Character Tags in Fiction

Character Tags in Fiction Character Tags in Fiction Character Tags in Fiction By Maeve Maddox In the parlance of fiction writing, a character tag is a repetitive verbal device used to identify a character in the mind of the reader. More than a simple description, a character tag calls to mind aspects of the characters personality and uniqueness. Uriah Heeps clammy hands, his constant hand rubbing, and his use of the word humble to describe himself and his mother are character tags that make him unforgettable. Sherlock Holmes and his violin, his shag tobacco, and his uncanny aptitude for noting and interpreting details others ignore, are only three of the numerous character tags that make him live in our imagination. Character tags may be drawn from any aspect of the characters appearance or behavior: voice gestures body carriage dialect and speech mannerisms hair clothing scent mental state A sympathetic character who has red hair may be described as having carrot red hair, while a creepy character might have hair the color of dried blood. Some characters in a novel may appear only a few times, but the most minor character needs a character tag or two to make him memorable. In The Mummers Curse Gillian Roberts introduces a minor character with this description: I didn’t recognize him, but I didnt think I should be scared. He was polite, his voice low-pitched and confident, and apparently he knew me. Besides, he was elegant. In his early forties, I thought, with prematurely silver hair uncovered despite the freezing wind, and looking none the worse for it. His topcoat was visibly soft, cashmere, I suspected, and his hands, encased in buttery brown gloves, held a leather-bound book with gold-edged pages. When the character appears again, the author reiterates some of these details, for example, the silver hair that defies the elements, the expensive attire, and the book. C. R. Corwins Morgue Mama Mysteries feature a newspaper librarian in her sixties. Many of her character tags have to do with her appearance: My name is Dolly Madison Sprowls. Im 68 years old. Im short, a little dumpy, and I havent changed my hairstyle since college. I looked up and found Chick Glass. I figured that was you, Maddy, he said. He playfully flicked my Prince Valiant bangs with his fingers. Used judiciously, character tags add dimension to the characters and enable the reader to tell them apart. Depending on what mental baggage the reader brings to the story, however, character tags can jar the reader out of the dream and cause annoyance. In the Amanda Pepper mysteries by Gillian Roberts, Amanda is a native of Philadelphia. Her boyfriend Mackenzie is from the South. One of his character tags is that he lapses into his native speech when stressed. Speech tags involving dialect and speech mannerisms can be effective, but Roberts doesnt just make use of the tag and move on; she has Amanda comment at such length on Mackenzies lapses that I grow annoyed at what seems to me to be a display of a misplaced sense of regional superiority. The Maddy Sprowls character has two character tags that yank me out of the story every time they occur. One is a speech tag and the other involves a habitual gesture. Here are examples: Are you saying Gordon was gay? Good gravy, does everything have to be about sex? She took the brick†¦How much did you pay for it? I pawed the air. It was a steal. Every time I read the interjection Good gravy, I pictured Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica from the comics. I dont know if they said it, but thats what I thought of every time and there are lots of good gravies in Dig. The other tag that never failed to jar is I pawed the air. Maddy paws the air a lot. Every time I read that tag I imagined a rearing horse. I finally decided that Corwin intended to convey the dismissive gesture one might make while saying Pshaw! Character tags are great ways to make fictional characters live, but take care to avoid any that may defeat the purpose of keeping the reader engaged in the story. More on character tags: Kaye Dacus Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?50 Idioms About Roads and PathsMood vs. Tense

Profile of Serial Killer, Cannibal and Necrophilliac Richard Chase

Profile of Serial Killer, Cannibal and Necrophilliac Richard Chase Serial killer, cannibal and necrophiliac Richard Chase who went on a month-long killing spree which ended with six people dead, including children. Along with  savagely murdering his victims, he also drank their blood which earned him the nickname, The Vampire of Sacramento. One has to wonder if Chase was alone in the blame for what he did to others. His parents and health officials considered him stable enough to live without supervision, despite the fact he displayed severe abnormal behavior from an early age. Childhood Years Richard Trenton Chase  was born on May 23, 1950. His parents were strict disciplinarians and Richard was often subjected to beatings from his father. By the age of 10, Chase displayed three known warning signs of children who grow to become serial killers; bed-wetting beyond the normal age, cruelty to animals and setting fires. Teenage Years According to published reports, Chases mental disorders intensified during his teenage years. He became a drug user and regularly exhibited symptoms of delusional thinking. He managed to maintain a small social life, however, his relationships with women would not last long. This was because of his bizarre behavior and because he was impotent. The later problem obsessed him and he voluntarily sought help from a psychiatrist. The doctor was unable to help him and noted his problems were a result of his severe mental disorders and repressed anger. After turning 18, Chase moved out from his parents home and in with roommates. His new living arrangements did not last long. His roommates, bothered by his heavy drug use and wild behavior, asked him to leave. After Chase refused to move out, the roommates left and he was forced to move back in with his mother. This lasted until he became convinced that she was trying to poison him and Chase was moved to an apartment paid for by his father. A Search for Help Isolated, Chases obsession with his health and bodily functions heightened. He suffered from constant paranoid episodes and would often end up at the hospital emergency room in search of help. His list of ailments included complaints that someone had stolen his pulmonary artery, that his stomach was backward and that his heart had stopped beating. He was diagnosed as being a paranoid schizophrenic and spent a short time under psychiatric observation, but soon released. Unable to find help from doctors, yet still convinced that his heart was shrinking, Chase felt he had found the cure. He would kill and disembowel small animals and eat the various parts of the animals raw. However, in 1975, Chase suffering from blood poisoning after injecting the blood of a rabbit into his veins, was involuntarily hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia or Drug-Induced Psychosis? Doctors treated Chase with the usual drugs used for schizophrenia with little success. This convinced doctors that his illness was due to his heavy drug use and not schizophrenia. Regardless, his psychosis remained intact and after he was found with two dead birds with their heads cut off and blood sucked out, he was moved to a hospital for the criminally insane. Incredibly, by 1976 his doctors decided he was no longer a threat to society and released him under the care of his parents. Even more incredibly, his mother made the decision that Chase no longer needed the anti-schizophrenia medications prescribed and stopped giving him the pills. She also helped him find an apartment, paid his rent and bought his groceries. Left unchecked and without medication, Chases mental disorders escalated from the need for animal organs and blood to human organs and blood. First Murder On December 29, 1977, Chase killed 51-year-old Ambrose Griffin in a drive-by shooting. Griffin was helping his wife bring groceries into the house when he was shot and killed. Random Violent Acts On January 11, 1978, Chase attacked a neighbor after he asked for a cigarette then restrained her until she turned over the entire pack. Two weeks later, he broke into a house, robbed it then urinated inside a drawer containing infant clothing and defecated on the bed in a childs room. Interrupted by the owners return, Chase was attacked but managed to escape. Chase continued to search for unlocked doors of homes to enter. He believed a locked door was a sign that he was not wanted, however, an unlocked door was an invitation to enter. Second Murder On January 23, 1978, Teresa Wallin, pregnant and at home alone, was taking out the garbage when Chase entered through her unlocked front door. Using the same gun he used to kill Griffin, he shot Teresa three times, killing her, then raped her corpse while stabbing her several times with a butcher knife. He then removed multiple organs, cut off one of the nipples and drank the blood. Before leaving, he collected dog feces from the yard and stuffed it into the victims mouth and down her throat. Final Murders On January 27, 1978, the bodies of Evelyn Miroth, age 38, her six-year-old son Jason, and friend Dan Meredith were found murdered inside Evelyns home. Missing was Evelyns 22-month-old nephew David, who she had been babysitting. The crime scene was horrific. Dan Merediths body was found in the hallway. He was killed by a direct gunshot wound to his head. Evelyn and Jason were found in Evelyns bedroom. Jason had been shot twice in the head. The depth of Chases insanity was clear when investigators reviewed the crime scene. Evelyns corpse had been raped and sodomized multiple times. Her stomach had been cut open and various organs were removed. Her throat was cut and she had been sodomized with a knife and there was a failed attempt to remove one of her eyeballs. Not found at the murder scene was the infant, David. However, blood in the babys crib gave police little hope the child was still alive. Chase later told police that he brought the dead infant to his apartment. After mutilating the babys body he disposed of the corpse at a nearby church, which is where it was later found. What he did leave at the grotesque murder scene were clear hand and shoe prints, which soon led police to his door and to the end of Chases insane rampage. The End Result In 1979, a jury found Chase guilty on six counts of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to die in the gas chamber. Disturbed by the gruesome details of his crimes, other prisoners wanted him gone and often tried to talk him into killing himself. Whether it was the constant suggestions or just his own tortured mind, Chase managed to collect enough prescribed antidepressants to kill himself. On December 26, 1980, prison officials discovered him dead in his cell from an overdose of medications. Source Kessler, Robert K., The Vampire Killer