Learning to do “Normal”

Today, while avoiding my main WIP (again) I was attempting to write a story about a perfectly normal main character. If you have read any of my fun little rides of insanity, then you should be well aware just how abnormal and difficult that is for me. If you haven’t, then simply suffice it to say I have never before written a lead that was entirely human, didn’t have at least one bizarre power or ability, and didn’t have an extremely traumatizing past. I have written many characters whose families had been mercilessly slaughtered before them when they were children, many many characters with wings or telepathy or who could turn into lions (in one case, I made one with all three) and quite a few humans who… weren’t really human, or at least not for long. So, when I say I tried to make a story with a main character who was completely human, lived with her parents, was an only child, went to high school, and was not known for beating the living daylights out of anybody… Yeah, you can probably picture how well that went!

I did manage to get a good bit of character development for my lead and her two best friends, mostly just by running through some dialogue about gym class:

Pat is quiet and reserved around anyone who is not especially close to her. Physically, she is weak and slow, but can walk for hours without getting tired. She participates in gym class, doesn’t put any real effort into it. In classes she doesn’t care about, she’s perfectly happy with simply passing; with classes she enjoys or is good at, she strives to at least get B’s in. She loves to climb, but has a minor irrational fear of falling. She likes to read, and is known personally by at least one librarian at the school. She’s a decent artist, and enjoys art class, but doesn’t have a strong enough interest in it to make it a hobby. She’s short, but not terribly so, and on the lighter side for her height. She dresses comfortably, with no real attention to fashion or style; she prefers blue jeans, simple tee-shirts, and owns only one pair of well-worn sneakers. She has a single pair of simple pin earrings, which she wears for no reason other than because she can.

Tasha is energetic, outgoing, and optimistic. She does her own thing, without worrying about what other people will think. She’s intelligent, but finds puzzles of logic, math, and science tedious and boring. She’s very creative, and dabbles in various artistic pursuits. She’s flighty, jumping from one great idea to the next, and not dismayed by thoughts of all her failed or unfinished projects. She is constantly thinking of how great she could be, and often tries to push her friends to think of their own possibilities. She is the sort of person to have a great number of misadventures, and drags her friends along for the ride. She dresses wildly, proud to be different. She wears many vibrant colors, and most of her clothes she has modified from their original forms to fit her personal style. She has a wide and varied collection of footwear, and a large number of big, dangly earrings.

Nat has a strong “attitude” and a surprisingly stubborn side, but she’s generally very cool and collected; she is nearly always in control of herself. Her temper is long, but once she’s lost it, all heck breaks loose. When she is not serious, she tends to be sarcastic, though it’s often not meant to be hurtful. She is not a genius or child prodigy, but she likes to put her mind to work. She excels at math and science, because she motivates herself to keep going at it when it becomes difficult. She is stronger than average, though she doesn’t show any enthusiasm in her gym class activities. She has a job which keeps her in shape, so unless she cares overmuch for her grade (which she doesn’t) she doesn’t really need to do the exercises assigned. Her clothes are comfortable and follow her own style, which is not as plain as Pat’s or as eccentric as Tasha’s. She prefers dark colors, especially forest green and dark purple, patterned with or alongside black. She has almost as many earrings as Tasha, but hers are smaller and more spunky.

Now, here’s my problem: I created three normal characters, but now I have no idea what to do with them. What happens to normal people that makes a good story, that normal people are capable of dealing with? I read and write way too many tales involving dragons and wizards and superheroes and spaceships and genetic experimentation and post apocalyptic mayhem… What kind of story doesn’t involve magic, monsters, or phaser weapons?

GAAH!