Challenge One: Stories Start With People
I don't even like people. Why on earth would I want to write about them?:Like any artistic misanthrope, we all have the fantastic curse of knowing we write about that which we despise. After all, the woman behind you at the Wal Mart checkout who is talking loudly on her cell phone has a story a tell. It may be the most boring, trivial, stupid
( Read more... )
Character's name: Melissa Sandrino
Character's sex and/or identifying gender: Female
Age: 33
Occupation: lawyer
Hometown: Columbus, OH, originally from rural SC
What did your character want to be when they were young? Or, if they are still young, what do they want to be when they grow up?
She originally wanted to go into the medical field - probably a doctor. She liked the concept of caring for people more than she liked medicine itself; when she decided on law, she wanted to be an idealistic prosecutor (like many energetic law students) and outspoken advocate. She ultimately sold out to ‘the man’ for money - not exorbitant amounts, but she figured business law would at least allow her to pay the rent (on a fairly nice apartment).
What is your character's favourite food? Is there anything they don't eat?
Though her eating habits tend to be ascetic, she has a weakness for the Southern food she grew up on, particularly her grandma’s buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy. She doesn’t like noodles (mainly long ones) because they’re slimy.
Describe your character's favourite outfit:
Warm dark chocolate-coloured skirt with a suede-ish texture, slit up the right side, and a silky sort of top in a lighter shade of brown with a slouched neck (I have no idea how to describe it). Calf boots (slight heel), a few golden bangles on one wrist, gold earrings, and a simple gold necklace.
What kind of music does your character listen to? What TV shows do they watch? How about movies?
Classic early to mid-90s stuff - not boy bands, but more like Nirvana and other grunge rock. She can’t stand legal/criminal procedural shows, but secretly enjoys trashy celeb gossip shows/reality tv (not a la Survivor, but more the mtv kind of thing). As for films, she enjoys the “classics” from the late 70s and 80s.
Tell me about your character's home life. Their parents, siblings, extended family and pets, if applicable.
Dad - Mark, jovial guy, calls her Mellybee. Small-town politician - very cock of the walk. not a lawyer, just a good ol’ boy who ended up running for office all the time. Dotes on his daughter
Mom - Elena, died when she was young
Older brother, Dan - High school football player and all-around nice guy turned car salesman, lives near their hometown.
Her father’s family is one of those sprawling small-town dynasties that half the county is related to - her mother’s family is small, and lives across the country, so she rarely sees them - grandparents and one aunt. She was practically raised by her father’s family (as one large indistinguishable mass of relatives).
What does your character eat for breakfast?
Oatmeal & a grapefruit half
Write a few sentences on your characters love life, or lack thereof. What was their last relationship like? Was it successful or did it leave them feeling dissatisfied?
She had a long-term relationship with a guy she met at college, but they broke up shortly after moving to the city together, leaving her adrift. She hasn’t had a relationship since, but is sleeping with another junior lawyer at her firm. She’s beginning to grow weary of it and his cold indifference towards her out of bed. However, she doesn’t think she’s ready for another relationship yet - she wants to concentrate on her work.
Does your character have any thoughts on religion or politics? Do they share them readily or keep them to in?
she’s indifferent re: religion, but very politically oriented, obviously,given her background. however, she’s also jaded about politics, knowing how a political machine works from the inside and how little is really accomplished by the people. Needless to say, she keeps quiet about it. Her professional life is really ruled by the same sort of politics, but on a smaller and unofficial scale.
Reply
She’s sort of in the middle - it can be dull sometimes, but she’s good at it, and she knows there’s the potential for promotion and more interesting work. She does feel that it takes a lot of her time, and it will only take more, and that worries her - she’d like to start a family someday, but not while working 10-12 hours/day.
List your character's five greatest emotional strengths:
- a bit of an “Energizer Bunny” in that she keeps plowing on. not necessarily in a stubborn sense, but she’s just a hard worker.
- intelligent, obviously, and highly analytical. scrutinises everything, keeps everything neat and organised, etc. weighs both sides of the issue before making her choice.
- polite, cool, professional, never showing ruffled feathers. gets along with people.
Now list their five weaknesses or insecurities:
- she feels like she’s lost her “safety net” by moving to the city, away from her family. she likes it, but sometimes it’s difficult without anybody to really rely on emotionally.
- overanalytical and sometimes hypercritical, both of others and herself.
- sometimes she doesn’t feel like enough of an individual - first she was part of “the family”, now she’s a cog in a machine.
- tends to suppress emotions
- questions decisions after making them, always wonders if she ought to have done something differently
What kind of hobbies does your character have? What relaxes them or helps them wind down?
She took up folding origami in college - starting with cranes, moving on to more complex structures. Concentrating on the precise folds helps clear her mind of stress/problems. She’s currently attempting to learn how to knit, but can never come up with anything more than lumpy sort-of squares.
In no more than 3 sentences, describe an average day in the life of your character:
After waking up a few minutes before her alarm was due to go off, Melissa prepared for another long day of work. The commute was long, punctuated only by the low murmur of the other passengers (and the wails of an unhappy baby) and the whoosh of doors opening and closing at each stop. Work was hours of preparing briefs, research in law journals, cross-checking references, and making phone calls before she could go home, with barely enough energy remaining to microwave what was left of the previous night’s dinner.
Your character finds a genie bottle and is granted one wish. What do they wish for?
To go back in time and meet her mother, because OMG STEREOTYPES. No, she genuinely does wish that she knew more about her mother - and she’s smart enough to know that wishes for money and romance never end well.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment