For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.
M is for Medals
A personal item or token of some sort can tell you a lot about a character. It may be a piece of jewelry, a memento kept in a pocket, or a treasure tucked in a nightstand drawer. I’ve used religious medals as items important to Catholic characters in my novels.
In Ornamental Graces, it was a Miraculous Medal pinned to the inside of Grandma’s bra (!), later given to a special young woman. In Rightfully Ours, it is a St. Paul medal given as birthday gift to Paul from his friend Rachel.
Religious medals, which are sacramentals, are another case of a custom being sanctified but the Church. (“A sacramental is a special prayer, action or object which, through the prayers of the Church, prepares a person to receive grace and to better cooperate with it.”)
It had been the custom for pagans to wear amulets to stave off evil or disease. As people converted, they would instead wear medals as a reminder of the power of Jesus in their life, dispelling superstitious notions and fostering devotion. Archaeologists have unearthed medals of Saints Peter and Paul from the second century.
Religious medals have long been part of my life. My mom has always had a stash of Miraculous Medals on hands. I continue to wear one. During pregnancies, I’d often switch to a St. Gerard Majella medal, since he is the patron of expectant mothers. My college friend, Chris, wore a medal of his patron, St. Christopher. My kids occasionally wear medals depicting Jesus, Mary, or the Holy Spirit that they’ve received from school. They are good reminders to pray.
For writers: Do you characters have a special object, such as a medal, that is important to them?
In the supernatural horror I’m working on, the title character keeps a memento from everyone he visits. No medals yet, but something to remember them by for sure.
Those little touchstone objects are so helpful in storytelling!
Great post. As I child I wore religious medals. I guess we all did. I don’t know when i stopped. Find me here. LINK
Well, I went through some gaps without wearing them, especially when little ones were always ripping them from my neck!
I wear the Miraculous Medal too, and it is in one of my stories: Battle for His Soul.
I am so excited to find your blog via A to Z. I’m signing up for your newsletter. Bless you and happy Easter!
Thanks, Heather! Blessed and happy Easter to you too!
This is a great tip for creating characters. If your character has a necklace or ornament he/she wears every day, there’s definitely a story behind it. Figuring out how/when to weave that story in gives so much character detail.
operationawesome6.blogspot.com/
I agree. A tangible object can help develop a character without being wordy. Thanks for stopping by!
Since I don’t write fiction, I do not use this technique. That said, as a reader I could definitely confer a lot about a character from a medal or medallion they wore.
Perspectives at Life & Faith in Caneyhead
It’s a kind of shorthand, isn’t it? Clothes, jewelry, all kinds of ways to tell the reader more about the character.