How can I enter visual mode by holding shift in normal mode in evil?

Question

If I press shift in insert mode, I can select text using the arrow keys. I want to be able to do the same in normal mode. This is what I got so far:

(define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "S-<left>") (lambda () (interactive) (evil-visual-char) (backward-char)))
(define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "S-<right>") (lambda () (interactive) (evil-visual-char) (forward-char)))

It works well, except S-<left> behaves weirdly since pressing it continuously it also extends the selection on the right side, even though the key-binding is only set for the normal mode.

Answer 1

By default, visual state inherits bindings from normal state, as long as they do not collide.

Therefore, this should (and does) work:

(define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "S-<left>")
  (lambda ()
    (interactive)
    (evil-visual-char)
    (backward-char)))
(define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "S-<right>") 
  (lambda ()
    (interactive)
    (evil-visual-char)
    (forward-char)))
(define-key evil-visual-state-map (kbd "S-<left>")
  #'backward-char)
(define-key evil-visual-state-map (kbd "S-<right>") 
  #'forward-char)