by Alison Dasho
Scene:
The soup aisle, at the co-op near my house
Time:
Evening, just about dinner time
Cast of Characters:
Me, dressed for the cold in my winter coat (a leather jacket) and a pink scarf
Little boy, about 7 years old, wearing a Land's End coat and boots with fox faces on the feet
(Stares at rows of soup, deep in decision-making.)
LITTLE BOY
Do you ride a motorcycle?
ME
Me? No, unfortunately I don't.
LITTLE BOY
Then why do you wear that jacket?
ME
To stay warm!
LITTLE BOY
Does it have a puffy part zipped inside?
ME
No, it doesn't.
LITTLE BOY
A puffy part? Does it? Mine does.
(He unzips his coat, shows the puffy lining, and demonstrates that it can zip out.)
It keeps me warm. How do you stay warm?
ME
Well, I wear a scarf.
LITTLE BOY
Why do you wear a scarf?
ME
To keep warm.
LITTLE BOY
But there's no puffy part?
ME
(Unzips jacket from the bottom, shows plain, non-puffy lining.)
Nope.
LITTLE BOY
I don't wear a scarf. Do you need help shopping?
ME
Well, I'm trying to pick out some soup for tonight.
LITTLE BOY
Oh. I have a list.
(Holds up mini-clipboard and pencil, which the co-op provides, along with mini-carts, for the kids.)
ME
I like your boots. Are those foxes?
LITTLE BOY
Yes. Do you have foxes on your shoes?
ME
No, but I have cats, kindof. See these little things? They're Pumas. Pumas are cats.
LITTLE BOY
I have foxes.
ME
Yes. Foxes are part of the dog family, I think.
LITTLE BOY
You're picking out soup?
LITTLE BOY'S MOM
You have to let her shop, now.
[End Scene]
How are you dressing your main character these days? While I don't generally like long passages of outfit description (unless it's a movie montage makeover, a la Clueless), I do like to have some idea of the way a character looks. Rumpled or pressed, leather or lace, flannel pjs or sweatpants, how you dress your main character can tell me something about him/her.
It can also tell your secondary/tertiary characters something -- it can influence how they treat your main character. They can make wrong assumptions based on appearance, like the little boy in the co-op did with me. In his mind, I was a badass who rode a motorcycle, deciding what badass soup I would heat up on the stove in my badass Harley garage to satisfy my badass appetite. (Well, until he asked, and I opened my mouth and revealed myself to be a big nerd who isn't smart enough to wear a warm puffy coat nor foxes on my feet.)
Remember that small details can add tons of depth -- and remember that each small detail will be interpreted differently by each inhabitant of your world. Unique, individual people have unique, individual perspectives, and while to me my leather jacket means a comfortable, warm garment that I've had since one Christmas in high school when I picked it out myself because I admired my Mustang-driving friend Nilay's studded, painted, punk rock leather jacket, to others it simply means motorcycle.
Give your character one red shoe. See what happens.
