Indirect Characterisation: What Is It and How Is It Different From Direct Characterisation?

“Characterisation” is how we show, on the page, who our characters are.

But there are a couple of different ways we might go about that: direct characterisation and indirect characterisation.

Neither of these is right or wrong, but to really engage readers with your story, you’ll want plenty of indirect characterisation that lets readers form their own impressions of your characters.

What is Indirect Characterisation?

Indirect characterisation is when the author shows us who a character is through their action, dialogue, thoughts, appearance, and through other characters’ reactions to them. For instance, if we see a character give money to someone in need, we’ll know they’re generous and kind-hearted.

With indirect characterisation, readers can come to their own conclusions, making inferences about a character’s personality traits from what they do and say, and from their physical appearance.

Indirect Characterisation vs Direct Characterisation

The simplest way to look at indirect vs direct characterisation is to see it as the difference between showing and telling.

Indirect: John crouched down next to the beggar and put a few coins into his cup. “Sorry I haven’t got more change on me. I hope it’s enough for a coffee at least.”

Direct: John was a kind-hearted man who always took the time to help others.

Sometimes, it might make sense to directly tell us what a character is like. Here’s Dickens doing just that, on the first page of A Christmas Carol:

But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!

This can be a useful way to get an overview of a character, and to assure the reader that the behaviour they’re about to see from that character is typical of them.

In general, though, indirect characterisation will work best. If you think of Scrooge as a character, you’ll probably agree with that piece of direct characterisation—but you probably didn’t remember these particular words. Chances are, you do remember Scrooge’s first line of dialogue in the story, in response to being wished a merry Christmas:

“Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!”

Note: Some writers distinguish between direct and indirect characterisation by saying that direct characterisation is about physical attributes and other external factors—but I feel a better way to frame that would be as internal vs external characterisation.

Let’s take a look at a couple of other examples:

Example of Direct Characterisation

Artis Corbin was two things: a talented algaeist and a complete asshole.

[…]

Corbin hated people, but he loved his work, and he was damn good at it. In Ashby’s book, that made him extremely valuable. An extremely valuable headache.

– from The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

These two pieces of direct characterisation are separated by a section of more detailed, indirect characterisation where Ashby thinks about how meticulous Corbin is in his work. It’s worth noting that while these examples offer direct characterisation of Corbin, they also provide indirect characterisation of Ashby: we see that he can be an objective leader, recognising Corbin’s value despite his off-putting personality.

Example of Indirect Characterisation

Her black hair was tied back in a lopsided bun, held together with a fraying, faded ribbon. She wore an orange jumpsuit smudged with grease and gunk, patched on the elbows with bright fabric and big stitches. There were hasty notes handwritten on her sleeves, things like “CHECK 32-B – OLD WIRES?” and “DON’T FORGET AIR FILTERS YOU DUMMY” and “EAT.”

– from The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

This is another short excerpt from The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. This time, we’re seeing one of the Wayfarer’s crew (Kizzy)  through newcomer Rosemary’s point of view. As the reader, we immediately form an impression of Kizzy—from the jumpsuit (and the grease and gunk), we can tell her role is hands-on; she seems like someone who doesn’t care about appearances; who perhaps likes colourful, bold designs (the bright fabric and big stitches of her elbow patches); and who might get so wrapped up in her work, she forgets to eat.

Six Types of Indirect Characterisation to Use in Your Story

If you’re looking to add more indirect characterisation into your story, there are lots of ways you can indicate your character’s personality.

Six of the key ones are to use action, dialogue, appearance, thoughts, belongings, and other characters.

Note: Often, you’ll be using more than one of these at once—as we’ll see in a moment when we come onto examples.

#1: Indirect Characterisation Through Action

You can characterise someone through the things they do, without them ever speaking a word.

Your character’s actions don’t need to be big or dramatic. For instance, you might show a character striding through a hallway on their way to an important meeting. That suggests something different about their character than if you instead showed them taking deep breaths in a quiet corner before the meeting.

#2: Indirect Characterisation Through Dialogue

One of the key purposes of dialogue is to reveal character—and what your characters say can give us a strong impression of who they are.

You might characterise someone in your story through not just the content of their words, but also through their accent, speech patterns, use of slang or idiom, and the way in which they talk. (Fast, their words tumbling out? Slowly and in a measured way? Loudly and briskly?)

#3: Indirect Characterisation Through Appearance

In the example from The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet above, we saw how Kizzy’s initial characterisation is solely through her physical description.

Your character’s appearance is significant. Even if they don’t care about their clothes or looks at all, that definitely tells us something about who they are! As well as what they wear, you might think about their physical proportions (height and weight), their hair, any unusual features like a scar or birthmark, whether they wear any accessories like glasses, a ring, a bracelet, and so on.

#4: Indirect Characterisation Through Thoughts

What your character thinks can also help reveal who they are. This can be a good opportunity for a double dose of characterisation: if your character is making a judgement or assessment of someone else, that may help indirectly characterise both people.

Your character’s thoughts might be written as internal dialogue (usually in italics) or come across through a third-person limited narration.

#5: Indirect Characterisation Through Belongings

A less obvious (but useful!) way to indicate character is through what a character owns.

What possessions are significant to them? Which have sentimental value? Is there anything they commonly carry around, whether unusual or mundane? Perhaps your character is a student who always carries not just the equipment they need, but a full set of extra stationary in case someone needs to borrow it – that says something about who they are.

#6: Indirect Characterisation Through Other Characters

You can also characterise someone through another character’s eyes. How do other people see them? How do other people behave around them?

For instance, perhaps your protagonist has recently started work at a new company. She hasn’t yet met the boss. But other characters talk in whispers about how this boss is really hard to work for – and she’s seen people come out of the boss’s office in tears. This gives the reader (and your protagonist) a sense of what the boss might be like … before they even appear on the page.

Four Examples of Indirect Characterisation (and Why They Work)

It’s easiest to get the hang of literary devices like indirect characterisation by digging into some examples.

I’ve chosen four indirect characterisation examples from a range of genres to help you see how to use indirect characterisation in your story.

Example #1: To Kill a Mockingbird

I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading.

“Teach me?” I said in surprise. “He hasn’t taught me anything, Miss Caroline. Atticus ain’t got time to teach me anything,” I added, when Miss Caroline smiled and shook her head. “Why, he’s so tired at night he just sits in the living-room and reads.”

“If he didn’t teach you, who did?” Miss Caroline asked good-naturedly. “Somebody did. You weren’t born reading The Mobile Register.”

“Jem says I was. He read in a book where I was a Bullfinch instead of a Finch. Jem says my name’s really Jean Louise Bullfinch, that I got swapped when I was born and i’m really a–”

Miss Caroline apparently thought I was lying. “Let’s not let our imaginations run away with us, dear,” she said. “Now you tell your father not to teach you any more. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I’ll take over from here and try to undo the damage –”

“Ma’am?”

“Your father does not know how to teach. You can have a seat now.”

– from To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

In this short excerpt from Jean Louise “Scout”s first day at school, we see something of her character – and her teacher’s character – through their dialogue.

Scout is self-assured, confident, and quite chatty (when she talks about her brother Jem). Miss Caroline comes across as superior and perhaps also rather insecure: she feels challenged by having this six-year-old in her class who can read fluently.

Example #2: Brighton Rock

“Fred,” a voice said behind him, “Fred.”

The gin slopped out of Hale’s glass on to the bar. A boy of about seventeen watched him from the door—a shabby smart suit, the cloth too thin for much wear, a face of starved intensity, a kind of hideous and unnatural pride.

“Who are you Freding?” Hale said. “I’m not Fred.”

“It doesn’t make any difference,” the boy said. He turned back towards the door, keeping an eye on Hale over his narrow shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

“Got to tell your friends,” the boy said.

They were alone in the saloon bar except for an old commissionaire, who slept over a pint glass of old and mild. “Listen,” Hale said, “have a drink. Come and sit down over here and have a drink.”

“Got to be going,” the boy said. “You know I don’t drink, Fred. You forget a lot, don’t you?”

– from Brighton Rock, Graham Greene

This is the first time in Brighton Rock that we encounter “the boy”, Pinky Brown, leader of a criminal gang who ends up murdering Hale. They already know one another, and we start to get a sense of Pinky from this dialogue – particularly from Hale’s nervous reaction to him (asking where he’s going, trying to get him to sit down and have a drink).

Example #3: The Hunger Games

Sitting at Prim’s knees, guarding her, is the world’s ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the colour of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought hom home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out OK. My mother got rid of the vermin and he’s a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.

– from The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

In this paragraph on the first page of The Hunger Games, we learn a bit about who Katniss is through her narration. Without the need for explicit characterisation, we can see that he’s practical and unsentimental – she initially tried to drown Buttercup because he would be another mouth to feed. And yet her love for her sister is very clear: she “had to let him stay” after Prim begged and cried.

We also start to get the impression that Katniss provides for her family: she’s the one concerned about having another mouth to feed, and she kills animals, sometimes giving Buttercup the entrails.

Example #4: In a Single Moment

It was quiet in the room, the other three beds currently unoccupied. Two were freshly made but the one next to her had a body-shaped dint in the bedding, and there were some belongings scattered around. Michelle tutted to herself. This was a public space. You couldn’t just take it over because you were in labour. She looked at what there was, trying to form an idea of the woman who had left them there. A patchwork tote bag was spilling its contents over the floor. There was a paperback novel and a notebook of some kind with a pencil jammed into the spine as well as an expensive-looking jumper – in this heat? – and a hairbrush. She couldn’t see what else was inside but from the bulge of it there was clearly more.

The bed was strewn with discarded clothing as if the occupant of the space had performed a striptease. A cheesecloth dress in a pale lemon and a white T-shirt, the straps of a cotton maternity bra just peeping out beneath. Maybe whoever it was had been in a hurry to get to the delivery room and there hadn’t been time to tidy up their belongings, Michelle thought charitably. There was no room for mess in her own life. Five, no, wait, six people in a compact three-bedroom terraced house made sure of that.

– from In a Single Moment, Imogen Clark

Here, the woman in the bed next to Michelle is absent, presumably giving birth—but she’s characterised through the belongings she’s left behind. A paperback novel, notebook, and expensive jumper give the impression she’s middle-class. The patchwork tote bag and cheesecloth dress might give the impression of someone who’s bohemian or artistic.

We also get a sense of Michelle’s character through her thoughts. She’s someone who clearly likes to keep things neat and tidy. But she also tries to give this unknown woman the benefit of the doubt – perhaps she’d “been in a hurry to get to the delivery room.”

If you’re working on a novel or a short story, you’ve probably already included plenty of indirect characterisation. But you might find it’s helpful to think through the different types, and see whether there’s an additional element you’d like to bring in.

For more on characters, characterisation, and character development, take a look at:

• How to Write Character Descriptions That Work
• Character Flaws: Why They’re So Important to Your Story
• Seven Common Problems Writers Have With Characters
• What’s a Character Arc, Who Needs One, and Why?