It’s time for another Character Under A Microscope post where I dig deep into character development. While most people pick up a story for the plot, they stay for the characters. Therefore, you want to make them as realistic and interesting as possible. Today, I want to discuss character mannerisms (with examples) and their importance in a good story.
What Are Mannerisms?
Character mannerisms refers to a character’s unconscious, habitual behaviors. These are things they do without thinking, and they make them feel real—not cookie cutter copies of each other. There are two types of mannerisms: vocal and physical. Let’s look at each group and some examples. I don’t have an extensive list of mannerisms in this post because the internet is full of such lists. If you need more inspiration for mannerisms, just do an internet search for “character mannerisms” and you’ll find several websites with huge lists.
Vocal Mannerisms
Vocal mannerisms are characteristics and habits people have with their voice. These include speech and other ways people use their voices (such as humming, grunting, etc.). I’m going to break this down into two categories: verbal and nonverbal.
Verbal
Verbal mannerisms are characteristics about the character’s speech. This includes things like rate of speech, pitch, volume, inflections, pauses, and filler words. Does the character talk fast, slow, or drag out certain vowels? Is the voice high or low or nasally? Does he have a boisterous voice or does he mumble? Is she constantly running her words together without pauses or does she often trail off mid-sentence? Are the inflections all rising so everything sounds like a question or are they all descending so everything seems like a command? What filler words does the character tend to use? (Um, like, really, well, you know, so, right, etc.) These are all good behaviors to think about when creating verbal mannerisms for your characters.
Nonverbal
Nonverbal mannerisms are any sounds made with the mouth or throat that isn’t speech. Some examples include coughing, sighing, clearing the throat, whistling, grunting, scoffing, clicking the tongue, etc. All of these behaviors can vary according to the person too. For instance, laughing is a nonverbal mannerism, and everyone does it a little different. People can giggle, chuckle, belly laugh, silent laugh, let of one blast of sound, etc. Even things like yawning can become unique mannerisms for people, depending on if it’s an airy yawn or has some vocal base to it. There are lots of ways to get creative with nonverbal tendencies and when characters use them.
Physical Mannerisms
Physical mannerisms are behaviors people do with their own bodies. These include facial expressions, movements, and positioning. Let’s look at these in two categories: the head and the body.
Head
I’m addressing the head separate from the body because there are so many behaviors people can have in regards to their head and face. It’s one of the most active parts of the body.
In regards to the head in general, a character can move or hold it in several ways that can be unconscious. For instance, tilting the head, tucking the chin or sticking it out, wrinkling the nose, nodding, popping the neck, etc. All of these can be behaviors people exhibit at different times. For example, I once saw a man who couldn’t clap his hands without also wobbling his head like a bobblehead. That was his mannerism. I also knew a woman who couldn’t make eye contact with someone across the room with making some silly face at him or her. It was her way of acknowledging the person instead of simply nodding or waving.
The whole head can be quite expressive and active, but there are two places on the face that tend to be used the most in mannerisms. First are the eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and they are right. People are very expressive with them, both consciously and unconsciously. These behaviors can be things like long blinks, intense eye contact, avoiding eye contact, winking, glazed over eyes, closing eyes to think, darting eyes back and forth, etc. All of these behaviors can distinguish characters and also give them some added personality.
The second active place on a person’s face is the mouth. These mannerisms include things like: biting a lip, pursed lips, smacking lips, sticking the tongue out to concentrate, clacking teeth together, etc. People often put things to their lips or in their mouth unconsciously too. They chew on pen tips, leave a toothpick hanging out of their mouth, run the tip of their hair against their lips, or bite their fingernails or knuckles. These are all behaviors characters can do when bored, anxious, or trying to think.
Body
The body’s movements and positioning are often full of unconscious behaviors. I’d argue the most active part of the body are the hands, and numerous mannerisms can be found there. Some examples are scratching the head, playing with hair, stroking a mustache, touching an ear, giving a thumbs up, talking with hands, rubbing temples, picking at skin or clothes, covering the mouth when laughing, drumming fingers, tearing napkins or paper, adjusting glasses, straightening items, etc. I could go on and on about all the things people do to fidget with their hands. When in doubt, have your character do something with his hands, and you’ll have a realistic mannerism.
But the hands aren’t the only part of the body that can exhibit unconscious behaviors. In regards to the shoulders, are they tense or slouched? Does the character have a tendency to shrug or roll their shoulders often? For the arms, do they hang loosely or often cross over each other? When sitting at a table, does a woman never lay her arms on the table or use them to prop up her chin? Also, positioning of legs is often habitual. Does a man sit with his legs crossed, straight, or spread wide? A character can tap her foot, bounce on her heels, sway when standing still, etc. There are so many little movements people do every day without thinking. If you need inspiration for your characters, just watch the people in your life.
Three Reasons To Use Mannerisms
1. Adding mannerisms to each character makes them stand apart from each other. It makes them distinct and memorable. If you have a large cast or even people who show up sporadically in the story, mannerisms can help keep the characters straight in readers’ heads.
2. Also, mannerisms allow characters’ personalities to show through their actions. Anxious people and optimistic people will have different habits. By choosing your character’s mannerisms wisely, you can convey character depth without having to spell it out on the page. Even a waitress who only appears once in your story can feel less like a throwaway character if a small mannerism is assigned to her in the scene.
3. Lastly, mannerisms make characters feel authentic. In real life, everyone has mannerisms. A combination of these unconscious behaviors is what set us apart from each other and make us distinctly us. The same should be true for your characters. Showing these mannerisms creates an image that is that character’s alone. The end result will be more authentic characters that jump off the page and stick in the readers’ minds.
What’s The Difference Between Character Tags And Mannerisms?
A character tag is something distinguishing about a character that makes them easy to remember. A hooked nose, drumming fingers, a tattoo, or even a certain fashion style. While a mannerism can be made into a tag, not all mannerisms are tags. In my post on character tags, I have sections about gestures and vocal traits being possible tags, but that’s only if they are very distinct.
Remember, a character tag is the one thing you automatically associate with someone, and it must be unique to only them in the story. However, there can be multiple mannerisms for one character. For instance, a woman’s mannerisms can be eye rolls, foot tapping, and clipped words. Also, some characters can have the same mannerisms, like two characters have a tendency to stroke their beards. Think of tags as a calling card, and mannerisms as habits. Each person only gets one calling card but can have a plethora of habits.
How To Make A Mannerism A Character Tag
If you decide to make a mannerism a tag, there are two keys to making it work. First, the mannerism must show up on the page multiple times. Now, I’m not saying it needs to be on every page. Inserting a tag (or even just a mannerism) too often or when it seems out of context will annoy readers. Just make sure to mention it often at the start of the book, and then you can use it off and on after readers realize the mannerism is associated with that character.
Second, the mannerism must be unusual and unique to that character. You can make a high voice a tag, but it’s a bland one. However, if you make it a high voice that sounds like chimes, it’s more memorable. Or, to make it even more memorable, you can make it a large man with a high voice. That defies reader expectations and will stick out in their minds. On top of making it unusual though, it must be unique. If in the last quarter of the book you introduce another large man with a high voice, it ruins the tag. Readers will automatically think it’s the first man and be confused when it turns out to be someone else. So, make sure the mannerisms you make into tags are unusual and unique.
Final Thoughts
There are so many mannerisms that people exhibit, you should have no problem finding different ones for all your characters. Remember though, these are mannerisms and not character tags. You don’t have to over-represent them on the page, and your characters should have more than one. I’d focus on your main characters first and get them well-rounded. If you want to do the others later, you can. If you feel overwhelmed by it though, just let the supporting characters go without them. If your beta readers end up coming back to you about some characters being flat, then perhaps you can work on adding some mannerisms for them in your next round of edits.
Thanks for reading!
Write a tale
Leave a trail