Character Sketch

Okay, so I mentioned a few posts (and weeks) ago that the novel I'm plugging away at is a fantasy about a kid named Roger who has power over the earth. He's got to find an ancient power source before his antagonist (unnamed and really quite fuzzy at this point.. maybe that's the next writing exercise...) gets to it.

Thing is, I need a friend for Roger, who goes by Roh. Pronounced like the way you say salmon eggs. (Roe) Roh is turning sixteen and is not the most popular of people. He's marvelously overweight and has a great home life, so he hasn't needed friends much. But he needs to have one I think.

So today's writing exercise is a character sketch of Roh's friend. I have some ideas, but as I put them down here, I hope to expand on them. Please, if any readers have thoughts or suggestions, pass them on. Umm.. wait a sec.. Pandora is playing "The Lady in Red," which doesn't get my creative juices going at all.

Skipped.

Nice. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin"

Okay here goes.

Character: Roh's friend.

• Name: (I'll get back to this.) Okay, his name is Aiden Pope.
• Gender: (If I typed 'sex' here would I get more hits?) Male. (Roh's a shy sixteen year old boy.)
• Age: Fourteen or fifteen.
• Description: Blond, usually messy hair. Blue eyes with a nose that looks like a boxer's but is actually a family heirloom. About 5' 7" and lean. Long arms. Avid reader and a great debater. Has a high voice. Wears contacts because he hates glasses. Always wears khakis and T-shirts. Round face with a square chin that is flat in front.
• Family: Mom and dad still married. Two sisters, both pretty. Roh likes the older one.
• Goals: Wants to go to Evergreen State College in Tacoma, Washington for two reasons: he hates the heat of Arizona (where the book takes place) and wants to study liberal arts, especially writing and literature. Problem with this is that Evergreen students have a reputation for the use of liberating substances and Aiden has strong morals. Wants to be friends with people and is good at making friends because he's a good talker and can always think of interesting things to talk about. Sees what is going on with Roh, doesn't understand it and doesn't get why Roh doesn't just tell him everything. Notices the changes in Roh's physical appearance and is scared but intrigued. Makes an extra effort to be there for Roh after the tragedy with Roh's parents.
• Overall: A good person who is generally liked. He has a crush on the English teacher, Ms. Spendlove, who is unmarried and very smart. Unfortunately, he is not very brave and when something dangerous happens, he loses his head, not physically. This bothers him, but he is scared of being in another dangerous situation, because he doesn't know how he will react. Aiden is actually very religious and sometimes has trouble understanding how God could let some things happen.

Okay, that's good stuff. I like his goals and how some of them are in conflict. I think I should do this every time my story happens upon another character. Any thoughts? Have I left anything out? Sure, there are some pay-offs that I'm not getting into, like his crush and his fear, but that will come out in the story.

Probably next time I will do this for the antagonist. Alrighty then.

Carpe somnium!

ImGoToWrANoMo report for Thursday, December 4.

Okay then. I had to do a bunch of stuff this evening, not the least of which being make bread and do a big cleaning project.

So I ended up with less time than I wanted. I had about two hours for this.

I wrote an outline of about 1600 words tonight. It's not done, but the shape is coming together nicely. I've really learned a lot about character, conflict and stakes over the last year.

This should be a pretty fun book to write. High stakes, lots of action, and... drum roll please... I'm writing it in first person. Did I say that before? I don't know, but I'm usually very averse to first person.

But it's a fun experiment. I'm liking the possibilities.

I'll go ahead and make sure I write 3000 words tomorrow and all next week so that I can make up the novel word count I lost today.

This is the fifth night in a row that I'm up til 2 am. I gotta stop this and do my writing in the AM. I have a plan to help me do this starting next week. For now, it's bed time and I'm going to go catch some z's.

carpe somnium!

ImGoToWrANoMo Report for Wednesday, December 3, 2008.

Okay. Last night I decided to see what I could do with a book idea I had about four years ago. I wrote the first chapter, loved the kernel of the story but was unhappy with the tone and style, and put it away, thinking of it often.

So it's about a kid named Roger Hollacher, or Roh, and some magical and terrifying things that happen to him. He's exceedingly overweight, surprisingly fast, a good cook, likes to count to seven and sees patterns of seven in lots of things, and may actually not be entirely human.

We'll see.

I wrote... 3570 words today. I keep having to turn off my mental editor. This is going to be good practice, even if the book itself sucks.

I have the first chapter, with some nice character stuff, some conflict and motivation, and at least one inciting event. It ends with a nice image.

Tomorrow I might not shoot for the goal, although I'll probably hit it in a different way. I need to outline this story somewhat. I need to know in general where it is going. If I do this, I will feel more comfortable with letting Roh as a character have his way. I won't make a terribly detailed outline, but it will have the general arc, highlight moments, and very likely a resolution, although all of that's flexible.

It's good to be writing. This was hard. I kept getting up to get a drink and wanting to check my e-mail.

Tomorrow another report. Until then...

carpe somnium