Character descriptions I love - Shalako

I’m going to be teaching a workshop in Winnipeg this Saturday on “Creating characters that live on.”

 

 

In my notes, I have a long list of character descriptions I love. Instead of just printing off reams of information (which I tend to do for workshops), I decided it makes sense to post some of them here. So here goes.

 

The first is a description of Shalako from the Louis L’Amour book of the same name. Louis was a great writer in many way, not the least of which was his ability to draw you in and make you care about his characters.

 

“Lean as a famine wolf but wide and thick in the shoulder, the man called Shalako was a brooding man, a wary man, a man who trusted to no fate, no predicted destiny, nor to any luck. He trusted to nothing but his weapons, his horses, and the caution with which he rode. His hard-boned face was tanned to saddle leather under the beat-up, black, felt-crowned hat. He wore fringed shotgun chaps, a faded red shirt, a black handkerchief knotted about his throat, and a dozen scars of knife and bullet.”

 

Louis L’Amour, Shalako