For this exercise, I brought along a companion. I love my artist pens.
This is Khona, a friend's boxer mix. Her lip often gets caught on her teeth, and she adopts a mini snarl. Despite the vicious visage, she's a friendly dog. When my friend's husband sent me this picture, I wanted to do an illustration for her birthday. Khona makes a great model for disgruntled feelings, hah.
We all have silly little things that bother us. It could be someone double-dipping out of a family-sized food container or greasy fingerprints on the microwave (calling myself out here.) Either way, some situations can irk even the most gentle soul.
In writing, these little quirks help build characters.
When I'm stumped in the character creation process, adding a pet peeve can help get my creativity flowing. But for unique characters, the "peeve" has to be something obscure. Odd. Something that solidifies the character in a reader's mind throughout the book. Most of us have seen or read something where a character has a breakdown over a minor offense. It's often comical and sets that character apart from everyone else.
Think of characters who, no matter what's going on around them, can't help but rave about the minor issue in spite of the larger, "obviously wrong" thing. For years, I've watched a pirate-themed anime with my husband called One Piece, and the creator goes above and beyond in this aspect.
Example: One of the antagonists in One Piece is a chubby pirate captain, Silver Fox Foxy, who has hair like two pointy black ears sticking straight up. Foxy instigates a fight between his crew and the main character, Luffy's, crew. At one point, Luffy points to Foxy's hair and calls him "split head." Foxy is so offended, that he falls over and mopes, leaving himself wide open. Luffy's crew figures out that they have to keep calling Foxy "split head" during the fight in order to get the edge on Foxy's cheating tactics. When Foxy's crew yells praises to revive him, Luffy's crew hurls the "split head" back at him. Ridiculous but hilarious.
Many of us were taught the sticks and stones rhyme as children. As we grew into adulthood, we realized that words do still hurt, but we get to control how we respond to them. Most of us wouldn't fall over and cry over an insult, especially if there are more pressing dangers around us.
But what about unique peeves? Throwing ideas around can trigger anything from an entire character to a short story, maybe even a full novel. I'll spit out ten ideas and see what I end up with.
This character can't stand...
...when their boss drags their shoes along the office carpet. Something about the sound is like nails down a chalkboard. But, of course, they can't say anything.
...when they can see the seasoning on their food. Seasonings should be tasted, not seen.
...when a particular person says, "It's a well-known fact" after an explanation that doesn't sound right.
...when there are spots on a mirror, even if it's in a public restroom. They have to clean them.
...when their neighbors water their grass when rain is expected later that day. They leave nasty notes on their doors.
...when someone talks about food unless it's during a meal.
...when someone itches their armpit in public. All they can think about is stinky bacteria hitching a ride on their fingertips.
...the sound of their own sneeze. They've held it in to the point of pain just so they don't have to hear it.
...when people talk about dragons and unicorns as if they don't exist. They're out there somewhere.
...hearing a cat purr. Seriously, is it broken?
That last one is actually my aunt. Since I have a memory attached to that one, I'll explore it a bit.
I'll never forget how shocked I was to learn that my Southern-sweet aunt didn't like cats. Apparently, someone threw a cat on her when she was young, and the frightened cat clawed her—understandably so. But my aunt was left with a lifetime emotional scar. That landed on her not even liking the sound cats make when they're content.
But my aunt's dilemma can help shape a comical character. Say, this character thinks they heard someone breaking into their house (let's call them "T"), and T flees through the back door screaming. Outside, a stray cat is digging through T's trash. T stops and eyes the animal. They stare at each other. Then T, totally forgetting about their panic, tells the cat not to come purr anywhere near them.
Purring became synonymous with claw attacks—now a more immediate threat than the possible burglar T left inside their house. When one of T's neighbors runs over to see why T screamed, the neighbor finds T and the cat locked in an eyeball battle.
And the story can progress from there. It could be an opening scene for a novel, or just another crazy tale of neighbor T yelling at cats again.
Don't be afraid to go wild with pet peeves. They can be objects, behaviors, sounds, anything. The more unique they are, the more they stand out.
Keep on smilin'!
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