Get Lost.

Know your characters inside and out, every article or book about fiction writing will tell you. There’s one way, above all others, that gets me to know my characters best, and that’s by answering this question: What would they have been like on the Lost island?

Now, I’m hesitant to write a main character unless I think they’d make a good character, and by that I mean they have to be complex and interesting with a backstory that’ll grab attention and a clear character evolution that ends in some sort of change. Emerson definitely fits that. But where would she fit on the island?

 • She would have followed Charlie and Claire into the woods and beaten the crap out of Ethan. She’d be sensitive to Claire’s desire to be a good mother and protect her baby.
 • She’d follow Sayid around, trying to work on what he’s working on. She’d be drawn to his protective nature, and the fact that they have each had a darker profession. He would understand that she’s not a normal girl and respect her for it.
• Sawyer would be a little frightened of her, but wouldn’t show it. Charlie would be intimidated by her and totally show it.
 • Jack would know she’s someone he could count on.
 • Hurley would ask her a bunch of awkward questions and she’d answer them honestly but gently. She’d want to keep in shape by working out, so she’d get Hurley up in the mornings to go on beach runs with her, or do water aerobics with her. He’d protest but secretly love it. She’d be sweet and encouraging to him.
 • Miles would eye her up very warily; he could almost smell her Finn profession on her.
 • She’d almost certainly try to off Ben, but in a way that the group didn’t know about. When Ben would thwart it, the two would become somewhat friends—never fully trusting one another, but always being respectful of the other’s abilities. She can also always tell if he’s lying, but she usually only uses that for her own information.
 • She wouldn’t be one of the Oceanic 6; she’d stay on the island. There’d be nothing for her to try to go back for.
 • Locke would be nonplussed by her; they’d be friends, and he’d accept her help on various projects around the island, maybe even a boar chase or two. He’d raise his eyebrows in a very Locke-like way when she wasn’t squeamish about boar blood.
• She’d have a friendship with Sun—two women who are not what they seem. But the guys would be more willing to accept Emerson as a participant in their adventures.
• In general, Emerson would be kind and helpful, but she’d also have a feral streak and be enthusiastic about going after the Others, for instance. She’d be known as smart and overall good, but not to be crossed because they’ve seen the look she gets in her eyes when they’re going after someone.
 • She’d have conflicts with Kate and Michael. She and Kate would be wary of one another, and she and Michael would have a few screaming matches. Walt would really take to her, though.
• Arzt was one of her clients, off-island. She’s also ran into (literally) Boone and Shannon at a party that she was at because one of Finn’s targets was there.
 • She’d secretly long for Richard Alpert, adoring the way he loved his wife.
 • Jacob touched her hand when she went to the police station after what her mother did to her father. He was acting as a counselor there.

To be continued...  :)