: Make sure your character remembers things. A street-smart person is someone who has noticed a pattern in life and uses that to their advantage. He noticed that a gang always hangs out in

@Sue2132873

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Make sure your character remembers things.

A street-smart person is someone who has noticed a pattern in life and uses that to their advantage.

He noticed that a gang always hangs out in a certain pub because he sees the same four or five people going in every evening, some of them with bloody knuckles, maybe one has a gun hidden in their jacket which he caught a glimpse of once. He knows to stay away from that pub - unless he wants to find those gangsters.

He knows where the quiet places in the city are because he wanted some privacy when he was homeless. He got a sense for when someone wants to start a fight because he remembers the ten or twenty times it happened to him before so he recognises the body language, the speech, the attitude.

He knows what the different type of drunks look like from a distance because of how many he's seen at night. He knows when someone is high on drugs because of places he went and people he met.

He knows how to blend in, he knows how to be intimidating, because when he didn't he got in trouble. He was caught by his adoptive parents or a teacher, he was beaten up a few times because they failed to scare off the mugger. He tried these things he has experience. Try to flesh out what life was like on those streets and remember them.

Research is a brilliant tool for any writer. "Street-smarts" is not a graduate degree, it's a way of life. Research that way of life by reading and watching it.

If you're struggling to find ways to research it, try watching crime shows, documentaries, read books on it. I recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora for a fantasy spin on the lovable rogue.

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