So my story requires my 5 main characters to join a club that dabbles in science and technology. I plan for most of them to be reluctant to join, but I need to figure out some reasons for them to join. Here's some quick info about them. Character #1 is a vain, materialistic girl who's part of the popular group. She cares a lot about maintaining her reputation and doesn't treat those she considers 'nerds' very well. Character #2 is a polite responsible young man who's very overprotective of his little sister and yearns for a greater purpose. Character #3 is a very cheerful and energetic girl who has trouble making friends and is bullied because of her weird quirks. She wants to rekindle her relationship with character #1. Character #4 is a rude, standoffish boy who hates working with others and has anger issues. Character #5 is character #2's younger sister and is very lazy and selfish. She's only interested in gaming, that's why she joined the gaming club. So, I want them all to be in the science and technology based club because that's where the story gets started, but I can't really think of any reasons they would have to join. So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Characters 1 and 4 are doing poorly in class, and the teacher has assigned them membership in the STEM club for extra credit to allow them to pass. #3 joined to get another shot at #1. That's about what I've got now.
character 1- truth or dare gone wrong. Can't take it back or her friends will get mad at her. character 2 and 5- Five wanted to join because of the gaming club, and two decided to join because he drives them both to and from school and there's a combination of him being slightly interested and he doesn't want to go pick her up later. Character 3- Has tried every other club and found that she's just not accepted. When she finds out character one joined this club, it makes her even more excited. Character 4- I really like what @Iain Aschendale said for four.
#1 - She's probably forced to take it. Self-involved people have little interest outside of themselves. #2 - Greater purpose is easy, he's there to learn. He wants to someday push the boundary of human knowledge. #3 - Probably just trying to make friends or technology is one of her esoteric interests. #4 - Describes half of engineering students, most of us hate working in groups because we tend to be more adept at complex problems than the rest and get frustrated by teammates. #5 - Could be interested in building games, which requires understanding of basic programming. Can you provide more info about your characters because right now they seem like archtypes. If asked how I would describe your characters, I would call them "a brain (#2,) and an athlete (#1) and a basketcase (#3) a princess (#5) and a criminal (#4.)" Do you know what quote's from?
Thanks for the suggestions. I wanted the characters to start out as archetypes so I could springboard off of them. They do have more depth, but I didn't want my first post to be too long. But since you asked. Character #1 is the right hand of the most popular girl in school and easily gives in to peer pressure. She was always bullied as a child and became a bully herself, which is why she and Character #3 aren't friends anymore. She is also obsessed with art and reading comics. Character #2's dad failed in his career and became depressed, and he is deathly afraid of that happening to him. He's always trying to stay on top of everything and is prone to overreacting when things go wrong. He's also very overprotective of his sister. Character #3 is incredibly childish despite being 15 which is mainly the reason she is bullied and has trouble making friends. She also has zero self esteem, but is still incredibly friendly. Character #4 was kicked out by his parents and now has to have a job to support himself. He's the oldest of the group. He doesn't like strangers because of trust issues and because he doesn't want to let people down. When he finally does let you in, he reveals his reckless and exciting personality which can be too much for some people. Character #5 doesn't have any interests besides gaming and sleeping, but she's nice to be around due to being laid-back. There are times where she feels useless and jealous of others, and wants more productive hobbies. I plan on fleshing them out a bit more, but that's the gist of it. Hopefully that helps. And thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions so far. I have a lot of thinking to do.
Character 1 secretly has a massive crush on character 2, and joins the club to spend time with him. Think skater boy