Observatory

Today I went out to dinner with my grandmother. Soon after we sit, a jovial and talkative couple sits at the table next to us. They are very close and so I could hear every word they were saying to one another. About half-way through their conversation, I decided to make a few recorded observations in my cell phone. Based on the way they spoke and subject matter, this is what I concluded:

"The couple sitting next to us is married, with children. Their children are approximately late elementary school age. The man works for a finance company. He is optimistic, morally intelligent, and confident in his decisions. He likes to have plans. The woman is quiet, agreeble, but outgoing. She is more of a socially experienced being; the children, friends, camp and vacations. The couple is obviously middle class, similar dress to the uniform of slightly upper class style. They are both in their late 40s."

After our dinner, I interrupted the couple. I introduced myself; asked them to review my observations and report back on how many I had gotten correct. Their reaction after reading?

"Dead on."

Why? Because as it turns out, I was 95% accurate. My only miss was that the man's job is actually as a CFO for a jewelry company. However, that position does in fact require plenty of financial knowledge. I realize that my story has absolutely nothing to do with writing...

Or does it? I found that through a few sentences, I could accurately portray the characters of two complete strangers. It takes very little to figure exactly what kind of person someone is. I suppose my point is that things like this should be taken into consideration during character and story development. Look at the people walking by you on the street. Who are they? What are their lives like? If you had to write a book about it, could you?

In the creation of your own characters, not much is needed to tell others who they are. The way they speak, body language, and personal looks are all any human needs to judge another. It's also all you need to birth a great character that can clearly be loved or hated by your audience.