Characters at Cliff’s
Donna and I spent some of Saturday at a packed—and I mean packed—Albuquerque amusement park, Cliff’s. It’s one of those Coney Island kinda places. You know, rides, food, cotton candy (as separate and distinct from actual food) ring toss, gaming galleries…a carnival sorta place. Reminded me of the Darke County Fair in Greenville, Ohio where Amelia Earhart met her end. Cliff’s was kinda old timey, too. It was established in 1959, after all, so a fifty year history of entertainment and fun.
Time travel aside, I found the people watching endlessly fascinating. I won’t try to describe them all—indeed, I couldn’t—but about the only way to differentiate them was by gender and age. After that most superfluous of distinctions they surprised me quite a bit. How? By stepping outside my expectations.
For example, who would have anticipated older people…probably age 60 and above, lined up for the rollercoaster? (Oh, this particular ride turned you u-p-s-i-d-e down!) Yet, there they were. I also saw a group of teenagers being teased by their peers because they were afraid to ride that same rollercoaster…who woulda thought.
I saw some younger girls at the softball throw nailing the targets, and some macho guys coming up empty at the same game. There were younger children, ready to ride the most gut-wrenching rides, such as the Sidewinder and the Cliffhanger, while young adults looked for something more sedate. To be sure, there were plenty of oldsters–like me–content to watch, and many younger children simply happy to survive the 3 mile-per-hour train ride. But the crossover into the unexpected was remarkable…at least to me.
Not all the characters behaved as I thought they would. This was fascinating and engaging. I learned to abandon stereotypes and expect the unexpected. I started to connect a couple of dots in my writing world.
- This was a great example of creating quirky characters, or characters who step outside the expected. The people I remembered most—and that’s key for a novel–were unusual in someway: dress, mannerism, speech, energy level, or risky behavior beyond what I thought their risk tolerance would be. Gotta try to remember that for future characters…unusual ones stay with you. You engage with them, and through them, the story.
- I also was reminded of the variability of our audience. Readers are different, with unique tastes and likes. One reader may like lots of scene detail and description, the next reader may want the minimum. One reader may like lots of action, another, lots of romance. You just can’t tell. This is a real conundrum. Which group do you write to? I suppose the answer is middle ground, or the area where you’ll find the majority, but how do you find that area? I solve it by writing as if I’m the reader. I assume I’m a fairly middle of the road reader; if I’m okay with it, I’m assuming the average reader will be happy as well. Not an elegant solution, I know.
So, that’s what my brain did while at the amusement park. It did not, by the way, get turned upside down on the Fireball. Maybe it should have!
Themocracy
As you know, the Writer doesn’t much care for crowds, but he would have enjoyed the people watching.
Anyway, this is always tough for me to remember. I think I’m getting better at creating characters, but for the longest time they had a tendency to all be the same. They talked the same, I was bad at describing them, they had no distinct characteristics… I was visualizing them in my head, but didn’t stop to think that the reader needed a little more than that!
People watching is GREAT for creating characters. I do more scribbling in my ever-present notebook about new characters while people watching than I do any other time!
Amusement parks are great places to observe the human condition. And–since plenty of teenagers infest those parks–it’s also a great place to observe the inhuman condition.
Galen, if you go on the rollercoasters, remember to tie your hat on tight!
Unexpected behavior is always memorable – just ask Susan Boyle! I don’t think she would have made as huge a shockwave if she had resembled Halle Berry.
I am not a fair-goer, so thank you for doing the observing and kindly reporting!
Elspeth
I LOVE amusement parks! And I love your first bullet point. So true and it’s something I’ve been working on lately!
We have a park back home in PA called Knoebels and we loved to go there because it was old-fashioned, sold great fries and had awesome rides. My husband would still be getting in line for any roller coaster that is built.
I loved the picture of where you went–I envy you that you got to go! Nothing like that here–too much Disney.
But yes, like you, I love to people watch and see the many kinds there are. I try to write middle of the line too as I think that’s what I am–
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
This is very interesting to me, Galen. I’ve been playing around a little with character responses to situations (sometimes I think my ideas are stale.) Great reminder not to create stereotypes, or to turn stereotypes on their heads.
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
I have the exact same problem, Jack. I mean, i have a very clear picture in my head of what these characters look like. What’s wrong with my readers??? Can’t they read my mind.
The only trick, Julee is to not have them notice you taking notes on them. Some folks are paranoid…or worse depending on the part of town.
I had my hat with me, too, Alan…that Albuquerque sun is strong at 5,500 feet elevation.
Well, Elspeth, I didn’t so much go to the fair, as I visited and watched. It was a pretty sterile event as far as participation went.
Katie, something tells me I’d find you in line for the Fireball, the one that loops-the-loop.
The people there seemed to be off their guard, Terri, so, there was easy pickins so far as watching their oddities was concerned.
Creating stereotype characters is a specialty for me, Elizabeth.
Interesting subject and way to approach it. Middle ground is the safest route, but also the least noticable and ho-hum. I tend to be more minimalistic in descriptions, with enough hints for the reader to fill in the blanks and create their own impressions. Other authors, as you say, go the the extreme in detail. As they say, “you can please some people some of the time, but you can never please all the people all of the time.” Something like that.
Marvin D Wilson
I endured the teasing because as a teenager I didn’t want to be upside down and I certainly don’t want to be upside down now. I chalk it up to always having more common sense than my friends! But, people watching – that’s something I have always loved. It’s so true that the most memorable characters are those that standout from the norm in some manner.
Excellent observations. I love people watching – there are always some that “think outside the box” folks there that will surprise you. Sounds like you got some material for future characters…maybe? Anyway, hope you had fun at Cliff’s. Sounds like it was a fun day!
Nancy, from Realms of Thought…
Amusement parks are great places for people-watching. King’s Island near Cincinnati and Epcot Center in Florida were my favorites. Haven’t done that in a long time. Now I people-watch in Starbucks.