Character Sketch: Pierce
As part of the process of brainstorming a series of new original worlds, I'm returning to one of my old favorite past-times -- the character sketch. Today, I'm revisiting the journeys and adventures of Pierce, who's based ever-so-loosely on this guy, Hugh Jackman...
I think my penchant for creating OCs based in part on real-life people and actors stemmed partly from being involved in fan fiction. Specifically, how do you go from writing about characters that you can see and hear, characters who are incredibly vivid because of that sensory connection, to writing about an intangible character that comes out of your head? This is definitely a personal thing, as I know a lot of people who find their OCs to be incredibly vivid in their imaginations, but I've always needed a jumping off-point, if you will. My process has always started with finding an actor or actress that I like, and then using them as a shell upon which I graft a new, original character, one with bits and pieces gleaned from that person's life, their past roles, and whatever else crops into my head. When I'm finished with them, the only resemblance that they bear to that inspiration person is cursory at best.
Pierce was a character I created in 2003 with the intention of using him as a foil for one of those "other man" scenarios. My protagonist, I decided, would break up with her boyfriend and have a wild fling with Pierce, then known as Pierce Remington-Montague, only to recover her senses somewhere down the line and realize that she was oh-so-in-love with her first guy. It's the typical nonsense from every chick flick, but as I was writing, something really terrible happened -- I decided that I liked Pierce, so much so that I wasn't sure if I could just kick him to the curb after a few chapters. The next thing I know, the entire story has been rewritten so that my protagonist can end up with Pierce at the end, and then there I am, sticking him in every story for the following 7 years.
Pierce has been a jaded, cynical, bruised and broken forensic profiler, brought back to life by a woman's love and transformed by marriage and fatherhood; a Scottish highland warrior with a penchant for violence, battle, and kinky sex games with a lass he captures after a raid and hides away in his castle; a vengeful god reshaping the world in the image of his liking and choosing who (yet again) quite enjoys locking his lady-love away in his dungeon and training her into his perfect sex slave; and, alternately, the devoted servant and slave of a very demanding princess. For the past 5 years he was the other half of the Brothers Elliot, the counterpart to my writing partner's character, Antony, but since that partnership has ended, Pierce has been on his own again, and it's been quite the transition. The question is, what do I do with him now?
I think I've learned a few things about Pierce in the years since he was born on my head. He's not an aggressive dom, not by any stretch of the imagination. He can be aggressive, dominant even, in different situations and scenarios, but it's not his nature. Out of everything I've ever written with him in it, I think he is at his purest form in "Finding Eden," where he is the brother to Adam, the first man, and spends his life tending to the garden, learning and caring for all of the flora and fauna no matter how small and insignificant.
I think my goal for the next few months is going to be to take Pierce and let my imagination run with him, and (for the first time in a long, long time) allow him to be the star of his own show. I think he finally deserves a shot at the spotlight.
I think my penchant for creating OCs based in part on real-life people and actors stemmed partly from being involved in fan fiction. Specifically, how do you go from writing about characters that you can see and hear, characters who are incredibly vivid because of that sensory connection, to writing about an intangible character that comes out of your head? This is definitely a personal thing, as I know a lot of people who find their OCs to be incredibly vivid in their imaginations, but I've always needed a jumping off-point, if you will. My process has always started with finding an actor or actress that I like, and then using them as a shell upon which I graft a new, original character, one with bits and pieces gleaned from that person's life, their past roles, and whatever else crops into my head. When I'm finished with them, the only resemblance that they bear to that inspiration person is cursory at best.
Pierce was a character I created in 2003 with the intention of using him as a foil for one of those "other man" scenarios. My protagonist, I decided, would break up with her boyfriend and have a wild fling with Pierce, then known as Pierce Remington-Montague, only to recover her senses somewhere down the line and realize that she was oh-so-in-love with her first guy. It's the typical nonsense from every chick flick, but as I was writing, something really terrible happened -- I decided that I liked Pierce, so much so that I wasn't sure if I could just kick him to the curb after a few chapters. The next thing I know, the entire story has been rewritten so that my protagonist can end up with Pierce at the end, and then there I am, sticking him in every story for the following 7 years.
Pierce has been a jaded, cynical, bruised and broken forensic profiler, brought back to life by a woman's love and transformed by marriage and fatherhood; a Scottish highland warrior with a penchant for violence, battle, and kinky sex games with a lass he captures after a raid and hides away in his castle; a vengeful god reshaping the world in the image of his liking and choosing who (yet again) quite enjoys locking his lady-love away in his dungeon and training her into his perfect sex slave; and, alternately, the devoted servant and slave of a very demanding princess. For the past 5 years he was the other half of the Brothers Elliot, the counterpart to my writing partner's character, Antony, but since that partnership has ended, Pierce has been on his own again, and it's been quite the transition. The question is, what do I do with him now?
I think I've learned a few things about Pierce in the years since he was born on my head. He's not an aggressive dom, not by any stretch of the imagination. He can be aggressive, dominant even, in different situations and scenarios, but it's not his nature. Out of everything I've ever written with him in it, I think he is at his purest form in "Finding Eden," where he is the brother to Adam, the first man, and spends his life tending to the garden, learning and caring for all of the flora and fauna no matter how small and insignificant.
I think my goal for the next few months is going to be to take Pierce and let my imagination run with him, and (for the first time in a long, long time) allow him to be the star of his own show. I think he finally deserves a shot at the spotlight.