Writing Quirks and Tics

[anthrodisiac]

One of my favorite things to do is give my characters quirks and tics — often physical or verbal. I find they make great indicates of mood without having to go into detail, and can even be ambiguous enough that it leaves it open to reader interpretation, which is fun when you want to hide the exact nature of their feelings, but show something is clearly going on.

Obviously, mine tend to be more animal based:
Tamandua who stims with her tongue
Gecko who licks an eyeball
Lizard who picks at her scales
Zebra who whinnies her laughs
Lots of tail movement. So much tail movement...

How do you approach quirks and tics in your own writing? Are there any you've created that really stood out to you, or ones you've read that stood out to you? They can be sexual, non-sexual, really anything at all!

Let's get quirky!

 

[StillStunned]

Obviously, mine tend to be more animal based:

Most ticks are animal-based. (This is my sarcastic way of pointing out that you probably mean "tic".)

 

[anthrodisiac]

Most ticks are animal-based. (This is my sarcastic way of pointing out that you probably mean "tic".)

When one is rushed and not thinking Tried cranking that out before I got out the door. Thanks I'll fix it.

Edit: Also might've subconsciously done that to myself, because my first thought was to make my own tick joke, and my brain probably went, "So just spell it like the animal," and I didn't question it enough

 

[dirk2024]

Lots of tail movement. So much tail movement...

Wha- huh? What were you saying? I spaced out there for a moment.

 

[dirk2024]

I have not assigned a quirk or a tic to one of my characters as of yet. But that is a good idea to consider when trying to personalize a character.

The closest I have come to that is a secondary character in a WIP. A Swiss taxi driver mixing in some German in his English language responses to his English speaking passenger. That may not qualify for what you're looking for in this thread.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Some of them are just giving people unique speech tics, e. g. one character starts a lot of sentences with "Yeah ..." Liz is absurdly analytical and her inner monologue gets transcribed in the story a lot. Both Liz and Maria love coffee. The not-yet-published Doctor T. likes to rock back and forth a lot during a conversation--leaning in to show interest, leaning back when surprised or trying to diminish emotional intensity.

Sometimes it's very minor. In Heels Over Head, Maya hates to shave her legs and only does it when she'll be out of her house and not wearing slacks. (It's only implied, but her husband feels little hairs when he caresses her.)

 

[TheLobster]

One of my favorite things to do is give my characters (...) tics

If I may offer some advice, I think you should also give them tacs. Other characters will appreciate those fresh breaths when they inevitably move to kissing.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Hmm... These are not thought before, but during the story. When I realized Sabrina always said "Don't call me S," I figured it would be a cool running gag. I usually don't give them quirks or tics to characters; they show me those things as the story unfolds, and I just... canonize them, you know? Better than just spend time thinking.

 

[AG31]

I think I started a similar thread some time ago, but I can't for the life of me, think of how to search for it. I wanted to see what I was thinking, because I can't come up with any thoughts right now.

I can say, because I only have written simple erotica (just sex, not much character or plot), I have not given my own characters tics or quirks. But I was interested...

 

[anthrodisiac]

I have not assigned a quirk or a tic to one of my characters as of yet. But that is a good idea to consider when trying to personalize a character.

The closest I have come to that is a secondary character in a WIP. A Swiss taxi driver mixing in some German in his English language responses to his English speaking passenger. That may not qualify for what you're looking for in this thread.

I guess you could call that a quirk, linguistic, as it were. I like to use it for ESL characters, have them substitue stuff in on occasion, especially when their command of language isn't as strong. (Edit: Removed advice TheLobster helpfully pointed out was super tropey.)

Hmm... These are not thought before, but during the story. When I realized Sabrina always said "Don't call me S," I figured it would be a cool running gag. I usually don't give them quirks or tics to characters; they show me those things as the story unfolds, and I just... canonize them, you know? Better than just spend time thinking.

I'm with you, I often don't think about the tics ahead of time, they just tend to show up. Usually it's when there's an emotional beat and I want to convey something, so I'll pop something in on the spot based on the character (and species), whatever fits best with them and the moment. Then it sticks around, and I'll go back and put it in earlier if it shows up late.

 

[StillStunned]

I think I started a similar thread some time ago, but I can't for the life of me, think of how to search for it. I wanted to see what I was thinking, because I can't come up with any thoughts right now.

Go to your forum profile, click "Find" and select "All threads started by..."

 

[EmilyMiller]

Writing Quirks and Tics​

Ella in my A Good Girl Gone Bad series is constantly pushing her glasses up her nose, especially when she is stressed / uncertain / unable to contain her excitement.

 

[AG31]

Go to your forum profile, click "Find" and select "All threads started by..."

Thanks! That's one of those features I keep forgetting about.

I found the thread. Here's the first line. But I didn't post any ideas of my own. Since we're chatting about this, here's the link.

Do you assign quirks to all your characters? Some eat too much, some ask a lot of questions, some dress really well, some sloppily?

 

[BeechLeaf]

Loading a quirk in advance would probably make me feel I was in one of those TV cartoons where one character prefixes everything by 'whillikers' or 'by jiminy' or 'sure thing'. But quirks creep in. The WIP I was looking at today contains notes to self like 'count how often she sighs' and 'if she sighs once more, make her self-conscious of it', and sure enough, in the next scene but one she sighs and notices how often she's been doing it today. This then has to make her think about whether she should be here doing what she's doing with him. (And if I knew the answer to that it would've been published six weeks ago.)

 

[old_prof]

One of my MC in the novel Friendly Advice will stab a piece of food on her fork and stare at it, especially if you ask her an uncomfortable question.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Larry gets sarcastic when she's embarrassed. Most orcs find an angry scowl sexy as hell, but Harry's the only one who'll try to kiss an orc over it.

Mathias... Hmm, he's still pretty deep in trauma mode, I'm not sure he's developed any repeated quirks or tics.

 

[Britva415]

I find they make great indicates of mood without having to go into detail, and can even be ambiguous enough that it leaves it open to reader interpretation, which is fun when you want to hide the exact nature of their feelings, but show something is clearly going on.

I'm glad you said this because I found myself wanting to talk about why to write quirks and tics at all. And the two obvious answers are: Either, it drives the plot, or, it's a way to show-not-tell.

One example of a way for it to drive plot is maybe if the identification of an unknown person hinges upon recognizing their signature quirk or tic when they were otherwise disguised or something.

Regarding show-don't-tell, I don't know why you'd want to "hide the exact nature of their feelings," though I do know why you'd want to show that something is going on. There was another thread recently where I discussed the dissatisfaction I have with reading a description of an expression movement the character made (we were talking about eyebrows in particular) without going into why they made that face or what it means about their feelings.

In that discussion, my attitude was that it should be transparent, not hidden nor merely unexamined (inadequately examined). The scenario we were talking about was, to me, where the motivation or emotion or thought was neither being told nor even shown either. Why even put it on screen then?

I guess I can imagine a scenario where the author would want to signal that something is going on (in the character's feelings) without giving away what. But you know what, I also feel like that's a situation where we aren't even talking about a quirk or a tic.

So what examples can y'all people share regarding how one can/does use tics or quirks to show-not-tell?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Ella in my A Good Girl Gone Bad series is constantly pushing her glasses up her nose, especially when she is stressed / uncertain / unable to contain her excitement.

Come to think of it, I used her taking off her glasses to symbolize her having taken a decision, or taking a more active role on more than one occasion. The subtext was her hiding behind her glasses. Something I worked out with my co-conspirator, @EStaccato, on whom Ella is based.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I'm glad you said this because I found myself wanting to talk about why to write quirks and tics at all. And the two obvious answers are: Either, it drives the plot, or, it's a way to show-not-tell.

One example of a way for it to drive plot is maybe if the identification of an unknown person hinges upon recognizing their signature quirk or tic when they were otherwise disguised or something.

Regarding show-don't-tell, I don't know why you'd want to "hide the exact nature of their feelings," though I do know why you'd want to show that something is going on. There was another thread recently where I discussed the dissatisfaction I have with reading a description of an expression movement the character made (we were talking about eyebrows in particular) without going into why they made that face or what it means about their feelings.

In that discussion, my attitude was that it should be transparent, not hidden nor merely unexamined (inadequately examined). The scenario we were talking about was, to me, where the motivation or emotion or thought was neither being told nor even shown either. Why even put it on screen then?

I guess I can imagine a scenario where the author would want to signal that something is going on (in the character's feelings) without giving away what. But you know what, I also feel like that's a situation where we aren't even talking about a quirk or a tic.

So what examples can y'all people share regarding how one can/does use tics or quirks to show-not-tell?

Plenty of reasons. Sometimes, you don't want to tip the hand of a character's feelings and emotions, but you don't want them to have no reaction at all. It flags it for the reader, foreshadowing their actions later down the line. You can keep the reaction ambiguous either because the character is trying to keep something under wraps (in-universe reasoning), or the writer doesn't want the reader to have the full picture yet (authorial intent). Hiding character motivations from readers is a wonderful tool for tension, whether it's horror, mystery, or even romance.

Example 1:
Marcy quirks an eyebrow (that was you and me having that discussion before, so I figured I'd dredge it back up ) when Jessica says, "I'm going to spend the night at Frank's house. I'm so excited, it must be serious!"

The reader don't know why Marcy quirked her brow, but later it's revealed she is also sleeping with Frank, and was surprised and pissed off that he's a lying scamp when he told her she was the only one for him. But Marcy didn't want to get into a confrontation with Jessica at that moment, and so tamps down her anger and betrayal, only that little bit slipping through to flag to the reader that something is going on, and stay tuned to find out what.

Perhaps Marcy wants to enact revenge, but if she has a big reaction and immediately confronts Jessica, she tips her hand and makes it harder to stealthily get revenge. Or maybe she's stunned and needs time to process, so shocked she can't do anything but have a tiny little reaction, frozen stiff but for that little twitch.

They're also great in thrillers and mysteries.

Example 2:
Jim is being questioned about a robbery and the police ask him about Robbie the Robber, who's supposed to have been Jim's accomplice. He quirks his brow at the question, but doesn't answer. The eyebrow quirk could mean so many different things in the moment when they bring up Robbie, but Jim's a cool cat and doesn't tip his hand.

It could be that it was bemusement, because Jim killed Robbie weeks ago and the cops still have no idea, smug and confident that he not only got away with robbery, but murder. Or it's concern, a nervous tic that he tries to control so they don't realize he's starting to sweat, because he realizes if they get to Robbie, the jig's up. Or it's a quirked brow because he has no clue what the hell they're talking about, but revealing as much would implicate him in some way.

Now, ideally with a brow quirk, you could toss in a little extra. Maybe say "eyebrow twitched" if it's a tell.

Example 3:
Poker game scene. Pat has a pretty good hand and scans the rest of the room. A couple fold, but Bob is staring at his cards, then has the faintest of eyebrow twitches. Dilemma: was it intentional to throw off Pat? Was it a signal of something bad, that he's bluffing? Trying to hide that he has an amazing hand?

If we let the readers know right away what that Bob is bluffing, that kills all the tension in the scene. Or, at the very least, shifts it from external (the uncertainty of Bob's hand vs. Pat's hand) to internal (will Pat realize it's a bluff or will she fold?). If it was being told from Pat's POV, obviously she wouldn't know for sure whether it was a tell, and if it was, what the tell actually meant.

So, plenty of use cases for ambiguous expressions and body language. It's a tool that should be used intentionally, though, and if you aren't intending to hide a character's emotion linked to the action, you ought to contextualize it pretty quickly. You can use dialogue or some follow-up action that let the reader understand why the person had that reaction.

However, sometimes you don't, and you want to let the uncertainty gnaw at the reader.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Plenty, but I see it as part of characterisation, rather than 'take stock character and add quirk to make them distinguishable from the other person.' That's barely a step up from Nancy Drew level characters with the athletic dark one, the blonde fat one, and the Mary Sue redhead, all with total nonentities of boyfriends.

Clawing at thighs or forearms when stressed (male), clawing hair when stressed (female, at least two of them). character paranoid about sounding too bossy (female), woman who clutches jacket round herself when nervous or embarrassed (upgrades from denim to leather once she can afford it), accent or dialect getting stronger when feeling strongly about something...

Whether in practice I create characters more convincing than the 'Carolyn Keene' committee is another question, but I try.

 

[TheLobster]

Plus, it's cool to have them switch into native tongue a bit more in the heat of the moment to show a loss of control and higher levels of cognition (the extra effort required to speak a secondary language subsumed by pleasure), so I don't have a problem with you bringing it up here

Okay, PSA to anyone writing non-native English-speaking characters: don't do that if you want to sound realistic.

Why? Because this is just a Hollywood stereotype. If your ESL character has good enough command of English to charm another person into bed in the first place, they aren't running a mental translator in their head that will suddenly malfunction when things get heated enough. When James Bond bangs a female Soviet spy and she slips into Russian, she does this because it sounds sexy for the audience, not because the scriptwriters wanted to portray her in a realistic manner.

Of course, if you like your porn tropes, then absolutely, go right ahead. Similarly if the character doesn't speak English all that well and drops native phrases on the regular in a normal conversation. But other than that, the device of "sex so good, she can't help but to shout ¡Madre dios!" has no place in a realistic narrative.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Okay, PSA to anyone writing non-native English-speaking characters: don't do that if you want to sound realistic.

Why? Because this is just a Hollywood stereotype. If your ESL character has good enough command of English to charm another person into bed in the first place, they aren't running a mental translator in their head that will suddenly malfunction when things get heated enough. When James Bond bangs a female Soviet spy and she slips into Russian, she does this because it sounds sexy for the audience, not because the scriptwriters wanted to portray her in a realistic manner.

Of course, if you like your porn tropes, then absolutely, go right ahead. Similarly if the character doesn't speak English all that well and drops native phrases on the regular in a normal conversation. But other than that, the device of "sex so good, she can't help but to shout ¡Madre dios!" has no place in a realistic narrative.

Good PSA, thanks for calling attention to that. I'll go back and make sure to scrub that as advice, given that while it is an effective porn trope readers expect, personally I try to avoid tropes, and I should've realized this was a pretty obvious one.

 

[StillStunned]

On the other hand, if you're raised or live in a multilingual household, you're likely to use whatever language suits the situation best. Even if it's just one or two words thrown in with the English.

 

[TheLobster]

Good PSA, thanks for calling attention to that. I'll go back and make sure to scrub that as advice, given that while it is an effective porn trope readers expect, personally I try to avoid tropes, and I should've realized this was a pretty obvious one.

A thing that might work pretty well as a replacement would be to describe how the nonverbal sounds a person makes during sex are colored by the speech patterns of their language. And yes, it’s definitely a phenomenon that exists: people literally sneeze differently depending on what language they speak.

So, for example, maybe a Chinese girl moans in different tonal patterns, while an Eastern European groans more throatily, etc. It’s surely more difficult than just dropping words but astute readers should appreciate it (or perhaps think you’re stereotyping your characters even more; YMMV).

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Okay, PSA to anyone writing non-native English-speaking characters: don't do that if you want to sound realistic.

Why? Because this is just a Hollywood stereotype. If your ESL character has good enough command of English to charm another person into bed in the first place, they aren't running a mental translator in their head that will suddenly malfunction when things get heated enough. When James Bond bangs a female Soviet spy and she slips into Russian, she does this because it sounds sexy for the audience, not because the scriptwriters wanted to portray her in a realistic manner.

Of course, if you like your porn tropes, then absolutely, go right ahead. Similarly if the character doesn't speak English all that well and drops native phrases on the regular in a normal conversation. But other than that, the device of "sex so good, she can't help but to shout ¡Madre dios!" has no place in a realistic narrative.

I disagree. OK, I probably haven't shagged a statistically-significant sample of EAL people and not overheard that many more, but it's a thing that certainly does happen.

How much is 'beyond their control' and how much is them doing it partly on purpose to show how turned on they are, possibly influenced by porn, I don't know. How and where they learned English, versus the language they got used to using during sex, will also have a big influence.

I agree on the non-verbal sounds, though - there's a huge range of noises even within speakers of one language.