Crafting an Alter Ego

Once the outline for the 5 radio broadcasts had been penned, and a timeline had been written out, the first major step towards making a believable (but ultimately fictional) radio broadcast was to create a living person.  This may sound like some kind of mad science experiment, but was more an exorcise in literary strength.  This individual, the host of the radio show, needed to be as real as possible.  Every last thing about him needed to be unremarkable enough to pass off as real, but interesting enough to grab the readers attention and inspire empathy.

But first, a name.  I knew the host was going to be a man (I'm doing the voice, and I can't very well be a woman), and his name needed to be short, concise, and have a quality that rolled well off the tongue so it would be easy and natural to say over the airwaves.  John is good, but too stereotypical.  My own name is a little awkward sounding, so I settled on Rick.  It sounds like a casual nickname for a casual show, and follows all the requirements I needed it to.  Since I had a first name with one syllable, I wanted a last name with two.  Nelson offset the hard consonants of Rick, and when said together sounded fluid and easy.

The name and sex were out of the way, so now it was on to the place of residence.  This area had to be near enough to a major city that a zombie outbreak would be a threat after a week or so, but far enough away to buy some time.  Furthermore, this area couldn't be too close to Washington D.C., as military action would be immediate.  It was for these reasons that I chose Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It's a nice suburban area with a thriving radio scene, and is only a few hours out from Detroit.

The rest of the information was required to add depth and a sense of empathy to Rick.  Most characters in movies that the director wants to make more sympathetic have dogs, so mentioning that he has a Shiloh Shepherd named Aragorn gets that job done.  A wife and unborn child complete the picture, creating a person who you would want to meet, and who you feel sorry for in the end.