Hieroglyphs, petroglyphs (pictures carved into rocks), and cuneiform (a writing system using hashmarks on clay tablets) were all early forms of written communication. All of them were precursors to alphabets, which use letters to represent sounds. Grunts are an early (and present-day) form of communication, but they aren't written.
There are several ways in which writers use direct characterization in a story, but the most common way is that they will take time to describe each character in detail.
B. he pauses to listen for voices y because he wants to know who it is
