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Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. AI images avoided.
I’m not a huge fan of Halloween, much preferring to commemorate All Saints Day on 1st November, but I did think the thought of Trick or Treat could inspire some story ideas. Naturally there could be some non-fiction articles to write up about the origins of Trick or Treat as well but, for this post I’ve got my fiction hat on. The two items here can be treated separately or together so let’s explore what could be done here.
Characters Who Play Tricks
These don’t necessarily need to be the villains of the piece though that is an obvious way to use them. They can be characters who play tricks to cheer other characters up. Some of the latter will welcome this, others will see the trickster character as a complete pain but there will be stories here.
Give some thought as to the kind of tricks the character would play as well because that could be used to give some indication of what your character is like deep down. If they like childish pranks, this could indicate an unwillingness on the part of the character to grow up. There will be stories there too.
The more sophisticated kinds of tricks could indicate your character is or has been a scam artist or they would have to know the other characters well enough to be able to get away with it.
And, of course, you could write stories about scammers though I hope, if you do, they always get their comeuppance. This is one of the joys of fiction. You can “arrange things” in fiction so matters work out “right”, which is not possible in life.
Characters Who Have Tricks Played on Them
These don’t necessarily need to be characters who are easily taken in. Anyone can be caught out by a good trick (as those wretched scam artists try to capitalize on). They could be characters who like a laugh, can laugh at themselves, or perhaps have played tricks so know the other character in the story may well want to get something back on them. Again, there are good story possibilities here.
My own inclination here would be for a lighthearted tale where two characters play harmless tricks on each other and enjoy the sport of it. Could they in turn be caught out by someone else and what would they make of that?
And if you are going the scammer route, could your other characters find ways of turning the tables on those who tricked them? What would they be prepared to do?
Characters Who Give Out Treats
Now I’ve written plenty of fun, festive fiction about Santa and his role in giving out enjoyable items. One such tale of mine had his elves going on strike on Christmas Eve because Mrs Christmas hadn’t made them their usual cake to keep them going because she was annoyed her other half had forgotten their anniversary and it was down to Santa’s secretary to save the day. Good fun to do.
In my stories, anyone who gives out treats or bestows nice gifts usually is a magical character and they are rewarding someone worthy of it – classic fairytale territory, which I love.
But you could have characters who give out treats in the expectation they will be rewarded in some way themselves. There has to be something in it for them. I would focus on the criminally minded here – blackmail is a classic theme to write around.
But give your character a good reason, in their mind, to blackmail someone or have expectation of a reward and readers will go with that. Even more interesting is what would your character do if their expected reward didn’t materialise. What would they stoop to doing to get this reward after all? Again, I’m going down the crime route here.
Characters Who Receive Treats or Turn Them Down
So much depends here on the motivation of whoever is giving the treats. In a romance, someone offering a box of chocolates to someone else they admire runs the risk of that gift being turned down and, if it is, how would they react to that? As for the character receiving the treat, are they grateful, surprised (pleasantly I hope), or do they take the gift because they don’t want to hurt the feelings of the giver? There would be stories there.
Sometimes the character receiving the treat knows the treat itself may have deeper meaning. Then again, what if the character was meant to give the box of chocolates to someone else and they find out later one or two of the sweets had something unpleasant in them? What would make your character beholden enough to have to be the carrier here?
Situations Which Could Be Seen as a Treat
You can also use Trick or Treat for situations. Miss Marple is sent on a couple of trips in different stories by Agatha Christie. Both lead to Jane Marple solving crimes (A Caribbean Mystery and Nemesis, the latter follows on from the first but is set years later).
So what would your character see as a treat situation and what does it become? If they are sent somewhere, who does this and why? Crime is the obvious call here but there could be romance stories. Where would your character like to be sent and who would know enough about them to know this?
Situations Which Could Be Seen as a Trick
An obvious situation which could be seen as a trick is when a character is being pushed to go away somewhere and they don’t want to go. Miss Marple was open to her trips away and was expecting something to happen. Certainly she was always ready for crime to rear its ugly head!
But in this case why is your character reluctant to go? Do they feel they are being got rid of or used in some way? Who would be behind that and why would they want to do it or has your character misunderstood something here – the situation is meant to be a good one and they’re reading too much into it? Again, plenty of story ideas there.
Conclusion
Motivation is fundamental to making a character believable, I think, regardless of whether they’re a trickster, the one having the trick played on them, or are in a treat or trick situation. But thinking about what would make a character play a trick on someone else or how a character would react if they were tricked can lead to interesting story ideas.
Hope you have fun with this. Happy writing!
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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