CHARACTERS CAN BE SKETCHED WITH FAR FEWER STROKES:


In Georgia Aquarium’s exhibits, guests briefly meet an old guy called Hurricane Hank and an eccentric who decided to collect paintings of fish, both of whom add a little color and personality to the information. All characters, though, need some kind of motivation. Kurt Vonnegut used to tell his writing students, “Make your characters want something, even if it’s only a glass of water.” Ten, once they want something, throw a few obstacles in their path. Put them in a desert. Smash the drinking glass. Raise the stakes, so people can root for your characters.


Even nonhuman characters should be facing challenges to which people can relate. In the Antarctica dark ride, a baby penguin named Puck is born in the preshow. Puck has a coming-of-age experience crossing the ice floes, encountering dangerous predators and a bit of magic before he reaches the other penguins. Niagara Falls’ improbable hero is Chip, a beaver with a chip in his front tooth to make him memorable. He falls asleep doing a history report on the Falls, and his teacher, an owl, flies him through the story of Niagara’s creation.


Once you have your characters, you can choose your point of view. Does your guest get the big picture or see the world through the eyes of one of the characters? Glacier Run was designed as an old Canadian mining town perched on the edge of a glacier. But visitors see the town from the point of view of the polar bears who lost their habitat and moved into town.


ELEMENTS OF STORY


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