Giving Your Characters Idiosyncrasies

One of the trickiest parts of fiction writing is making the characters feel real to the readers. They have to seem like unique human beings without being too over-the-top. How do we do that? One subtle way is to give your characters idiosyncrasies.

Idiosyncrasies: mannerisms unique to a particular individual. We all have them. Occasionally, we even drive people crazy with them. For example, my father has a habit of twitching his foot or shaking his leg while he’s sitting. This drives me nuts, but I’m one to talk; I have the same habit but sometimes so quickly that it’s like I’m the Energizer Rabbit on Red Bull. Of course, that amuses my father and annoys my mother to no end, but I digress.

Our idiosyncrasies and how we respond to other people’s idiosyncrasies reveal a lot about us. For instance, my foot twitching/shaking shows my high level of anxiety. My mother’s reaction to that habit highlights her frustration at not being able to make me less anxious. (It could also suggest that she’s high-strung, but given everything else I know about her, that is definitely NOT the case.)

Giving characters subtle habits which no other character in the story has layers their character development. They are also fairly easy to slip in. Your protagonist is sitting in a coffee shop waiting for a friend who’s running late? Have him/her start ripping up the wrapper the straw came in. Your knight is stuck having a conversation with the royal wizard whom he is secretly annoyed by? Have him scrape dirt off the bottom of his boot with a dagger.

Idiosyncrasies are not only easy to slip in but can be used to convey a wide variety of moods and personality traits. Let’s take the coffee shop example. Tearing the wrapper could indicate concern for the friend who’s late. It could also show anger or annoyance at the friend’s tardiness. Better yet, it might have nothing to do with the friend running late; maybe your protagonist just got laid off and is worried about making rent, or maybe they’re trying to decide how to tell their friend that they caught his/her partner cheating on him/her. So much happens beneath the surface, but idiosyncrasies can give readers a hint at what’s brewing in the character’s subconscious.

Of course, you don’t want to go overboard. Sometimes you have to let a conversation just be dialogue. This is especially true when you need to speed up the pace and smooth out the reading for some high-impact drama. Still, you need to occasionally sneak in the idiosyncrasy so that the reader knows it’s an ongoing habit with some significance. If you only use it once or twice, it will seem superfluous. Besides, some drama requires slowing the pace down to increase the tension, and these little habits can achieve that masterfully, if used prudently.

Idiosyncrasies can be endearing, infuriating, or flat out annoying. The choice is up to you and how you want to use them. The important thing is to make sure that they are unique to that character; if you decide to have more than one character have the same idiosyncrasy, give that coincidence a purpose. After all, when you see that people have something in common, you’ll probably find that that’s not all they share.

What’s been your experience with giving characters idiosyncrasies? Have you found them to be useful in character development? Or do they just get in the way of the action? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.