| One of the first questions you ask a new acquaintance is. "What do you do for a living?" Occupations define people, give them a place in society. "What do your characters do for a living?" Is it important to them? Or is the job simply tacked on as an afterthought, or perhaps a useful plot device to get the story started? One of the ways to add depth to your characters, particularly the main character, is to give them a definite vocation, and thus a place in the society of their world. But it is not enough to say, "Mary is a sports writer," or, "Bob is a truck driver." They need to act like truck drivers or sport writers. The following illustrations are all taken from detective fiction, since occupations seem particularly important in that genre. |
"One of the ways to add depth to your characters, particularly the main character, is to give them a definite vocation..." |
| "It is impossible to think of [Sherlock Holmes] being anything other than a detective." | Sherlock Holmes was the first, and is still a great example. It is impossible to think of him being anything other than a detective. His occupation defined him. It was not something he stumbled into, but what he was. Fortunately for him, his skills were useful to people and made him a living. No matter what else he might of had to do to support himself, he would still have been a detective. Watson, however, was different. It would have made very little change in the stories if he had been a schoolteacher, or an author, or even a younger son of nobility on a fixed allowance. His function was to record Holmes' exploits, and to represent the ordinary person's viewpoint. Perhaps that is what makes him less memorable as a character. |
| A detective from another medium is Jessica Fletcher, of show, "Murder She Wrote." Does she act like a real writer? Does she organize her life so she has time to write? Does she live, eat, and breathe the characters from her latest novel? How often did the audience see her deal with her editor or publisher? Sometimes she was seen going over proofs or even sitting in front of her typewriter or computer screen, yet the impression the episodes gave was that she turned out continuous best sellers from the cracks in her life. Most often she seemed to be between books. Granted, it would be difficult to make an exciting television show about a real writer's normal life, but it is easier to believe that Jessica Fletcher is an independently wealthy town busybody than a real author. | "Does [Jessica Fletcher] organize her life so she has time to write?" |
| "Cadfael's attitudes, knowledge, and occupation spring directly from who he was and is..." | To go back to books, a very good example of a character with a definite vocation is Brother Cadfael from the Ellis Peters' novels. Cadfael is very much a lay brother of the Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. His life runs according to the discipline and schedule of the abbey, the services and prayers, and time to work in his herb garden. Many of the stories show him creating remedies for the brothers and others, and his knowledge of herbs is frequently instrumental in solving whatever the particular mystery is. Cadfael's attitudes, knowledge, and occupation spring directly from who he was and is: a fourteenth century Welsh soldier of the Crusades who gave up the sword for the cross. Peters is hard to beat for the use of specifics to bring a time and place to life. |
| A more modern detective is Helma Zukas, created by Jo Dereske. Miss Zukas is a reference librarian at the main branch of a public library in a small city in the Pacific Northwest. Both her strengths and her weaknesses spring from the librarian mindset and skills. Her wide-ranging knowledge comes from finding answers to hundreds, probably thousands, of patron reference questions. She approaches her job, her life, and the mysteries that come her way with the methodical ways of the librarian. And that very methodicalness is her weakness. She does not like things to upset her orderly world, whether it is a new director at the library or a corpse in the stacks. It is quite impossible to imagine Miss Zukas doing anything else for a living. |
"[Helma Zukas's] strengths and her weaknesses spring from the librarian mindset and skills." |
| "Does your character fit the typical profile for his occupation? If not, why not...?" | The more you know about your characters, of course, the more rounded and fleshed out they become. One of those factors is their occupation. Occupations help define where your character fits in the world. Is it a respected job? Does it pay well? But more than just getting down the facts, you need to make the occupation part of your character. A particular job means a particular way of looking at the world, particular expectations, and particular kinds of expertise. Does your character fit the typical profile for his occupation? If not, why not, and how does that affect how he interacts with others of the profession? Is it blue collar or white collar? Does he work with his hands or his mind? How high up in management is he? How much education did it require? Union or non-union? Permanent or temporary? What else is significant about the job? May you and your characters both enjoy this Labor Day. |
Quote of the Day Home Page