A friend of ours is getting ready to move after twenty years or more in the same house. I’ve been through that process. It’s astounding how much accumulates over that length of time. It amounts to a lot of work. There are the forays for packing boxes, yard sales to set up, things to take to Goodwill, and hours to spend sorting though everything. However, from an outsider point of view, it’s like catching glimpses of someone’s life never suspected before. Memorabilia from times we’ve heard about but briefly, and otherwise didn’t share.
It also made me think about my series protagonist. I don’t see Bobby Navarro accumulating boxes, closets and rooms filled with stuff to be disposed of someday. After all, he spends his travel time on the back of his Harley. One doesn’t accumulate a lot of souvenirs riding a motorcycle. An old helmet, maybe a worn leather vest or pair of boots. Perhaps a tee-shirt with the Route 66 logo on the back. Not boxes of nearly forgotten things tucked away, out of sight for years. There must be a few things though. Something from his days in the Marine Corps? A piece of camping gear no longer used, but not discarded? An old knife? I wonder. He lives in a furnished apartment. He could probably throw all his belongings into sea bag or large duffel. It’s fun to speculate as to what he might hang onto.
The thing is, these artifacts of our existence were important to us at one point, and trigger memories about who we have been and the roads we have traveled. In that context, it’s important that our fictional heroes have a past, a collection of events and encounters that helped define them in the same way a prop room contains elements from past theatrical sets that made a former play come to life. Remnants of our past were props constructing who we were and help explain who we have become. However, as writers, we have to be careful how we bring forth the past belonging to our protagonists; a little bit can go a long way. Dredging up the old memories of our characters can easily become an unwanted data dump. It’s tricky. At the same time, a little glimpse into the past life of our protagonists can give them depth and add to the things that make them real and interesting. I wonder what memories Bobby will uncover if he ever does go through his accumulated belongings, however meager the stockpile.
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