An Age-Old Question: How Do You Show a Character's Age?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Some details are difficult to slip seamlessly into the story. Here are tips on how to show a character's age without it feeling awkward. 

In some novels, age doesn't matter. The characters are adults and if they're thirty or fifty the book unfolds pretty much the same way. Readers can assume the characters are about the same age as they are (if they're adults of course) and it still tracks.

Other novels read differently depending on the age of the character. Imagine a young adult (or worse--a middle grade) novel if you suddenly said the the protagonist was thirty. Nothing would feel normal and readers would likely assume that author couldn't write.

Getting a character's age into the story can be as easy as putting it on the cover blurb, such as "fifteen-year-old Nya does cool plot stuff," but you can't count on readers seeing that or remembering it when they start the novel. You often need to mention it in the opening scene, but just stating it can feel awkward, especially if you're writing a first person point of view.

I stood at the bus stop with my fellow sixteen year olds.

Um...yeah. What teen talks like that? It even sounds awkward coming from an adult.

I stood around the water cooler, a thirty-three-year -old woman chatting with other thirty-somethings.

People just don't think of their age in this way, but they do think about it and talk about. The trick is to find ways that flow naturally into the scene and still conveys the character's age.

Three Ways to Show a Character's Age

1. Just Say (or Think) It

In conversations: Age come up in conversations, and when it does, it makes sense for a character to share how old he or she is. If your novel has a conversation where this flows naturally, this is a perfect place to sneak the age in. Some options:

• "Hey, birthday girl," Bob said, grinning. "The big 4-0. Feeling old yet?"
• "I'm sixteen, Mom, I'm not a kid anymore."
• Lila snorted and toasted with her glass. "Hon, I'm eighty-three. It won't be the bourbon that gets me."

However, if you don't have a scene that works, don't force it. It's much better to have one awkward sentence with age mentioned than an entire awkward scene trying to "naturally" explain the age of those in it.

In internalization: A character can think about age as well, especially if they're chiding themselves (as they often do). A character can also refer to age in an offhand way that shows a passage of time. For example:

• I wasn’t sure which Saint covered luck, but I must’ve snubbed her big at some point in my fifteen years.
• Who was she kidding? She was thirty, not thirteen. This was no way to act around a man.
• Bob giggled and shoved the grenades into his pocket. Even at forty-one, grenades were something to get excited about.

With a little creative thinking, you can find a way to slip in a character's age that feels organic to the scene and character.

2. Just Suggest It

If stating the age outright won't work or feels awkward no matter what you do, try leaving clues that suggest the age of the character. Location can play a big role, as can clothing or accessories. Certain ages also come with traits that place the character in the correct age group, even if the exact age is still uncertain. Try something like:

Location:

• Lila walked up the steps of Ridgemont High. (This is a teen)
• Lila walked up the steps of Ridgemont High, her lesson planner tight in her arms. (And now she's an adult teacher)

Clothing and accessories:

• Luis pulled his scrubs over his head and tossed them into his locker. (This is an adult)
• Luis balled up his varsity jersey and chucked a perfect three-pointer into the hamper from the bathroom. (This is a teen)

Miscellaneous details:

• Marla kicked off her shoes and flipped through the mail. Bills, more bills, credit card applications. (This is an adult)
• Marla slipped her homework into her backpack. (This is a teen)

Details work best when combined with other clues to ensure the right age is getting across. It's possible for a teen to flip through the mail and see bills, just as a mom going back to school can put her homework into her backpack. That's why it's so important to...

3. Show the Context

Context is king. What's going on around the character influences how readers will view that character. How the POV character views the world will also influence readers. If the character is an adult, she'll see and interact with the world as an adult would, same as a kid or a teen would interact with their world, and they'd all do it differently.

Let's see how the same situation with different context and details changes how old the character appears.

Lila walked up the steps of Ridgemont High. A group of students raced past, barely giving her a glance, but never getting too close. Would any of them be in her class? The students barreled past another boy and knocked him over. They laughed and kept on going. She took a deep breath. Jerks. Hopefully, they weren't in her class.

Lila walked up the steps of Ridgemont High. A pack of guys raced past, barely giving her a glance, but never got too close. Would any of them be in her class? They barreled past a geeky guy and knocked him over, but just laughed and kept on going. She took a deep breath. Hopefully, they weren't in her class.

Lila walked up the steps of Ridgemont High. A group of male students raced past without looking over, staying just out of range. Would any of them be in her class? The future delinquents barreled past another boy and knocked him over. They laughed and kept on going. She took a deep breath. They'd better be in her class.

There's a different vibe for each of these paragraphs. What can we assume from what's written about the ages of these characters?

The first feels like a young teacher starting school. Clues such as students and another boy suggest she's an adult looking at teens or kids, and her class suggests ownership of that class. Her concern over difficult students being in her class also suggest a younger, more unsure adult.

The second feels like a teen on her first day of school. Clues such as pack of guys and geek guy are how a teen might refer to her peers. Her wish that the jerks aren't in her class feels more teen in this context.

The third feels like an adult, but not young. Clues such as male students and future delinquents suggest older and more cynical, as does the hope that these boys are in her class. Perhaps she feels she can straighten them out or teach them a lesson.

It doesn't take much to drop enough hints (or state outright) how old a character is or what group she belongs in. A few words here and there is often all it takes to show age.

JUST FOR FUN: Write a short snippet in the comments that suggests a character's age and see who can guess it correctly. 

Find out more about show, don't tell in my book, Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It).

With in-depth analysis, Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) teaches you how to spot told prose in your writing, and discover why common advice on how to fix it doesn't always work. It also explores aspects of writing that aren’t technically telling, but are connected to told prose and can make prose feel told, such as infodumps, description, and backstory.

This book will help you:

• Understand when to tell and when to show
• Spot common red flag words often found in told prose
• Learn why one single rule doesn't apply to all books
• Determine how much telling is acceptable in your writing
• Fix stale or flat prose holding your writing back

Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) is more than just advice on what to do and what not to do—it’s a down and dirty examination and analysis of how show, don’t tell works, so you can adapt the “rules” to whatever style or genre you’re writing. By the end of this book, you’ll have a solid understanding of show, don’t tell and the ability to use it without fear or frustration.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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