Living in suburban Charlotte, NC, I don’t meet a wildly different array of people in my usual, everyday life. Everyone is, of course, different from each other (different talents, different personalities, etc.). But we’ve all got more in common with each other than not.
Most of the people that I see on a day to day basis are other parents. We interact with each other through our children’s activities. Some go to work, some volunteer. We go to book club, out to dinner, to church, or to the movies. We visit while waiting to pick up our kids from Scouts, art class, or drama. We tidy our homes and do yard work.
There are slight variations on the same theme.
And then I went to the guitar store.
The guitar store visit was necessitated by my son’s interest in taking lessons. My husband has an 1980s-era Kramer electric guitar,which he’d already stopped playing by the time I met him in college.
So we walk in, holding the (very old) guitar case. And I have a feeling we looked just as exotic to the tattooed, pierced, black-tee-shirted people in the guitar store as they looked to us.
“Wow,” my husband said. “We’re old. And boring!”
I agreed with him.
“Well, let’s drop off the guitar with the repair guy and leave,” he said.
But I was more interested in hanging out and watching these folks for a while. They were so different. And different is always good when I’m collecting character traits and mannerisms.
I don’t think my husband was as thrilled at hanging out in the guitar store as I was. “You’ve got rock musicians in your next mystery?” he asked with some degree of surprise.
No, I definitely didn’t. But that’s the nice thing about creating characters—you can take little bits and pieces of people and meld them together to create a new person. It sounds a little Frankensteinish, but it works well. It does help, though, to see some different kinds of people from time to time.
Unfortunately, the guitar store made staring at people difficult. There wasn’t a café area where I could watch them and listen to them without being too obvious. I lingered as long as I could before we finally left.
Even if I don’t use the people I’ve seen, the experience tends to inspire me. It gets my neurons firing to see all the different possibilities of character appearance and personality and dress and manner.
I haven’t done any really good people-watching for a while and I think my well is running dry. Starbucks isn’t doing it for me (more of the same suburban types.)
Does people-watching help you add a little color to your characters? And—where has the watching been good, lately?
When I really need to get away from home, I drive into town and board a train into the city, which is about an hour away. I do this once every two or three months. As you can imagine, you run into a mix of weird and wonderful people. It’s hard not to stare, but you become quite adept, developing methods that you hope are not akin to a stalker’s behaviour, or too intrusive. :D
Elizabeth – What a very good place to people watch! I love it! I’m glad you found some inspiration, too. I don’t get a lot of people-watching opportunities, but I have noticed that my local bank, of all places, is interesting for that. People from all walks of life, all races, the whole thing, have to do their banking. So you can see elderly people, young folks, military folks, tattooed/pierced non-conformists, kids clutching single dollar bills to deposit, the whole thing. And fortunately, the bank branch that I use is in a local grocery store, so I can people watch without looking toooo suspicious ;-).
Ah, people watching. In Orlando, there were tourists galore. Now we’re in a small mountain town, and there’s a whole new batch of characters to watch. Variations on a cowboy theme.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
It’s interesting, isn’t it, to meet some weird and very different people? Don’t let their disguise scare you off.
I know the types you describe, pierced and tattooed, with long black hair (and sometimes corpse paint and cat-eye contacts). I meat this kind of people on black metal concerts, and in our local heavy metal store. Actually, I have found that most of them are nice and friendly, and some are damn good at playing guitar >:)
Cold As Heaven
You’ll find me lurking: at the back of the bus, our local airport and truck stops up and down the A1 (Durham & North Yorkshire in case you come across a beardie guy scribbling on a notepad and trying to look nonchalant – come say Hi.)
Wandering round Darlington can be quite fruitful too.
One of my favourite characters is a gaoler who jogs at attention wherever he goes, drops his aches except on words that begin with a vowel, and is generally puzzled by all things humorous. I based him on a checkout guy at a supermarket. Turns out he was a sergeant major in the army working part-time to stave off boredom.
People watching is a must in my book. [sic]
I people watch, but it seems I do most of my watching at the grocery store because that’s where I am most days! Lately, I’ve been spending one evening a week with some actors I used to work with – material galore! (if I spread them out over many, many characters in many, many stories!)
I people watch often. Just a few glimpses. No staring. Dark sunglasses just in case. Some people are so bizarre I want to take a thirty second clip of them LOL!
I love people watching and find myself doing it almost everywhere – even in grocery stores and restaurants. But my favorite place to people watch is from anywhere in Key West, Florida.
I think it depends on what kind of characters you’re looking for. You can find new images with only minor changes in your routine – going to a church of a different religion, riding the bus or subway, walking the mall, going to a soccer game in a different area of town…basically just seeing something you don’t see in your ordinary day.
People watching is one of my favorite hobbies. I do it every where all the time.
One of the best places is the airport. Where are they going? What’s in the briefcase? Is that his wife or his mistress that was waiting for him to step off the plane?
Recently, a friend turned 40 and we (all over 30, married with kids types) went clubbing for a night.
I don’t intend to start hanging out in bars for “research” but there was a gold mine of characters! It was like watching Animal Kingdom for writers. I could have sat in the corner and just stared at people all night.
The grocery store is a good place to people watch, or a store (like your guitar store) where you seldom go. The main public library. A free public concert, like the band concerts my little town has every Friday during the summer.
Marian Allen
Yep, I’m a total people watcher and I get a good chance to see all types. First of all, in my practice, I see lots of alternative youth types. They like me and I like them. I also worked for many years with young recovering criminals. I really liked that too. And they do enter into my books – not the people but a way they look, an aesthetic they might share. I hang around with quite a few artists, writers, and unconventional sorts of folks -bohemians I suppose. I go to concerts and book signings that call forth lots of different folks. There is something about living in a small city that means you do get to see more diversity than if I lived in one huge city but in a one sort area of it. Does that make sense? And as you already know, I’m not one bit shy so I just start up conversations with people. “Where did you find that cool t-shirt? I think my step-son would love it.”
No problem findin’ colorful characters ’round here Honey, I live in the Ozarks!!! These hills and hollers are full of ’em! :o)
God bless ya and have a marvelous day sweetie!!!
I have long said, and coached, that to be a good fiction writer you MUST become a committed, continuous, and fastidious ‘people watcher’. Especially if you have not had a widely varied and exciting life of exposure to people of all types – you need the vast well of ‘people-isms from which to draw from and, as you say, do the Frankenstein thing and “take little bits and pieces of people and meld them together to create a new person.”
Good post, and kudos to you for hanging out in the guitar store – as an old Hippie Rock & Roller, I can tell you that musicians can provide LOTS of off-beat and unusual character traits to write about, lol.
I love people watching! I went to a tennis tournament in Toronto last summer and it was awesome! I also liked the Christmas parties I went to :)
A Certain Book–I’m pretty good with my cell phone camera… :)
Cold As Heaven–It’s definitely interesting! I had a great time at the guitar store.
Well, but these people seem more like the Cool Kids. I’ve always been a little intimidated by the Cool Kids…
Gary–I can SEE these people you’re mentioning! Great example of why people-watching is so important for writers. Thanks!
Margot–I never thought of that, but what a great idea! Yes, I’d have to choose a branch in a grocery store…the policeman in our downtown branch is a little off-putting. :)
Stephen–Yes! I’ve taken pictures of people with my phone before, acting as if I were texting. One day, someone is going to come after me for doing it…
Jane–I think I could be talked into people-watching in Key West… :)
Terry–Tourists and cowboys! You’ve been lucky with your locations!
Helen–That’s a good idea. Maybe just change it up a LITTLE bit and that way at least I won’t always be running into people that I know (which is what seems to happen a lot.)
Dawn–Before 9/11 I used to go to the airport with my son, when he was a little guy. He’d watch the planes take off and I’d watch the people! I guess I could still go to the areas before you walk through security and watch. It really was great for people-watching.
Animal Kingdom for writers! Ha! I love it! Lots of material there. :)
Marian–The library IS a good place…thanks for reminding me. I think my little branch here is mostly suburban, but if I go to the library downtown, I’d have more interesting folks to meet.
Jan–I used to hang out with more of the artistic types myself, but then…for some reason after the kids came, that life kind of went by the wayside!
Nezzy–See, this is what I miss about living in a small town! They’re usually full of characters. :)
Marvin–I was hoping to see YOU at the guitar store! :)
Elspeth–This is one of my problems…I know no actors! I need to hang out at the theater. :)
Yes!
Airports are good, but I haven’t been in one of those lately. I try to pay attention in restaurants and stores.
First, let me say that is awesome your son want to play guitar!! I promise we don’t all look like Alice Cooper though.
Go to concerts and sporting events – you will see all kinds of people, trust me!
Alex–That’s good because I sure don’t want my son to look like Alice Cooper! Ha! I don’t want to share out my eyeliner…
Jemi–Haven’t tried tennis matches, but a party is a great idea! I’m usually on the sidelines during parties anyway…great time to observe others. :)
I’ve heard the airport is a good place to people watch.
Ann
I think Edinburgh, although it may seem like a bit of a backwater, must be one of the best places to do people-watching, as we have lots of tourists from all over the world and also lots of people who have settled here. I have worked with Americans, Canadians, New Zealanders and people from several different countries in Europe.
But for ‘in-depth’ people-watching one of the best things to do in my experience is to take a long train journey. Travelling seems to bring out people’s weird personality traits quite well!
Working in fast food I see all sorts of people coming into the restaurant, or just passing by on the street. It definitely helps to be out and about when people watching. Doing so from the comfort of your living room can earn quite a negative rep for you.
Of course, last week I had a group of guys try to enter my house, having mistaken it for another on the block. Nothing ill came of it, but it did inspire me. You just have to keep all of your senses open to the world around you.