July 28, 2005
TV writer Paul Guyot wrote recently on his blog about a TV pilot he was hired to write, and how he wanted to make the character more "special," but wanted to stay away from "gadget" characterization. This, he explains, is giving them some quirk, like the character in "The Closer" who eats junkfood.

It's an interesting thought, because it's tricky to know when you're just throwing out nonsense tags or whether there's real characterization going on.

In my Theo MacGreggor stories (Catfish Guru), he is a 40-ish divorced single father of a very young child, a PhD in toxicology. In terms of character tags, I guess he plays piano, having once played keyboards in a rock band, and is slightly overweight. No, probably not gadgety. Drives a Saturn station wagon. No, I don't think so. If there's a gadgety element, it's having a very young child and being a male single parent.

Meg Malloy, the main character in "Dirty Deeds." Single, late-30s, formerly the head of a dot-com who got out before a crash. Sold for $10 million. Is a serious computer geek, information junkie. Likes classic rock during the day and classical music in the evenings. Doesn't like to cook, but does like strawberry Margaritas, chips and salsa, and expensive cars. Owns a beach shack on Maui, but lives in Michigan. She might be considered gadgety (literally) because of her obsession with the latest PDAs, computers, etc., but it's what she does and the focus of the books, so it seems more integrated to me.

Derek Stillwater. (Upcoming "The Devil's Pitchfork" and "The Serpent's Kiss.") Hmmm, 40s, PhD. Former Special Forces expert on biological and chemical warfare and terrorism. Troubleshooter for the Department of Homeland Security. Lives on a boat in the Chesapeake Bay. Likes kayaking and the martial arts. Is deeply superstitious in a peculiar way--wears a St. Sebastian's medal, lucky rabbit's foot and ju-ju beads. Has a peculiar tendency to listen to religious music when he needs to think. At some level believes he will die (hence the medals, etc) investigating biological or chemical terrorists. Has panic attacks prior to investigations, but is generally fine during. Not a team player. Believes, and this is intrinsic to the books, that when he began this work he grabbed a tiger by the tail. Not only does he believe that if he lets go the tiger will eat him, he suspects the tiger will eat him even if he continues to hang on. Gadgety? Maybe a little, though I built everything from the necessity of the job, except for the religious music thing, which is a minor point. It's possible that ties into his fear of dieing from his work.

I do think there's a potential risk of becoming too gadgety, as Paul Guyot would say. Drinks stingers for breakfast, creamed corn for lunch, and flips coins on his fingers to pass the time. Working from the inside, though, makes it better. Drinks stingers for breakfast because he sleeps during the day and is awake all night, and reverses his meal orders, eats cream corn for lunch because he always has lunch with his Mom and that's always on the menu, and is a magician who always practices with the coins to keep his dexterity up, and you've got characterization instead of gadgets.

Best,
Mark Terry
(who eats cereal for breakfast, is into the martial arts, walking, and also likes strawberry Margaritas and chips and salsa and once taught piano)