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As many products are the same, the only way to sell one packet of crisps as against another is to look for the USP (Unique Selling Point). One crisp has a louder crunch while another comes in more flavours. It is the USP that enables us to tell one product from another when in fact they are almost identical.

People also have a USP. When you buy something at the supermarket, one girl will smile at you while another looks glum. One might wear a dress accessory that gets attention, while another is non-descript. Getting 'attention' plays a big part in our life. We tend to regard celebrities and famous people special, not just because of what they have done, but also because they have something that makes them stand out from the crowd.

It comes as a surprise to many celebrity fans that the celebrities themselves, when met in normal circumstances, are usually quite ordinary. They only become 'special' when performing. That is, they are able to focus their energy when performing to make it seem that they are being normal, when in fact they are not. It is this that gives them their USP.

We all have a USP if we can find it. This applies to characters in stories, and often stories are about someone 'finding him or herself'. The fact that Cinderella was able to take on the role of a princess in spite of being just a servant meant that she had that capability.

In the story of 'My Fair Lady' where a flower girl is trained to be a princess, her tutor could see the potential of being a princess. Or putting it another way, he was aware that a princess was just an ordinary person with a USP.

		A flower girl was able to pass as a princess by changing her accent, manners, and dress style. List three other things that we can change about ourselves to give us a different personality.

Hopes and Fears

We could not imagine Sherlock Holmes buying a lottery ticket. First, his logic would dismiss the idea on the basis that the chances of winning would be too low. And secondly, there would be little that the extra money could give him that he does not already have.

On the other hand, a shop assistant might well buy a lottery ticket, because however small the chance of winning, at least it was a chance; and nothing else in his life offered anything equal.

Having a lottery ticket leads on to watching the TV or reading the paper for the results. It also means the character dreams about what they might do with the money, and that in turn is an indication of what they want from life.

		Ask four people you know well what they would do if they won the lottery. Use their answers as the basis for creating characters.

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