swallows a spoonful.Then she lets the door go, feeling acutely anxious
and repelled by her behaviour.Now let’s look in more detail at the considerations involved in construct-
ing a person-in-action.
(i) The visual aspect
In realist writing it is usually important to create a strong visual
impression. Think of yourself as a filmmaker as well as a writer. Can you
visualise what you are writing? We can learn a great deal from filmmakers,
because film has in some respects superceded writing as the primary form
of realist representation.
You can also draw on the other senses as well as vision, and this will
make your piece even stronger. Use all five senses if you can. Maybe we
need to hear or smell certain aspects of the scenario. For instance, in my
example, we can hear the woman slamming the fridge door. Perhaps I
could also evoke the smell of the food.
(ii) A sense of movement
I suggested that we construct a person-in-action, rather than simply
describe someone, because description can often be rather static. I want you
to create a sense of movement or change, of something actually happening
in time. Use strong verbs to do this: that is, verbs which animate the action.
Let’s look at three published examples of a person-in-action. The first
one is by British writer Angela Carter:
Example 2.5
She pulled open drawers and cupboards and tipped out the contents
in heaps, attacking them with her strong hands. She dug into boxes
and jars of cosmetics and perfume, daubing herself and the furniture
and the walls. She dragged mattress and pillows from the bed and
punched them and kicked them until springs twanged through the
brocade mattress cover and the pillows burst in a fine haze of down.
The telegram was still clenched between her teeth, gradually
darkening with saliva. She neither saw nor heard anything but
wrecked like an automaton. Feathers stuck in the tears and grease
on her cheeks.From The Magic Toyshop (Carter 1981, p. 25)Genre as a moveable feast 31