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
I have a few options today for your practice.
Option Number One: Write for fifteen minutes about a person who is out looking for their lost cat. Think about what is the most important thing about their appearance? What details will help me visualize what you want me to see?
Option Number Two: Take fifteen minutes to write a scene introducing a character from a story you are writing right now. Or re-write a scene based on Stephen King's tips.
Option Number Three: Take fifteen minutes to re-read the first chapter of a book you love and have read. Look for the description of the main character and observe how the author introduces them. What details did the author give?
If you are already a Write Practice Pro member, post your practice here in the Practice Workshop. Be sure to give feedback to a few other writers and encourage each other.
Not a Pro member yet? You can join us here as a Write Practice Pro monthly subscriber. We'd love to practice alongside you.
I’m afraid. I’m afraid, so very afraid!
Oh god my head hurts so very much. Ugh … no … no don’t move. Sick to my stomach … no … oh god gotta puke … ugh passing … managed to turn my head … oh no, another wave.
Ugh … breath, that’s it, breath deep. Deep calming breaths. Again, breath in nice and slow. Exhale nice and slow. Breath in.
Phew … something stinks. I mean really stinks.
Where am I? Jesus, what’s my hand in? Gooey. icky. Oh crap what am I lying in? Cheez … mud? I wish it were mud. Crap whats that over there? A PIG? I’m in a pig stye? I’m in a god damn pig stye!
Get away … get away from me or I’ll kick you again!
How did I … Charlie, that’s how … Mr. Practical Joke … I swear you are so god damn dead Charles Hilbert.
Very interresting! Thanks!
My method for character description is the more frequently a character appears in the story, the more description they’re given. So main characters get a lot, secondary characters some, and everyone else little if any. This is a section from my WIP. Reviews are always appreciated!
“Oh boy.”
“What?” Emmet was peering through the blinds on the front window.
“They sent Her Highness to work the case.”
“What are you talking about?” I left my charges to see the cause of concern. Emmet obligingly stepped aside to let me have a look. Outside Eldridge House a gleaming silver car was pulling up next to the other police vehicles. “Who is that?”
“That’s Detective Cameron from the CID.”
“What kind of cop drives a Mercedes-Benz?”
Emmet pursed his lips. “Detective Cameron is…interesting. You’ll see.”
“I guess I will.” We left the window and Emmet hunkered down next to the corpses to take more shots. I watched over his shoulder, and pointed out key details.
There was a knock at the door. Sean hollered, “I’ll get it!” I heard the door open, and Sean chirped, “Hiya, Detective!”
If Emmet hadn’t already mentioned that the detective was a woman, I might not have been able to tell. The voice that responded to Sean’s greeting was smooth and deep. “Officer O’Dare. The bodies?”
“They’re right in here! Emmet and Dr. MacBride are already taking a look at ‘em.”
“MacBride? That’s a name I haven’t heard before.” The deep voice had entered the room. I turned around – and found myself staring into the darkest pair of eyes I had ever seen. Liquid and black, like crude oil. I think Emmet might’ve said something. I wasn’t paying attention. The dark eyes held my gaze and I had no interest in looking away.
I heard myself say, “That’s me. MacBride. Dr. Alexandra MacBride, hi.”
The woman to whom the eyes belonged shucked off her leather gloves and held out her hand. “Detective Alicia Cameron. Pleased to meet you.”
I peeled off my own gloves, being careful not to drip blood. “Likewise.” Our hands met and a current of – something, rippled through me.
Detective Cameron was tall. She towered over me, and even Sean – who had trailed after her into the room – was about half a head shorter. She was also rail thin, or so I guessed from the parts of her that weren’t covered by her greatcoat. The hand I had just shaken was spidery. Her jaw was narrow, her lips were flat, and her cheekbones were angular slashes across her face. She was white, quite literally, making her eyes and her mop of black hair seem all the darker by comparison. She wasn’t attractive in the conventional sense, but there was something about her stark, androgynous features that was oddly beautiful.
I like to find one trait that sums up the character and his or her role within the story, and the emotional turmoil that is their norm. Here is my introduction to one character:
Doctor Camille Romilly sat thoroughly still, scalpel-thin arms closed with much severity, her facial muscles as clenched as bowels that must suppress a stone-hard motion at an inconvenient time.
Or here is an other one from the same work:
Doctor Frantisek Dušek spilt hot sweat as he gesticulated towards a sheaf of mostly dog-eared papers. They were nearly bursting out of a cracked and fray-edged clipboard on the desk as he made his noisy point. Whatever it was.
I always wondered about how much is description is needed, and this article helped me alot, thank you!
Perfectly timed, Pamela, as always, even if I am a week late getting here! Why? Because my current WIP introduces a new key character who readers learn a lot about by her being discussed by the male and female leads. That said, I had been pondering adding a chapter in from her POV and have decided today to leave that for the next book in the series; so this article confirms that thought
She drew stares whenever she entered any room.Eyes, both male and female, usually followed her but were drawn to her for vastly different reasons. Shaped like the proverbial hourglass, hips swaying as her customary pumps beat a staccato rhythm across the floor.You would think her form was the most mesmerizing thing about her until she opened her mouth and you saw the smile, her teeth a batallion of troops in perfect formation.
The following excerpt is not the first time my principal character, Charles Williams, appears in the book. Nevertheless, it builds on some earlier descriptions of him and incorporates information on several characters associated with his new job. All will play a part later in the story.
Please comment as you’re moved to do so.
Meet and Greet
Every Fall, near the beginning of the semester, as unfailingly as Labor Day and the assault of various pollens that made Charles Warner’s life miserable until the first frost, academic institutions welcomed new additions to their faculties. For years Charles had been able to avoid most such gatherings at Aztec, pleading one excuse or another, while his late wife reveled in the chance to make new friends. Now it was his turn. There was no graceful way of avoiding the welcoming reception for new faculty that he now plodded toward, sniffling as he went. Dean Georgescu had specifically asked that he attend so that she could introduce him to other college officers and department chairs in the College of Arts and Sciences. There weren’t too many command performances in academe, but this surely was one.
He pulled a campus map from his jacket pocket and tried to locate the Conference Center where the reception was being held. It was not on the main campus, not being part of the original architectural concept of the founder, but located on the northern boundary of the campus grounds, backing against a low ridge of hills that formed part of the campus green space. Finally he located the Center complex and found that it was, fortuitously, a decent walk away from the academic buildings. He had neglected his running for nearly a week since arriving on campus and, but for the gauntlet of pollenating trees along the way, he relished the idea of a walk along the shaded grounds.
Progressing towards the conference complex, he noticed others converging from different directions as they made their way to the center. Most strolled along leisurely, singly or in twos or threes, lost in casual conversation. An occasional lone figure, like Charles, moped along, taking his or her time. It was amusing to speculate on which of the pilgrims looked forward to the meeting and which were trying to think of an excuse to turn back. Ultimately, all continued, however; those reluctant ones probably reasoning the it was only once a year and it was easier to put in a token appearance than to explain their absence. Charles planned to make such a brief gesture, then excuse himself, pleading allergies to the inevitable mold lurking in the furniture and books of Mainwaring’s buildings.
On reaching the steps to the entrance of the Center, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his nasal passages had apparently come to an accommodation with the local environment. He was even able to imagine having a brief conversation without interruption by a sneezing fit. The large, open foyer of the building served as a registration area with a centrally located table staffed by a male and female pair of student assistants handing out name tags to new arrivals. Various administrators milled around, smiling and shaking hands. Charles stopped to get his name tag from the table and was surprised when Dean Georgescu joined him.
“Professor Warner, welcome again. I see you found your way.”
“Yes. It was easier getting in here than my first time in my office.” He smiled to take off any waspish edge to the remark.
“I’m sorry about the confusion. I trust you’re settling in all right?”
“It’s taking a little time. I’m getting some different furniture. It seems that my allergies were uncomfortable with the upholstery on the older wood furniture. I’m changing to something a little more spare.”
“Well, I’m glad that you’ve found a solution. Please come with me into the ballroom and let me introduce you to some of our academic family.”
Charles nodded and followed her into the larger meeting room that occupied the center of the first floor. The design reminded him of a hotel ballroom rather than an academic building — almost as if someone had designed a conference center for a hotel and switched it to the College.
“Is this used for meeting space as well as for — uh — assemblies such as this?”
“Yes.” The Dean indicated a projection booth above them just over the main entrance. We can seat about 350 people when we’re set up.”
She waved at a tall, burly man in a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches standing midway across the room.
“That’s Dr. Russell — Alec — our Provost. I don’t know whether you met him during your interview visit.”
“No. I was told he was out of town.”
She set a course for the Provost with Charles in her wake.
“Alec. I’d like you to meet Professor Charles Warner, our new Physics department chair and Wilder Professor.”
Charles extended his hand and murmured a greeting. Dr. Russell engulfed the extended hand in a surprisingly rough paw and rumbled,
“Glad to have you, glad to have you. Getting settled, are you?”
Without waiting for a response he continued. “Were you here on a visit before? I don’t recall meeting you.”
Dean Georgescu spoke before Charles could respond.
“You were out of town when he came on his campus visit. It was nearly a year ago around Columbus Day, as I recall.”
“Ah, yes. Family business. Well, welcome anyway. If you find time, make an appointment for a chat and I’ll give you my short history of the place.”
“Thanks. That would be very useful.”
Russell nodded to them, then excused himself and headed for another group across the room.
“He tends to come across as abrupt, but actually he’s quite friendly.”
The Dean smiled conspiratorially. “Some of us call him ‘The Bear’.”
“Ah.”
“Oh, there’s Dr. Sanders. Another new faculty member. Please excuse me, I have to say hello and circulate.”
“Of course. Thanks for the introduction to the Provost.”
Charles stayed by the bar, nursing a glass of cheap Riesling as he surveyed the room, remembering why he had avoided these events in the past. Too many faces. No way to escape without the Dean noticing. He tried locate other newcomers to the College by the color-coded sticky labels everyone unavoidably acquired at the welcome table. He didn’t relish making small talk in general, but at least with people from his college there was a chance of finding something in common, even if it was only the Dean. There were not many from Arts and Sciences as far as he could tell. He found that surprising since it was one of the larger colleges.
His internal debate about whether to exchange the wine for club soda was interrupted by a familiar voice.
“Life is too short to drink cheap wine.”
Harry Peters had slipped up unnoticed during his scan of the room.
“Professor Peters! Now I know three people in the room.”
“It’s also informal so no titles and first names are required. Unless you want me to address you as ‘Wilder Professor and Chairman’.
“Charles will do fine. I haven’t had a chance to thank you for getting me into the building when I arrived. It might have been a long morning if you hadn’t come along.”
“You’re quite welcome. Are you all settled now?”
“Settled doesn’t really describe it. But I can get into the office now. I’m waiting for some furniture to arrive before I bring in all of my things.”
“That’ll be a change. I thought it looked like an antique furniture shop when I arrived twenty years ago.”
“It did convey a sense of permanence.”
Harry chuckled.
“My allergies picked up a cocktail of dust and pollen that might have dated from the original occupant.”
“You have hay fever, too?”
“Did you assume that the red-rimmed eyes had been specially made up for the reception?”
“Seriously, if you would like the name of an allergist, I can recommend one. I go to Martin Wallace.” Harry withdrew his wallet and extracted a card that he extended to Charles. “Here’s his contact info. He’s very good.”
“Thanks, that’s very kind. I’ll check him out.” He pocketed the card and looked around the room. “Meantime, you could help me by pointing out anyone here that I absolutely must meet. I’ve been introduced to the Provost already.”
Harry swept the room with an appraising glance. “I don’t see anyone that is an absolute must. Just don’t get caught like her.”
His gaze led Charles to a woman with striking reddish hair nearly pinned against the far wall by a tall figure, hunched mantis-like over her. It was clearly a one-sided conversation that he noted she managed with a familiar skill. She maintained a pleasant smile, punctuating her nods with an occasional low laugh or sip of her drink. As he watched, Charles didn’t see her speak at all for fully a minute before she appeared to make a short remark. Her captor apparently thought it amusing, bobbing his head and shifting his posture without giving her an exit path before he continued his monologue.
“Do you know who they are?”
Harry studied the pair briefly before responding.
“He’s Mike Pollit, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and renowned as a crashing bore. Never wants a conversation, only an audience. He’s known for zeroing in on some poor soul, buying him — or her — a drink, and regaling his prey with some interminable description of his latest theory. Everyone on campus knows his trick. She must be new.”
“She’s managing him quite well. Do you recognize it?”
Harry glanced at them again and turned back. “Sorry. I don’t understand.”
“She’s playing a game with him. I call it the Listening Game.”
Harry snatched another furtive look. “How does it work?”
“Confronted with a bore and no easy exit, think of something completely different from whatever he’s going on about. I generally use some mathematical problem that currently interests me. Catch the pattern of the bore’s monologue and develop a set of responses that make him think that you’re listening. Wait him out while you work on your internal task.”
“How do you shut them off?”
“Eventually they wear down. Just never accept a refill if he’s bought you a drink.”
“Looks like she’s got a different exit strategy. She appears to be leaving.”
“That’s an advanced move. It actually takes more skill than just waiting him out.”
“Well I’ll have to work on that. I’ve got to leave now. Simon’s preparing his Provençal speciality for dinner tonight.”
“Simon?”
“Oh, sorry, you haven’t met. Simon’s my partner.” Harry pronounced the name a la Francaise. “Chef and part owner of Le Petit Bistro. Best restaurant in town.”
“I’ll have to try it sometime. I get tired of my own cooking. Heating is a better description.”
“By all means. Have a good weekend.”
Following Harry’s assessment that there was no one essential for him to meet, Charles yielded to his natural inclination and made an unobtrusive escape from the gathering. Other than the opportunity for watching another player of The Game and getting Harry’s recommendations, it proved as unproductive as he found most such events.
The Singing Lesson
“… credi mi almen, senza di te, languisce il cor.”
Following the last strains of the Bel Canto ballad, Patricia lifted her hands from the keyboard and folded them in her lap. The trembling girl standing by the piano removed her glasses and wiped the perspiration from them on her blouse while she waited for her teacher’s critique. Agonizing seconds of silence passed as Patricia contemplated how to begin.
“That was an improvement over last time, Marjorie. Your pronunciation is getting better.”
“Thank you, Miss Halliday! I’ve been listening to the tape you gave me.”
“Do you know what the lyrics mean? What you’re trying to say and to whom?”
Marjorie replaced her glasses and hesitated before replying.
“Well, it’s a love song.”
“Yes. Whom is the singer addressing?”
“Her sweetheart?”
“And what does she want from her lover?”
The student looked down at her Mary Janes, contemplating the question in silence, her lank hair covering her eyes. Patricia sighed inwardly, realizing that Marjorie’s experience was so far removed from the song’s subject that she had difficulty describing its intent. How could she be expected to interpret an Italian love song if her only experience to date was limited to watching farm animals? Patricia found it difficult to believe anyone could finish high school and be so unschooled.
“Why did you choose this song for your first class performance?”
Marjorie raised her head and regarded her teacher with tear-stained glasses.
“Because the music is so pretty.”
“Yes, but we need to use the music to express the emotion felt by the singer. We have to see her frame of mind.”
“Can’t we use some other words?”
Patricia was taken aback by the suggestion. It had never occurred to her. Her immediate reaction was to refuse, explaining that the process of learning to sing in another language was to express feelings and emotions in that language. But maybe not all at once.
“Would you like to make up some other words to sing to this music?”
Marjorie’s eyes lit up as she contemplated Patricia’s suggestion.
“Yes. I’d like that.”
She couldn’t use alternative words at a recital, of course, Patricia thought. But it might be a way of getting past her current hurdle. Everyone learns in her own way.
“All right. For your next lesson, you can use any words you like to sing to this music. Just give me a copy of your lyrics before you start.”
Marjorie’s face brightened as she thought of the prospect. “Thanks, Miss Halliday. I’ll bring a copy with me to my next lesson.”
Patricia escorted her to the studio door and watched her almost skip down the hall. Quite a difference from her foot-dragging entrance.
Returning to her desk, Patricia sighed as she pondered why she needed to employ various strategies to interest students in singing in another language. Her students at Mainwaring were mainly from the nearby region — a rural area where music meant Country and Western mixed with Bluegrass. They needed help to realize that the emotions behind love songs in the classical repertoire were the same as those in local genres . . . just expressed in different words.