by Lisa Jordan, @lisajordan

A while back, I requested career options for the hero in one of my books on my Facebook author page. While reading through my fans’ posts, I was amazed by the diverse occupations they suggested—boat builder, hospital administrator, youth pastor, zoo manager, etc.

Meeting someone for the first time, one of the first questions you may ask is, “What do you do?” His or her response creates an instant impression—whether you want it to or not—and prompts you to ask follow-up questions. And if you continue talking with that person for an extended amount of time, you will see a glimpse into what makes this person tick.

The same goes for our characters.

Your characters’ professions offer first impressions and reflect their identities—who they are, how they see themselves and how they see others. Their occupations will shed light on what they value, what causes they champion and how they view the world.

When we create careers for our characters, we need to understand their identities before we can determine what they do for a living. Otherwise, we won’t know how to portray them on the page.

Giving a character a typical occupation is very easy to do, and it simplifies the writing process for us. But, by staying in our comfort zones, we risk boring our readers.

If your character’s career isn’t dictated by a specific genre, consider stepping outside the box and changing it up a bit.

Firefighters and police officers are admirable occupations, but they’re overused in fiction. Additionally, occupations tend to be confined to gender-expected roles. What if you made your heroine the next city police chief? Or perhaps your hero owns and operates a childcare center.

Sometimes, though, your character’s career is tied directly to your genre or to your plot. A suspense novel will have characters in law enforcement. Then it’s up to the writer to be creative and not cliché with those roles.

Give your character a career that will teach readers something about that particular job and invite conversation after they finish reading your books such as a coral farmer or video game tester.

Here are a couple of resources you can use  when creating careers for your characters:

• Careers for Your Characters: A Writer’s Guide to 101 Professions from Architect to Zookeeper by Raymond Obstfeld and Franz Neumann.
• S. Dept. of Labor—Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov)

As writers, we need to create characters our readers can identify with, but we can challenge ourselves to create unique, creative career opportunities for them.

How do you create careers for your characters? What cliché careers can you twist and add to your novels?

Season of Hope

His dreams can all come true…but only if his ex-wife will agree!

Jake Holland’s peaceful dairy farm is a sanctuary—one he wants to share with other worn and weary veterans. He just needs one more piece of land to start his program…and it belongs to Tori Lerner, his ex-wife. A collaboration could benefit them both, but with a past full of secrets between them, is there any hope for renewed love?

Heart, home, and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories with those elements come naturally. Represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books & Such Literary Management, Lisa is an award-winning author for Love Inspired, writing contemporary Christian romances that promise hope and happily ever after. Her latest book, Season of Hope, released in March 2019. She is the Operations Manager for My Book Therapy. Happily married to her own real-life hero for almost thirty years, Lisa and her husband have two grown sons. When she isn’t writing, Lisa enjoys family time, kayaking, good books, and creating with words, stamps, fibers, and photos. Visit her at lisajordanbooks.com.