I'm working on this something where I've made one of my characters a hooker. Is that super cliche? Has the hooker character been done to death? I'm going to write this out a little more, but was wondering what you guys thought of hookers. What do you think makes a good hooker character?
Are there just too many detective characters out there? Are they too cliche? Has the detective character been done to death? Sorry to make fun, but a character's profession is only one aspect of the character as a whole. There are so many other parts of their life that you can use to make them unique and original. Their mannerisms, style of speech, history, family, friends, hopes and dreams, etc. can serve to separate them from the rest. I guess really it depends on where they fit into the story as a whole, but you shouldn't let fear of cliches stop you from making the character you want to make. A good writer can breathe new life into old tropes. As for what makes a good hooker character, I think really the question is just "what makes a good character?" Unless the character popped into existence one day with no history except as a hooker, and no knowledge of anything beyond their profession, I think you'll naturally end up adding those life-giving details that turn them from an archetype into a person. Personally, I've always been a fan of hookers and courtesans being part of an intelligence-gathering network, but that might not fit your story.
"Hooker" can refer to many different types of sex worker, and there are definitely plenty that are underrepresented in fiction.
I've got an idea for a short whose main character is an amateur adult film actress, which is just a very short stretch from being a "hooker". Like @Laurin Kelly said, there are a wide variety of sex workers, depending on how you define the word, it could range from the classic "Pretty Woman" style street prostitute all the way to someone who gets married to an older, conventionally unattractive yet rich person. Certain classes are overrepresented; I never found Julia Roberts' character to be terribly convincing, but there's a lot of room to play in, and a lot of stories to be written.
There aren't anywhere near enough books written about rugby league, I absolutely encourage you to write a story where the MC wears the number 9 jersey...
No, go with it. It's your story and how you bring it about will tell if it's cliched or not. I have in mind a story where the protagonist has been driven into prostitution, but eventually rises out of it through a series of lies and events that end with her far better off then when she started. It's a romance... Another idea I had for hookers, is a fantasy tale of a city under siege and the king/or/lord pretty much turning to the people for defenders. Turns out the 'ladies' from a brothel called the Red Veil are some pretty damn good archers. You can use that one if you want.
Well prostitution in the broad sense encompasses all persons who are solicited for physical activity(laborer or a model as example) , not limited to just sex. IDK, if there is a mass of Hookers in the fiction land. Why is this a common problem? I agree with others that ones job does not define them as a person (typically). Usually what you are, who you are, and what you do are all parts that make up the whole, and there are other parts as well. So if you have a Hooker defined by her profession then it will be an interesting/awkward thing. Bring some life to this poor living blow up doll, or it will be just as entertaining. Pretty sure Hookers have personalities, bills, families, drama, and all the same things that we all have. Hookers are people too.
Prostitutes show up a lot for a number of reasons. They are extremely common; it is perhaps not actually the oldest profession, but whatever that first profession was the proceeds from it paid a working girl. Everywhere in every culture there are prostitutes. They are almost literally more ubiquitous to civilization than toilets and lampposts. There's also a lot you can do with them (pun mostly unintended) because there's all kinds of reasons you can end up in that world from being human trafficked and forced into it to middle class girls making an easy living on their back. The last are not as common as 'street walkers' but they certainly exist, as do high priced call girls. Any of these are interesting fodder for writing. Additionally they are common murder victims because they are easy targets, and common allies and adversaries of police. They are like drugs in that they can crop up in any story, but being people they are characters as well as props. So, ladies of negotiable virtue are common in most anything. There are prostitutes in the bible. That's just how it goes. But that doesn't mean that they have been 'done to death' (again, pun not entirely intended) as it were. You do need to be careful writing one though. You don't want to do something schlocky like someone who falls in love with her and 'rescues' her, nor do you want to make her just a victim of the people around her. Personally if it was me I'd write a prostitute who sees that as her 'day job' that she doesn't talk about much and the real story is about the rest of her life. That would be interesting to me, not some broken bird, but someone in a tough spot who is trying to achieve something beyond just being a prostitute. That would be nice. Show her being strong and taking care of herself and with no gratuitous sex.
Sadly, a lot of them also have drug problems, abusive pimps and johns, fear, apathy, and despair. You read about the hooker with a heart of gold. But far too many of them are too worried about survival to consider their hearts. Meaning, don't romanticize the life. It ain't pretty.
I've been a handyman most of my overly long life and I've worked for many prostitutes over the years. Don't lose sight of the fact that hooking is a job. Their job is to flesh out a fantasy had by the customer. Most of them are nice enough to talk to but fairly dishonest and not too bright. They're raising kids, there's grocery shopping involved, just normal people. In their personal life they might be looking for affection but not sex. The first novel I wrote that wasn't completely terrible had a major character who was a hooker. The last six books are all full of "Hookers" kind of, women who are hanging around the MC for his money. I don't think it's over used.
Quite. You can take a prostitute character to almost anywhere you want as a writer, but you never want to romanticize something unpleasant. There is a (slightly) more glamorous side to the profession off the streets either in places where prostitution is legal or in the higher class escort world, but even then you can't get away from the fact that it's seldom a fun job. Even in the 'professional' world of prostitutes who work legally with dentally cover it doesn't pay vast amounts and there's plenty of creepy, weird, unpleasant clients to deal with. You might not get slapped by a pimp but you sure as hell have sales targets to keep up with and you have to inspect people's junk before you touch it. That is not something you want to portray as exotic and exciting. Much like the porn industry; there are some people who get into it because they think the idea is exciting but at best it's just a job and the few people stay in it when they have a better choice.
I have never read the Hooker hear of gold thing. Did read about the homeless women turned prostitute, turned sex slave though. But at the end it set off my PTSD because the guy beat her with a belt. It was one of those rich guy offers so much, poor woman accepts being treated like crap types.
Pretty Woman .. nuff said the other thing about hookers is that an awful lot of them have been trafficked and coerced into the life - being basically another form of modern slavery
