Comments on: A Secret Weapon for Characterization: The Character’s Job

By: Writing About Character Occupations: The Resource Mother Lode ~ WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 13:07:11 +0000

[…] character’s job can reveal about him or her and then also see how these details can become a secret characterization weapon, especially at the start of your […]

By: Kris Maze

Kris Maze — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 02:08:20 +0000

Hi Angela,
I loved this quote: a powerful opening means writing smart, thinking economically, and bringing our show-don’t-tell A-game. Being precise with a character's profession helps in crafting compelling writing. It can be fun to go against those traditional views of certain jobs, too. The terrible coach who bands together a ragtag group of amateurs, the failed musician who is a better manager, the airport worker afraid of heights... job expectations can add vital layers to your story.

Thanks for the thesaurus series, these have been an important part of project that I've worked on for the last few years. They're great!

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 17:56:59 +0000

In reply to jamesr403. I didn't know you're an accountant! I hang out with tons of those guys and they are sooooo much more fun than I ever knew. :-)

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 17:54:49 +0000

In reply to jamesr403. Awwwww, thanks, James! That series was so fun to conceive and I am still writing on the second and third book. But my nun will always hold a special place in my heart. :-)

By: angelaackerman1

angelaackerman1 — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 15:06:33 +0000

In reply to Rachel Lauderdale. That's an interesting experiment although it must have been disappointing to be viewed as uneducated, unimportant, or uninteresting at times, depending on the information you shared. Ugh. It is unfortunate that as a whole we do judge people, especially on a first meeting, and we do need to be made aware of this so we are on alert for this behavior. But, also because of our desire to put people in categories or boxes, we can use this to our advantage in fiction, helping readers made certain connections based on the work a person does and other details. We just need to be fully aware of what we're implying by connecting someone to a job...including certain biases some people have. And, we need to work hard to avoid stereotypes...what we do in fiction has an impact on the real world.

By: Rachel Lauderdale

Rachel Lauderdale — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 05:48:28 +0000

When I was fresh out of college, I moved to Greenwich, CT to work as a live-in nanny (something I vowed NEVER to do again... loved the nannying, hated the live-in part). Anyway, I would do my own social experiment when meeting people for the first time in a setting away from my job, like in church or in a cafe or something where they wouldn't immediately know what I did for a living. I'd noticed that people either accepted or passed over me or reacted to me differently depending on how I answered the question of what I did for work. If I answered "nanny", I was put in the lowest esteem out of the categories I'd tried and on par with the immigrant nannies in the area and assumed to not be a college graduate. I wasn't as exotic as an au pair and whoever I was talking to would quickly find an excuse to be on their way, almost without fail. If I answered that I was up there as a "writer", I could see them put me in the artist category and they'd inevitably ask about my projects and such. Like an exhibit to be studied, but lower in esteem than them. It would go either way on the assumption of my education levels. If I answered that I was just up there staying with friends or family, I was close to being on par. Not quite priviledged enough to be "in their world" but enough to be connected. It was pretty fascinating and I couldn't help but try it out in all of my new introductions while I was there with pretty consistent results. None of it was technically a lie, just dependent on which side of my life I wanted to show, but it did give me some interesting insights to the opportunities that would open up or close down dependent on perception of my worth and what I could bring to the table.

By: angelaackerman1

angelaackerman1 — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 04:32:11 +0000

In reply to dholcomb1. That's terrific. A job shouldn't be stage dressing...readers will sense something's off if their job is glossed over and mot really part of anything.

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 04:19:06 +0000

I try to pick an occupation I know about or can research thoroughly. I want my characters to be believable.

denise

By: angelaackerman1

angelaackerman1 — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 19:20:14 +0000

In reply to jamesr403. I agree--good point. The order, how it's phrased, how descriptive the speaker is, etc. All important. It can even show a sense of humor or lightness in their personality - does a person say they "I'm a surgeon" or "I fix people when they break down"?

By: jamesr403

jamesr403 — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 19:07:43 +0000

Angela, great post. Thanks, and it makes me think of the way people answer the question, "What do you do?" "I'm a writer, accountant, teacher . . . " The very language reflects the importance of occupation.