As crazy as this may sound, it is the perfect time of year to people watch.
If you are struggling with ideas for characters, go somewhere people gather and sit in observant mode for a while. A mall food court is a fabulous place to watch all different types of people. Harried parents, young teens, screaming kids, tired senior citizens. You’ll find them all there.
You can jot down notes of behaviors, personalities, habits, facial expressions. It is all there.
Captain Cavedweller took me to a big city for a few days and left me sitting in the food court of a huge mall. Within five minutes, I had ideas for three wonderfully weird and fun characters.
Seriously, you will find people out and about now that you normally might not see. They’ll be hanging around after-Christmas sales until:
1. Their December credit card bill arrives
2. They run out of ugly sweaters and stale fruitcake to buy from the clearance sales to stockpile from next year
3. They run out of room for the stockpiling
Go hang out somewhere with a lot of foot traffic and see if you don’t get inspired with some great character ideas.
