What’s in Your Pockets?

Or in your backpack? Or hanging from your belt?

We all remember a scene from a television show or book when a character just happens to have an important item necessary to solve a problem in his or her pocket, don’t we? The Doctor with his sonic screwdriver or psychic paper or strange bit of metal that he happened to pick up along the way. No, wait, that was MacGyver that spent the first part of the show picking up odd bits of things that he would later pull out of his pack and assemble into something. Batman may not have pockets, but he sure manages to carry quite a number of useful items in his utility belt.

I don’t remember having pockets of infinite capacity when I was young, but those would have come in handy. I remember having all sorts of useful stuff – gum, pretty stones (seriously, check my post on collecting. I collected a lot of stones), pocket knife, tissue-wrapped interesting dead bugs (had to wrap them in tissue otherwise the legs broke off), string, a slingshot at one point, rubber bands, money occasionally, a house key on those times when someone wasn't going to be in the house when my sister and I got home – as well as things that maybe weren't so useful or fascinating when pockets were emptied at the end of the day.

A character in a Middle Grade story could have any or all of those items in his or her pockets. Maybe an item might be important to the story or they could be just interesting indicators of the character's personality. If this was a YA story, something in the character’s pockets (if mentioned at all in the story) would have to be important in some way. Otherwise the contents of the pockets (or purse or backpack) won’t be mentioned at all. Since time is limited, a television program might only have a brief glimpse of stuff, but only an important item would be shown in focus.

If a YA or Middle Grade story is set in present day, one item that would probably be necessary would be a phone of some sort. It does reduce tension if the character can contact his or her parents or help of some type so easily, so characters tend to lose or break that item a lot.

One major complaint I have about women’s clothing (and girls’) is the lack of pockets. Of course women don’t need pockets, the fashion industry insists, they carry purses. Pockets are important. My work clothes had to have pockets and I heavily used my jacket pockets (for keys, sticky notes, pens, flash drive and tissues, all necessary in my job). Maybe the need for pockets is why lab coats are so popular among mad scientists.

My character Peter in The Crystal Throne had his Scout knife and a small roll of duct tape in his pockets when he was pulled into a magical land and both items came in handy later. The items my injured agent in “The Twin Bond” (Agents & Adepts) finds in her pockets don't initially register with her (she's lost her memory), but she automatically reaches for them when her memory returns.

Harry Potter is lucky enough to be set in a time where wizard/school robes have pockets that can hold a wand and other items. My wizards carry a lot of pouches on their belts with magical ingredients.

The main character in the story I’m currently working on wants to become an explorer. So she carries a number of items in her pockets in order to test whatever she comes across outside in her neighborhood. Though I'm beginning to think that some might need to be carried in her backpack. I started with pocket magnifier, magnet, small multi-tool, and specimen bags, but I have a feeling the character will add more as the story goes on.

What stories have you come across where pockets or the contents of them turn out to be important? And yes, that also includes purses and backpacks.

Collecting

The collecting impulse strikes some of us early. Leaves, bugs, buttons, rocks, dinosaur names, birds observed, shells, stamps - we organize our collections, making lists of what we have and what we need. The things collected change over time - action figures, all the works of an author, the music of a particular singer or band, shoes, the memorabilia of a sports team, the episodes of a television show, ornaments - and the drive to collect may vary in intensity, but the urge to collect is not limited to any one personality type. And although whatever is collected may not make sense to outsiders, chances are good that there are other like-minded collectors.




Adding the collecting side to a character creates all sorts of possibilities to a story. Isabella's need to collect Fireside Girl patches often is the main drive of a Phineas and Ferb episode. A child who likes to collect bugs may grow up to become a biologist or entomologist. A budding rock collector might become a geologist or a jeweler. Or just stay someone who likes rocks. For a story set in the far future, I'm confident that space ship spotting will be just as popular as train spotting or aircraft spotting nowadays.

Everyone knows that dragons collect gold. The fun part of Jessica Day George's Dragon Slippers was discovering that dragons collect other things as well. Like shoes. And dogs.

Firefly fans remember that the pilot, Wash, had a collection of small plastic dinosaurs. It wasn't a major plot point, but it added a certain something to the character.

Collections can be used as an expression of current status, or they can be a remembrance - of friends, of childhood, or just a happy time that the character revisits when sad.

I have small horse statues still from my childhood, dragon statues and artwork from when I was a big fan of the Dragonriders of Pern series and a collection of geodes (yes, I like rocks). Those were things I choose to collect. I also have some bird statues and artwork that friends gave me because I have a bird.

Perhaps a character has a collection of the teddy bears that her boyfriend gave her. If the relationship breaks up, whether she keeps or disposes of the collection would be an part of the story. And does she just throw out those teddy bears or give them to charity?

Are two characters in a story friends because they collect the same things? Or do they become rivals?

Do you have any favorite stories with collecting as an element?