Story Characters and People Watching
The Stuff of Story Characters
People are the stuff of story characters. I pride myself on my story characters, many of which have a Dickensish quality. Most of my characters—and likely most of his—are composites of a variety of people observed over the years. Being a people-watcher is essential to good fiction writing, or so it seems to me.
The following character descriptions are portrayals of real people with only slight exaggerations here and there. The names have been changed to protect…me! Truth be told, there are a lot of fascinating people in the town in which I live, and people intrigue me. I should add, my purpose is not to disparage, but to see people through the eyes of Dickens, if you will. They are all wonderful people in their own way—well, for the most part—and uniquely interesting.
Mike the Mouth
Tall with long spidery legs, Mike lopes into the crowded room loudly barking, “This is what you need to know about this place.” Heads turn to see who he is talking to—apparently himself, but possibly everyone in the room. I watch as he paces about explaining to no one in particular how an establishment should be run, and bragging on his superior abilities and someone else’s less than mediocre abilities. His eyes sparkle and his long hawk-billed nose is held high. His smile shines. Then he focuses in on the person nearest to where he finally chooses a chair. They are engaged in conversation whether they want to be or not, and will eventually leave either maddened or amused.