character biography
This is a character biography I wrote for my Scriptwriting class. It's slightly unfinished (meaning that it didn't continue as far as I wanted it to), but I don't want to change it at the moment. The character is based on my Escaping Blame!Dominic, but as I was writing, it morphed into a different story. I used a really awesome character questionnaire that actually helped a lot, so I'll post that separately.
A young thief, Nick Williams, tries to discover his own identity after hiding it for most of his life.
Nicholas Williams is a young man in his late twenties. He has the appearance of an upper-middle-class upbringing, but his easily forgettable face and forever-changing hairstyle make him blend into nearly any group unnoticed. Nick is considered short, standing at five-foot-six on a good day, and he routinely wears thick-soled shoes to give himself another inch. He is not self-conscious about his height; he wants to be taller only to blend in further with the crowd. His hair changes colors and styles every few weeks at the most, and although Nick is a natural brunette, he usually sticks with sandy brown and blonde dyes. His eye color is another chameleon feature. They appear gray in most light, but depending on his surroundings and clothes, they change to blue and sometimes even hazel.
Nick’s parents both died in a fire when he was ten years old, and Nick was sent to a foster home, where he stayed for only a few months before running away. He lived on the streets for nearly a year, picking pockets and shoplifting. He has steady, nimble fingers and sharp senses that make the petty crimes simple for him. Nick met his mentor and friend Sean Connors while attempting to lift a wallet out of Sean’s coat pocket. Sean caught his hand and questioned his motives, and when he learned of Nick’s situation, he took Nick home with him.
Sean is only eight years older than Nick (making him twenty when they met), and the two became friends quickly. Nick sees Sean as a father-figure and constantly tries to win Sean’s approval. Sean taught Nick some of the subtleties of stealing and they soon became partners in crime. Nick always acts professionally when on the job, and he surprised Sean with his maturity as a child. As he got older, Nick became a chameleon: a benefit to his criminal lifestyle, but not to his personality. He immerses himself in the roles that he played, taking on fake likes and dislikes, and completely entering the headspace of his aliases. Whenever Nick doesn’t know how to react to a situation, he brings up one of these “characters” and plays their reaction, masking his own emotions, even to himself. Sean calls Nick’s attention to this fact, saying it worries him, and Nick becomes obsessed with understanding himself.
Nick relies on his instincts for emotional clues, but he fights to understand his reasons. He wants to know why he feels certain ways. Nick is motivated to analyze his feelings because he thinks he doesn’t have a personality of his own. He often reacts to things with anger, but doesn’t know why, and that troubles him. Nick fears change and abandonment, so he clings to Sean and his current lifestyle. He is sometimes scared to do things that might push Sean away, because he doesn’t know if he could handle being alone again, especially since he doesn’t even know his own personality.
next up, the questionnaire!
A young thief, Nick Williams, tries to discover his own identity after hiding it for most of his life.
Nicholas Williams is a young man in his late twenties. He has the appearance of an upper-middle-class upbringing, but his easily forgettable face and forever-changing hairstyle make him blend into nearly any group unnoticed. Nick is considered short, standing at five-foot-six on a good day, and he routinely wears thick-soled shoes to give himself another inch. He is not self-conscious about his height; he wants to be taller only to blend in further with the crowd. His hair changes colors and styles every few weeks at the most, and although Nick is a natural brunette, he usually sticks with sandy brown and blonde dyes. His eye color is another chameleon feature. They appear gray in most light, but depending on his surroundings and clothes, they change to blue and sometimes even hazel.
Nick’s parents both died in a fire when he was ten years old, and Nick was sent to a foster home, where he stayed for only a few months before running away. He lived on the streets for nearly a year, picking pockets and shoplifting. He has steady, nimble fingers and sharp senses that make the petty crimes simple for him. Nick met his mentor and friend Sean Connors while attempting to lift a wallet out of Sean’s coat pocket. Sean caught his hand and questioned his motives, and when he learned of Nick’s situation, he took Nick home with him.
Sean is only eight years older than Nick (making him twenty when they met), and the two became friends quickly. Nick sees Sean as a father-figure and constantly tries to win Sean’s approval. Sean taught Nick some of the subtleties of stealing and they soon became partners in crime. Nick always acts professionally when on the job, and he surprised Sean with his maturity as a child. As he got older, Nick became a chameleon: a benefit to his criminal lifestyle, but not to his personality. He immerses himself in the roles that he played, taking on fake likes and dislikes, and completely entering the headspace of his aliases. Whenever Nick doesn’t know how to react to a situation, he brings up one of these “characters” and plays their reaction, masking his own emotions, even to himself. Sean calls Nick’s attention to this fact, saying it worries him, and Nick becomes obsessed with understanding himself.
Nick relies on his instincts for emotional clues, but he fights to understand his reasons. He wants to know why he feels certain ways. Nick is motivated to analyze his feelings because he thinks he doesn’t have a personality of his own. He often reacts to things with anger, but doesn’t know why, and that troubles him. Nick fears change and abandonment, so he clings to Sean and his current lifestyle. He is sometimes scared to do things that might push Sean away, because he doesn’t know if he could handle being alone again, especially since he doesn’t even know his own personality.
next up, the questionnaire!