I’ve recently become hooked on the TV show Shark Tank. I’m not interested in being an entrepreneur, and I’d probably make a lousy one, anyway, but I love the show for its entertainment value. Entertainment is a fiction writer’s business, so my next few posts will talk about the show’s lessons for writers.
This post will cover the importance of
developing main characters with distinct personalities. That isn’t limited to
the protagonist but also includes the characters that play a significant role
in the protagonist’s life.
I’ll start by distinguishing the six Shark
Tank regulars. Here is my description of each, moving from left to right based
on their normal seats on the show.
- Mark Cuban is possibly better
known as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and as someone with political
leanings on the right. He has strong opinions about products that make
health or dieting claims without solid scientific research behind them,
and I heard him refer to one of the participants—to his face—as a snake oil
salesman. He also doesn’t hesitate to call someone a scammer. On the other
hand, he’s very supportive of people he believes have a valid product and
a realistic view of their future success even when he doesn’t see himself
as the right business partner for them.
- Barbara Corcoran struggled in
school because she has dyslexia, and it wasn’t diagnosed right away. After
growing up in a large, low-income family, she made her fortune selling
real estate. She invests in people as much as in their products. Although
she can drive a hard bargain, she uses her vast network to make the
products and companies a success.
- Daymond John worked all sorts of
jobs as a child to help out his struggling family. While in high school,
he decided that some of the popular clothing items (e.g., ski hats) were
overpriced and that he could sell them cheaper, so he started his own
clothing company. Although several of the sharks support good causes, I
see Daymond as the most compassionate among them. He often invests in
companies that give a share of their profits away. He also refuses to
invest and dilute the owner’s equity when Daymond doesn’t think he brings
any value to the deal besides providing capital. As an example of his big
heart, he refused to invest in a teenager’s bowtie company because he didn’t
think the teenager should be giving up any equity for money that Daymond wasn’t
sure he needed, but Daymond did offer to mentor the boy, and that “deal”
was accepted.
- Kevin O’Leary (nicknamed “Mr.
Wonderful”) has a reputation for being mean, but I don’t see him that way.
He tells it like it is and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. A venture
capitalist from Canada, he also makes it clear that he is only interested
in investments that will make him money. But none of that makes him mean
in my book, and there are rare occasions where his soft side comes
through.
- Lori Greiner is the sweetest
shark. Even when she doesn’t like what an entrepreneur is doing, she sugar-coats
her criticism before saying, “I’m out.” She has a show on QVC (a cable shopping
network) and likes products that can be easily demonstrated on TV but will
occasionally invest in something else.
- Robert Herjavec is an immigrant
from Yugoslavia who made his money in the technology industry. In the
heated discussions that sometimes occur on Shark Tank, he often takes issue
with Kevin’s and Mark’s criticisms and supports the person who came on the
show looking for an investment. He usually, although not always, believes
an entrepreneur should follow his own dream even when it isn’t the best
business decision.
Not only do the differences between the
sharks make them easier to distinguish, but they are often the spark for heated
discussions that help create the entertainment value of the show. In the same
way, a fiction writer can use the differences among characters as the spark for
the tension that any story requires. But characters that are too alike don’t create
create friction.
So give them distinct personalities and watch
the sparks fly.
__________
I thought about using the show’s logo at the head of these posts,
and there wouldn’t have been any trademark issues with doing so. It would
probably also be considered a fair use for copyright purposes. But since I had
some of my own photos, taken at an aquarium in Wilmington, North Carolina in
2018, I thought it would be more fun to use them.
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