At the end of last week, I had a story concept. A tramp freighter. A distress signal. A desolate planet. A mysterious alien artifact - a living painting, a mural, the remnant of ancient technology! This gives me a situation, a location, and a MacGuffin (the last being a stated requirement for the particular anthology I’m working on this story for).
All three are essential parts of a story. You can’t really tell a story without something happening, obviously. You need it to happen someplace in this multiverse. Finally, the MacGuffin will be essential to the plot. However- while it will drive the plot, it will not be the focus of the story.
The characters will.
Ultimately, the story will be about how some imaginary people react to the MacGuffin. On top of that, how they interact with each other. So let’s figure out who our characters are!
There are people on that there tramp freighter. Each one of them will have a distinct personality and a unique history. They’ll have strengths and weaknesses, just like any person. Some of them will be easy to like, some will be jerks, and some will be enigmas.
Simply based on the idea “There’s a spaceship hauling cargo from point A to point B and”, we can come up with a list of people who are likely to be on board. I’m going to hold off on names for now. We’ll just talk about their positions on the ship, and what that might imply about them.
So let’s start with a skeleton crew. Captain/owner, navigator/pilot, engineer, cargo master.
The Captain. Owner of the ship. I’ve already described it as a tramp freighter, so we know it’s a bit beat up, though obviously serviceable. He’s competent enough to keep his business out of the red and earn a living. Not the most glamorous work. Why does he do it? To pay the bills, because it’s all he knows. Maybe he wanted to travel when he was younger. See the universe. This type of life was that opportunity, though maybe he regrets not having a “real” life. Older, gruff, cares for his ship and crew, worried about the bottom line but tends to leave details to others.
The Pilot. Younger. Reminds the Captian of himself when he was young. On the ship to get experience. He can see what this life is like, and has more ambitions than flying a cargo hauler for the rest of his days. Convinced that he just needs the right opportunity and everything will open up for him. Younger, brash, YOLO except when he’s piloting, vocal, likes to ramble on about his plans and dreams, always has an angle.
The Engineer. He’s the one that keeps the ship flying. Really, it might as well be his, he knows it so well. He talks about retiring soon. He never got into this business for the life; just for the money, saving for retirement. Another year or two, maybe three, and he’ll have enough saved up to live off of. Plans on fishing up in the mountains, has a lady friend he’s had an on-again off-again relationship with that he figures might be interested in joining him. Older, solid, dependable, methodical, doesn’t make a big deal about it but puts his own goals first in any situation.
The Cargo Master. Younger guy. Hates flying, hates space, but is great at his job. There may be hints that it’s better for him to not be in certain places because of the law. Encyclopedic knowledge of various rules, regulations, and how to skirt around them. He’s really only needed when the ship is in port, loading or unloading. Spends a lot of his time “relaxing” with a collection of medications that he’s picked up from all over the universe. Young, twitchy, actually kind of selfless, doesn’t like to work but gets it over with and does a good job when he is prodded into it, just wants to live and let live, man.
Four characters - two young, two older. Two more selfless, two more selfish. One that loves space, one that hates it. One planning retirement, one that thinks he’ll spend the rest of his life in space.
While that’s all lovely and symmetric, I feel like we need to introduce one more character. A crew like this will work together well and understand each other’s skills and weaknesses. They’re all a little eccentric, but they’ve learned how to deal with that. So a lot of what happens between them will just happen, without them really thinking about it.
For the sake of the story, let’s throw someone in a few more who will unbalance things a little bit. Let’s call one the Outsider, and the other the Victim.
The Outsider. Not part of the crew. A passenger, so the captain and crew have obligations to him. He doesn’t have a “vote” on what happens on the ship, but is still able to be vocal about things. In particular, when the situation gets dire - and it will - his voice will need to be taken into account, which will unbalance things and cause conflicts. In contrast with the eccentricities of the crew, this fellow should be a relatively normal, stable individual. He should be likable and reasonable, someone the reader can identify with. He will be the last person left alive at the end of the story (though perhaps temporarily…)
The Victim. I’m not sure who this fellow might be just yet. He has a singular and unenviable purpose, however - to be the individual who kicks everything off and becomes the first “victim” of the MacGuffin. We need someone to get everything rolling, right? I’m not sure how this fellow will be the Victim quite yet, but he absolutely will be.
So there’s my initial crew - a half dozen people. Given the constraints of a short story, I’m going to have to be very direct in sketching out each one well enough for them to be distinct individuals. Well - except for the Victim, of course. Poor fellow.
Next up: now that I have some characters defined, I’m going to do a little world-building to help explain some plot points I have in mind. Yep - I’m going to bend reality to my will and make the universe accommodate the story I want to tell. It’s fun to be a writer sometimes :)