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Q&A How to compactly explain secondary and tertiary characters without resorting to stereotypes?

Sure, I understand the characters, but that's because I've been thinking about them. But how do I transfer that knowledge to the reader without taking the time and space to flesh them out further?...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by RonJohn‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:36:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/44271
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar RonJohn‭ · 2019-12-08T11:36:06Z (over 4 years ago)
Sure, **_I_** understand the characters, but that's because I've been thinking about them.

But how do I transfer that knowledge to the reader without taking the time and space to flesh them out further??

The standard answer is "stereotypes", because stereotypes are broad generalizations about humans, and without the ability to generalize we must start _tabula rasa_ in every new situation, no matter how similar it is to situations that we are already familiar with. (More importantly, stereotypes **have a basis in fact** -- or at least **reporting** -- no matter how partial, one-sided and/or outdated they are.

But since stereotypes have been declared Evil, I need some other method of KT (Knowledge Transfer) about these characters.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-04-02T00:25:19Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 16