Everyperson

I've never rescued anyone from a burning building. Never done CPR on anything but a plastic dummy. I've never done anything I consider heroic. I live my life like most people. I raise my kids, I pray, I go to the store, I cook bad meals (though I made some homemade meatballs and "gravy" this Sunday that was kick-ass). I've done some things that pushed the envelope of my comfort zone on occasion. I've gone into some truly scary neighborhoods to help kids in crisis. I've seen a need sometimes, and done something about it. And I realize that the world can really be divided, in some ways, between those people who would walk by a homeless person, those who would hand the homeless person a buck, and those who would take that person to get showered and give them fresh clothes and a meal.

Take another social cause or crisis if that one doesn't suit you. One person sees their neighborhood going to hell. And moves out. One person organizes a grassroots effort to take back the neighborhood from the gangs and the drug dealers. Even at the possible cost of their life.

Or take this. Or take this. Why do some citizens stand by and do nothing? Why do some speak out even when it means certain death?

I've been thinking about the hero of Magickeepers. He's really an ordinary kid, who happens to discover he is from a magical lineage. But he's an everykid. He likes skateboarding and he hates school. He likes videogames and cheeseburgers. He loves to drink a lot of caffiene and stay up all night on the weekends. He grows his hair long enough to seem rebellious but short enough he still gets the girls. And he comes to accept this tremendous mantle of responsibility--he does it for his "people" . . . his clan. Not because he really wants to but because he gains the maturity to understand it's what must be done.

And then I got to thinking about everyman, everywoman, everykid. Those heroes who live lives of complete obscurity until something--and the reason is different for each person--pushes them beyond the confines of their world to do something great, something heroic.

So much of our best fiction is about that person, right? And sometimes at the end of the book, all that person wants to do is go back to their life of obscurity. Save the world and go back to their hometown and raise their kids, go fishing, read a book, tend their garden. Doesn't matter what it is they want to go back to. Of course, we always sense that after they've saved the world, their lives will never quite be the same.

I think, as writers, it's the fabric of the character that can make these plots believable. And enjoyable. Most of us don't want to open a book about Captain Perfect and Ms. Exceptional. Not from the outset. We want to see their lives turned upside-down and what precise set of circumstances takes him or her from comfort to action.

I know with my Magickeepers hero, he's never had a clan, a family. And at first, he bristles at the rules and the nosiness, the drama that is always there with these crazy Russians, as he (and I) call them. But then, when they are threatened, he realizes they are his PEOPLE. His Russian homeboys. HE can hate them, but don't let anyone else f*ck with the family.

I think about what would compel me to take action. My kids are an obvious answer. But I've taken them into some risky situations along with me. I know when we went to protest on Washington, Demon Baby wasn't even walking yet. I thought, "What if the crowd is harassed or we all get arrested? What if there's violence?" Yet I wanted them to know some things are worth getting arrested for. Even little Demon. We have a voice. We can use it. (Though I did think I wasn't an "obvious" arrest choice because of the baby.) I've taken them with me into some of those truly frightening neighborhoods with prostitutes and dealers on the sidewalks. I wanted them to know we have two hands to help. We can use them. BUT . . . I've had the sort of "Good Samaritan" faith to think angels watch out for us when we do things like that. And really, Tibet shows me that's not always so. The Civil Rights movement showed me that isn't always the case. So I think as writers we have to dig deeper. Is it a cause? A movement? A faith? Present danger? A people? A culture? And where does the hero or heroine draw the line? And . . . even more so . . . when does the hero or heroine realize they're going forward even if it means true danger?

Do you have an everyperson in your wip? And what motivates him or her?