Introducing Stella!
I can't wait to start noveling!! I spent some time today filling out the character questionnaire from the NaNoWriMo workbook for high school novelists. I'm not gonna lie... at 40-something questions, it was long and a bit tedious. But I'm glad I did, because I was able to put some more thought into the kind of main character I want to have this year.
As I was going down the questionnaire, it was easy to fill out the personal description, quirks, eccentricities, and pet peeves of my character. A bit too easy, if you ask me. I realized I was basically writing another version of the same main character I always write - indecisive, trying to please others, confused about their place in the world, concerned with propriety. I couldn't figure out a deep, dark secret, to save my life. I had vowed to myself that this year, my main character would be decisive, without the lengthy interior monologues I always find myself writing. So I threw that in as a character trait just to try it out. It was a mess.
I really wanted a character with significant flaws, but I wasn't coming up with one. I filled out the questionnaire and went about the rest of my day. Here's a picture of Stella Marleybone, my 50-something main character. (Obviously Judi Dench is older - about 20 years older - but I am inspired by Judi Dench's character from Notes on a Scandal, as i mentioned a few blog posts ago.)
Then as I was doing the dishes, or the laundry, or some other task that doesn't use my brain, a much more interesting version of Stella's character occurred to me. Stella Marleybone is an accountant who puts a lot of stock in politeness, appropriateness, and goodness. So much so that every day when she goes home, she adds to her Personal Account Book. In this book are the names of everyone she's known, and a few people she doesn't know (e.g., Unruly Baby on TTC). Under each person's name is a set of columns with debits and credits. Stella has no time for people who are in the red - someone who borrowed a sweater and never returned it, or the ex-boyfriend who was late to pick her up more times than he was punctual. The biggest section of her account book, though, is to record all of Stella's behavior. It's where she keeps track of whether she has done sufficient good in the world to balance off her hidden (or so she thinks) flaws.
Soon, Stella is going to be transported to a feminist school for magic, and I can only imagine this will turn her life on its head.
Fellow writers, how is your character and plot development going? Anything exciting that you'd like to share?
As I was going down the questionnaire, it was easy to fill out the personal description, quirks, eccentricities, and pet peeves of my character. A bit too easy, if you ask me. I realized I was basically writing another version of the same main character I always write - indecisive, trying to please others, confused about their place in the world, concerned with propriety. I couldn't figure out a deep, dark secret, to save my life. I had vowed to myself that this year, my main character would be decisive, without the lengthy interior monologues I always find myself writing. So I threw that in as a character trait just to try it out. It was a mess.
I really wanted a character with significant flaws, but I wasn't coming up with one. I filled out the questionnaire and went about the rest of my day. Here's a picture of Stella Marleybone, my 50-something main character. (Obviously Judi Dench is older - about 20 years older - but I am inspired by Judi Dench's character from Notes on a Scandal, as i mentioned a few blog posts ago.)
Then as I was doing the dishes, or the laundry, or some other task that doesn't use my brain, a much more interesting version of Stella's character occurred to me. Stella Marleybone is an accountant who puts a lot of stock in politeness, appropriateness, and goodness. So much so that every day when she goes home, she adds to her Personal Account Book. In this book are the names of everyone she's known, and a few people she doesn't know (e.g., Unruly Baby on TTC). Under each person's name is a set of columns with debits and credits. Stella has no time for people who are in the red - someone who borrowed a sweater and never returned it, or the ex-boyfriend who was late to pick her up more times than he was punctual. The biggest section of her account book, though, is to record all of Stella's behavior. It's where she keeps track of whether she has done sufficient good in the world to balance off her hidden (or so she thinks) flaws.
Soon, Stella is going to be transported to a feminist school for magic, and I can only imagine this will turn her life on its head.
Fellow writers, how is your character and plot development going? Anything exciting that you'd like to share?
Wow! I'm so impressed with how much thought you've already put into your character. I must admit that I kind of fly by the seat of my pants. I'm so excited to read your novel. It sounds fantastic already.
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