characters have sometimes been regarded as ‘flat’, lacking in the mixture of
behavioural traits which brings the character to life. The trait may give us a
particular insight into certain types of obsessive behaviour, but it does not
necessarily give us a balanced picture of that person. Such pieces usually
have satirical intent, and highlight not only that character’s idiosyncracies,
but flaws in the make-up of contemporary society. The character does not
have to be lifelike, and in general there is a trend away from straight realism.
The anorexic woman I created as a person-in-action in Chapter 2 was a one-
trait character, because all we learnt about her was her relationship to food.
Characters of this type are sometimes known as ‘surface’ characters.
This term is used to distinguish them from ‘in depth’, three-dimensional
depictions of characters in realist fiction. The anti-hero of the novel Amer-
ican Psycho, by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, is in some respects a
surface character, because he is completely obsessed with himself and the
impression he is presenting. The ultimate end-product of a consumer
society, everything in his life is subservient to commodification, image and
appearance. Rather than telling us how he feels, or observing the world
around him, he talks about the designer labels he is wearing:
Example 7.5
There’s a black-tie party at the Puck Building tonight for a new
brand of computerized professional rowing machine, and after
playing squash with Frederick Dibble I have drinks at Harry’s with
Jamie Conway, Kevin Wynn and Jason Gladwin, and we hop into the
limousine Kevin rented for the night and take it uptown. I’m wearing
a wing-collar jacquard waistcoat by Kilgour, French & Stanbury
from Barney’s, a silk bow tie from Saks, patent-leather slip-ons by
Baker-Benjes, antique diamond studs from Kentshire Galleries and
a gray wool silk-lined coat with drop sleeves and a button-down
collar by Luciano Soprani. An ostrich wallet from Bosca carries four
hundred dollars cash in the back pocket of my black wool trousers.
Instead of my Rolex I’m wearing a fourteen-karat gold watch from
H. Stern.From American Psycho (Ellis 1991, p. 126)To create a surface character, write a short piece which focuses on a par-
ticular trait (Exercise 2b). That person might be predominantly indecisive,
greedy or optimistic. To allow yourself to gain maximum benefit from the
exercise, do not allow your piece to stray into a well-rounded characteri-
sation. You will see how this will open up a different set of opportunities
from realist fiction in allowing you to focus sharply, and in detail, on a
142 The Writing Experiment