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Grow Up and Get a Real Job
I was sitting in Sin’s quarters, dining on that delectable cuisine by those Make a Run for the Border people and discussing [i.e. bitching about] my job. My real-life job as a student coordinator at a University department. Only that’s not my official title—it’s what I do—but my title is much further down on the pay scale and food chain. Hence part of the whining. Sin was bitching too, though she’s smarter than me about making sure she is titled appropriately at all times. (I know, I was amazed as you are to find out that Sin has a full-time gig when she’s not being an International Secret Spy Assassin for Anarchy Now! I don’t know how she has the time.)
We do this a lot when we get together, because when 40+ hours of your week are spent at one place with the same people, that says a lot about you as a person. It defines you, to a degree, even though being the department’s HAK (Holder of All Knowledge) doesn’t exactly factor into your daily brag list.
You can find all sorts of characteristics about a person through their job. Are you a people person? (Oh, hell no.) Are you a diplomat? (Clearly not.) How are you at managing people to get the day-to-day crap done, without having people micromanage you to death? (This, I’m pretty good at. Mostly because I frighten people until they leave me the hell alone so I can do what they’ve requested.)
Sin operates a lot like this. Only she hears my stories and says, “You’re too damned nice. I would have been fired by now. Actually, I would never have been there because you couldn’t pay me a million dollars an hour to put up with the crap you put up with.”
What does this say about Sin? It says she’s a smart person who knows exactly what to say to her best friend when she’s whining, yet again, about her job.
What does it say about me? It says I have all the career ambition of a gnat. The business world, even in college academia, holds little to no appeal to me other than paying my bills. I do not wake up in the morning and go, “Golly, I can’t wait to file some programs of study and show Dr. Spritzor how to copy and paste within a Word document.” It’s a job. I have the same attitude about work as Red Foreman relates to his son, Eric: “It’s called work because it’s work. If work were fun, it’d be called Happy Fun Time.” I have no illusions about what I do for a living.
The point of this being: if you want to know your characters, give them a job. How they take their coffee is not nearly as enlightening as how they deliver customer service.
I’m as guilty of this as the next writer—guiltier actually—because basically every heroine I’ve had has a job similar to mine. They’re either career students or secretaries. I don’t have CEO heroines because I think “what a dismal job”—and I don’t even like to read about heroines who are CEOs. (I know, I have many prejudices.) But whatever—give the character a job of some sort. Have them flip burgers, have them be discovering the cure for cancer—what are they doing? It tells so much about them. It gives some credibility to the character. Otherwise, are all modern day heroines trust-fund babies? What are they doing with their time? Just how many parties can you go to?
Quite a few, I admit…but still.
Tell your characters to get a job already. They need to pull their own weight. And if your character is single, she’s probably not writing full-time as a struggling novelist. Oh, no, she’d at least have to be a vastly successful novelist. Too many modern novels run that risk of sheer disbelief as Friends, which most all of us loved (I did), but the girls were living in an uber-expensive apartment in New York—and one worked as a waitress and the other worked as a chef’s apprentice? What? I could barely afford to buy coffee in New York when I was there and I get paid a little better than a waitress.
Do you vary your characters’ careers? Are there some careers you just can’t imagine doing (don’t want to imagine doing) and thus don’t give your characters? Anyone else tired of CEOs or trust-fund babies? Is there a career you’d love to give a character but you haven’t found the right story for it yet?
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26 comments:
Yup, I'm tired of CEOs and trust-fun baby (both titles to which my boss holds--do you feel doubly sorry for me now?)
I'm historical, so my femmes do not have jobs.
My men on the other hand do.
Rothburn is in trade... and not 'good' trade. He's really the bad boy through and through... he started his fortune in the opium trade through the east--yes he's part of the downfall of the emperor--but has since cleaned up his act.
Thaddeus lives off his brother's (a duke) stipend. But, he is a composer and all around musician--I haven't decided on his first instrument yet.
I love Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel who goes around and does all the "dirtiest" jobs that someone has to do. Like Chick Sexer/Turkey Inseminator (yep, just what you think it is), Sludge Remover, Storm Drain Cleaner, Salmon Carcass Counter...
We should all promise to give a character one of the worst jobs imaginable and see what he makes of it.
That would be contemp, not contempt. I have the utmost respect for contemporaries.
My historical heroes "manage their estates," or have been soldiers. My plucky heroines teach child prostitutes and destitute village girls. The next one will be an author of scandalous stories. In one contempt I attempted, the heroine was a librarian. Uh, that's my day job. :)
Awesome blog, Hellion! It really is a great way to come at creating your character. For instance my heroine is kind of shy and reserved but to prevent her from coming off as a witch I was going to make her a nurse or kindergarden teacher. It's the same with the hero - how many atypical athletes have we read about or computer geeks that were awesome lovers?! Handing out careers helps you create a personality or go against the norm and show the character's individuality.
JK - that is so funny. I walked into the room while my son was watching that show and nearly threw up (it's a great show for an 11 year old boy!). That guy does some really disgusting things. I think he was cleaning out sewers or septic tanks when I stumbled in.
I also write historical so my hero manages his estate while investigating his wife's murder. My heroine is looking for a husband and that's a full time job. SHe's a witch on the side. LOL!!
Tiff - I really think I'm going to love HB. He's in opium trade? That's awesome.
I must have been tired.... both my femmes are whores... so yes, they do work. lol!
Marn, it's all part of Rothburn's dark character, and made/shaped him into the man he is.
He sounds yummy, Tiff. :)
What a great topic. I'm all for anything that shows characterization without me having to think too much about it. My hero is a chef and opening his own restaurant. My heroine works in PR/Marketing but does photography as a hobby.
Of the other stories in the back of my mind, one has a hero that owns his own boat he uses to take tourists out on Ocracoke Island and his heroine is a young lawyer (who actually hates her job); one has a hero that returns home after playing for a short time in Major League Baseball and his heroine is a HS English teacher; one story has a PI hero and a heroine who sort of becomes a PI with him; and then the other has a hero that owns his own messenger service in the big city and I'm not sure yet what his heroine does for a living as through the course of the story she's mostly just a professional brides maid.
Man, I need to write faster.
Great blog Hellion! I think we might have the same job :( Somehow, I end up dealing with faculty in my department who are bordering on incompetent, so I end up doing their jobs on top of my own. Thrilling. And we have one older man who (thank god doesn't teach!) I had to show how to attach something to an email seven times. No lie. And, uh, HAK???? LMAO! I'm making that my new title around here.
I love the thought of jobs for characters - it does say a lot about them. My hero is in private security (he keeps executives alive in Baghdad), which works for him because he's so freakin over-protective of everyone :) Heroine is a reporter, so nosy and keeps way too many secrets.
There's a hint of a story floating around in the back of my mind where the heroine is a pilot. The Hero is smuggling something, and needs a pilot. I'm trying to figure out what characteristics a female pilot would have.....
I think my next historical, Beth's story, is that she's was forced into espionage by the French in the Napoleonic wars (she has the power to project her will on others) and the hero is going to be a British military officer who is supposed to protect her. At least that's the backstory.
*hanging head* I do have a trust fund baby but she doesn't touch it. Libby's in a coma for almost ten years and when she wakes up she has no idea. But she also sees and hears demons so she thinks she's crazy and runs off and works in a club.
Sadie is an independent contractor. She works for whoever will give her the most money for a particular "job" and her cover job is her moonlighting for the FBI. Ruiz works with the FBI as a special agent. And Ash lies and says he works for the KC FBI but he's a private investigator.
My contemp heroes are man who've paved their own way despite that they already have money and have been from a photojournalist to a lawyer to a rock star. My heroines have been anything from a heiress who toys with modeling and celebrity as only the rich and famous can do, a stage manager, and one who saves animals.
Sin, I have trust fund babies, too. LOL.
I was actually told by an author that my story would never sell without rich or at least powerful characters. But I've read contemps with regular people in regular jobs and loved them. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed others do to.
Great blog, Hellion, and what interesting responses.
I gave the H/H in my first book jobs that I knew little about, but I had great fun doing the research. Now I know much more about country singers/songwriters and fiber artists. Even my secondary characters have jobs that play into the story. My heroine's mother owns a shop where she sells collectibles and the work of local artists, and her father is a syndicated newspaper columnist. The hero's father is a high school history teacher; his aunt is a well-known artist.
In one WIP, the heroine has just left her job as a nutrition specialist for an international children's charity, and the hero is a historic preservationist architect; in the other, the hero is a band member (acostic guitar and harmony vocals) in hero #1's band; the heroine in an associate pastor. Can you tell that I like giving my characters jobs that are out of the ordinary. Choosing jobs is one of my favorite parts of the preliminary stage. :)
Janga - What exactly is a historic preservationist architect? I imagine these occupations serve to make your books so interesting, but I don't even want to think about all the research.
Well, since I've only written Historical, I haven't had the opportunity to think about jobs. But if I try out a contemporary I'll definitely think hard on it. That's a fantastic way to do a character study! It makes me excited to try it out. Maybe I can do a sort of what-would-my-regency-heroine-be-if-she-lived-in-modern-times Q&A.
Kelly - I think that's an entirely new blog topic! LOL!
Terri, a historic preservation architect is one who specializes in preserving old buildings. Brody's specialty is the restoration of old homes. Thank God for the Internet, which makes it easy to research fields I know almost nothing about. And I love the research! I just have to be careful not to get so caught up in it that I have no time left to write. LOL!
See, I never would have known there was a name for that. Though I watch enough HGTV, I should have known. LOL! The detail and depth that would bring to the character and the story is wonderful. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
My heroines are all chefs who went to school together. One owns her own restaurant and is starring in a cable cooking show. Her man is a disenchanted stock broker (pre-Wall Street shake up) who runs his family's artisenal cheese farm. One is a chef for hire and is over in Italy cooking for an eccentric couple. Her hero is an hot Italian millionaire. The other friend is a pastry chef whose restaurant closes down following a critic's skewed review - so she kidnaps him.
Santa, I love the one where the heroine kidnaps the critic! Can you be bribed to let me read it?:)
I love you guys! I was sick yesterday...so I'm sorry I didn't get to comment until today, but you guys are the bomb! I love all your characters' jobs! You guys gave your peeps such interesting careers!
Tiff: Of course, your prostitutes are the hardest working gals... *grins*
Janga: I'm absolutely enchanted by the range of careers and all so interesting. I would LOVE to be a historical preservationist, btw. I minored in history; and one of my history professors (the toughest one) told me I should get my masters in history and go into research or something... I love books about singers/songwriters--and I love the fact you break that "rule" about not making your hero/ine an artist or a musician because those don't sell. Not true! After all, I adore Marsha Moyer's stuff...and he was a singer. And she was kinda an artist, working in that flower shop and all...
Santa: I'm completely intrigued by a group of chefs that went to school together and all have their specialities...that's such a cool selling point, I think. (Plus I would love to learn more about the artisan stuff, so definitely get into the details on that!)
Kelly: I'm definitely saving that for another blog topic...or maybe Marnee will, since she's the Regency writer of us. *LOL* That does sound hysterical! *LOL*
Ely: You also do cool careers. Can I be one of your trust fund babies? *LOL*
Sin: Sadie is like a girl James Bond. I love her. *LOL*
Marnee: I love the premise for the new book!
Hal: Female pilot? It'd be funny if she were like a Harrison Ford version from the 6 Days, 7 Nights movie...but usually women in those types of jobs have to prove themselves more. (It's really irritating, but I think true.) So I think a female pilot is going to be tough, daring, a chip on her shoulder and suspicious at all times, a dark secret in her past, and so damned intelligent she'd make a man sweat just looking at her. Balls to the wall fearless. But that's probably too cliched. Maybe she's the daughter of a famous aviator, so she is more like the Harrison Ford type: reckless and a little crazy. That'd be funny. More like Maverick from Top Gun.
Terri: You're such a show off. *LOL* All of your characters have jobs different than anything you'd do. Clearly I wrote this blog because *I'm* incapable of giving my characters interesting careers. *LOL*
Irish & JK: A Dirty Job--cleaning out septic tanks? ICK!! Yeah, but I do like the prospect of giving your character a crappy job (no pun intended) and having them fall in love. *LOL* "Hi mom and dad, I'm dating the head sewage guy." I would totally throw up watching that show!
Maggie: *LOL* See, this is why I should write historicals. No one writes historicals about the maids who clean for everyone. No historicals are about the lady of hte house...and if she's not the lady of the house, she used to be.
I wrote a historical novella set in the 20s about a year ago. The heroine was a store clerk and then a telephone operator and the hero was an architect and then a lawyer and then a paper magnate. He was suffering from what we now call PTSD, after WWI, so he bounced around.
My current (I guess it's a contemporary despite being set in the 1970s), the hero is a newspaper photographer and the heroine is an as-yet-unsuccessful artist.
But the real reason why I finally came back to comment on this post was that I saw this great post today on a new trend in protag's jobs: unemployed:
http://edittorrent.blogspot.com/2008/09/unemployed-protagonists.html
I can't wait for you guys to do your take on that blog topic.lol.
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