Direct characterization occurs when the narrator or another character explicitly tells the reader what a character is like. Traits are stated rather than implied through action or dialogue.

“She was a generous woman” is direct characterization. The alternative—showing the character giving time and resources without being asked—is indirect. Both methods are useful. Direct characterization is efficient and can establish baseline traits quickly; overused, it feels blunt and leaves the reader little work to do. Skilled writers often combine the two, stating a trait and then demonstrating it, or allowing later actions to complicate an initial direct statement.

In first-person narration the speaker’s direct comments about others also characterize the speaker, because the judgments reveal values and biases. Direct characterization is common in older fiction and in certain popular genres; contemporary literary fiction tends to favor the indirect method, though the direct approach never entirely disappears.

When the text simply announces a character’s quality, the characterization is direct.