Building Character – Part II

Where do you find characters? Simple answer: Everywhere.

I met Sergei at a fast food restaurant in the Salt Lake City airport. If you spend as much time in airports as I do, you soon learn that here is where you will find the least friendly, least attentive service. The folks behind the counter generally could care less about you. After all, they will likely never see you again. Their only concern is how much time remains on their shift and how long it will take them to work through the twenty or so people behind you.

Not so with Sergei. Sergei made eye contact with me and assisted me with my order. He didn't act rushed or seem impatient with questions he must hear hundreds of times a day. I liked Sergei and took a seat across from his station so that I could observe him. Sure enough, Sergei's mission was to ensure each customer with whom he came in contact had the best possible dining experience.

Now, I'm sure Sergei recognized that he did not work at the top of the employment food chain – pun intended. But this clearly didn't matter. He was in America and in America you can be anything you want. And it appeared to me for the next half-hour while watching Sergei that what he wanted was to be the best fast-food worker he could be. He was attentive, courteous and a bit older than the average server and he took his job seriously.

Sergei was not a snappy dresser. His dark pants were worn and his shirt a bit faded, but he wore his white smock with pride as if he were the restaurant's executive chef. The only thing that stood out about Sergei's clothing was a pair of tricked-out sneakers that seemed out of place with the rest of his clothing. The shoes seemed to say, "Hi. Look at me. I belong to Sergei. I'm new to America and I'm going places."

Are you feeling a character coming on? Good. So, how to take this few minutes of observation of Sergei and build him into a full-fledged, I-want-to-spend-time-with-this-guy, character?

NAME: Okay, let's give Sergei his name. Let's call him. Sergei Pavlovich. But what does this name tell us about Sergei? Nothing, right? It's just a name for our character. Notice that Sergei does not have a middle name. Everyone he knew growing up had at least three names. Sergei always felt badly about this – that his parents didn't care enough to give him a decent Russian name.

OCCUPATION: What is Sergei's occupation? Fast-food worker. Got it. But what did he do before this? What if he used to be a hitman for the Russian mob? Let's work with this for a moment.

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER'S MAJOR GOAL? He wants to escape the mob and he wants to be a 'good' American.

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER'S MAJOR PROBLEM? He still has to support his family by acting as a freelance hitman. But, but, but… he only kills people who deserve it. He screens the assignments his anonymous clients give him. Remember… Sergei really wants to be a good American.

HOW WILL THIS CHARACTER'S PROBLEMS GET WORSE? Well, the mob could find him, but let's put that on hold for a moment. Let's say that Sergei has been set up and ends up killing an innocent man. How would Sergei react? Notice that we are moving into plot, but that's Okay. Let's say that Sergei decides to seek out his deceitful employer and take his revenge.

Now, what do we know about Sergei so far?

PERSONAL DATA:
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Birthplace: Russia – But where in Russia? Moscow? Nah, too easy. Let's say he is from Czernowitz in the Ukraine. Now this town is mostly Jewish, also poor. Let's say that Sergei is not Jewish, so he grew up as an outcast in this community. He hates religion. In fact, it was this hatred that led him into the "hitman business." Perhaps he took assignment to take out a problematic Rabbi who got in the way of mob business.

What else do we know? Well, we have lots of character contrast going on. Sergei is a killer, but he's likable. He is a killer coming from a religious community and has moved to one of the most religious parts of America. And he absolutely hates religion, but he cannot escape it in Salt Lake. This probably makes Sergei tense. Tense is good. We like tense. Maybe this is why Sergei took the job in the airport – to get away from the heavy Mormon influence in Salt Lake.

You will (hopefully) remember from the first posting on 'Building Character' that we said we want characters that react to each other, but it is also helpful to put your characters in situations in which they are uncomfortable and in environments in which they stand out.

Let's move on. Married? No. Children: One daughter, age 17. What other key relationships does Sergei have? Where is the mother of his child? Is his daughter with him? Does she know what he does? Is he a loving father? What are his plans for his daughter? (Fathers always have plans for their kids.)

What we are looking to develop is not just an understanding of Sergei, but a history that contributes to his motivations, desires, fears and dreams.

Would Sergei work as the main character of a novel? Possibly, but very difficult. While there is a lot to work with here, Sergei is, afterall, a bad guy. A conflicted bad guy, but a bad guy nonetheless. The challenge will be to make him sympathetic enough that a reader could past the fact that he kills people. Now, if Sergei were truly retired from the hitman business, this would be a lot easier, but then we have removed the major source of tension and conflict for this character.

Alright, party is over. Your homework assignment is to finish developing Sergei. Color him in. We have to know his hair color, body build, height, weight. He is far from fully developed. What are his likes, dislikes, favorite foods?