Dreamworld: Character Development

Got some work done on the new story tonight (despite the sinus pain!). The characters have last names now, hurray! That's probably the most important part of all this - I'd been trying to figure out what I wanted those to be.

The names of the characters are Simon Adair, Mitch Dawes, Sarah Holmes, Miranda Calabrese-Adair and Gus Shandow.

And here's some character development I tried from exercises posted on a webcommunity I belong to :

1. Does your character have a particular way of speaking? Does his/her/its speech make it distinct in any way from the other characters? Are there certain words that this character is far more likely to use?

Simon affects an english accent, partially because it has become habit now. He originally did it to make his band sound more sophisticated in the early days when he was trying to drum up an audience. He tends to speak flamboyantly, with colorful expressions and gestures. His favorite topic of conversation is Simon, and the glory days of the band.

Mitch tends to speak quietly, in an economy of words. He will say what he needs to say, when it needs to be said, and isn't much for flowery over description. This is at somewhat of a contrast to how he writes, as his songs often paint very vivid pictures. He says a lot more through body language and inference than words.

Sarah is a very upbeat person, and tends to put a lot of emphasis on the ends of her sentences, almost as if she's asking questions when speaking about things she's excited about.

Gus has an honest, open manner that comes through in his speaking. He is very clear about what he means, and speaks in an even tone of voice.

Miranda is educated and artistic, and often speaks metaphorically without meaning to.


2. Think about a time where your character was embarrassed. What were the circumstances? What happened?
When Simon met Mitch, it was at a county fair. Simon mistakenly thought he was being booked as the musical guest, due to his fame as an 80's rockstar with his band Simon Said. Unfortunately, when he got there, another band was performing (the drummer of which was Mitch). Simon's manager had actually booked him for a charity event at the fair - a dunk tank, in which you could dunk a celeb for charity. He found himself in the company of hasbeen stars, and wondered what he was doing there, instead of performing. He was very embarrassed, and sure his manager had made some sort of mistake - he wasn't washed up, was he?

3. Does your character act differently around certain types of people? Are there any people or circumstances that will cause your character to drastically change?
Simon's usual self-centered prattle gives way to his underlying insecurity when he deals with his ex-wife Miranda. Mitch seems more inclined to talk to Sarah, because she asks about his music.

4. Is your character passive or proactive? Do they drive the story, or do the events in the story drive them instead? Are they the type to go out and get what they want?
A bit of both. The characters cause the circumstances of the story, and then need to figure out what is happening, and why, and what they should do about it.

Trimming to Fit:
How do you plan to introduce this character in your story? How do you want the audience to respond to your character in that first scene? Which traits are you going to show immediately? Pick three-- you can't bombard the reader with all of them at once, after all. Try to answer in ten sentences or less (and no cheating! Keep the point from being lost in the details).

When the reader first meets Simon, he is watching a concert video in his living room. He mimes the motions of the video - himself, as a younger man, singing his hit song with his band Simon Said. Until the phone rings, and distracts him. He hurts his back in the process of getting up, and limps to the phone. It's Battle of the Hasbeen Stars, who wants to know if he'll go for a cage match with the guy who played the Wild Boy in a short lived series called Jungle Tales back in 84. He hangs up, angrily insisting that he has a very active career, thank you very much. He was just performing right now, in fact, when they interpreted. He limps back to the couch, disgruntled, and starts the video again. The traits I want to express are that he's proud, delusional about his fall-from-fame, and living in the past.


Scene Prompt:
(I didn't like this- the actual assignment was to build onto a scene that the prompter started. So I did it my way, and just incorporated some elements from their starter into this. But it gives you an idea for how the characters interact.)

"What do you see?" Gus asked, peering curiously at Sarah, who was staring off into the distance.

"A man," she whispered. Her fingers tightened into fists. "He might be dead. Or just dead drunk, I can't tell."

"Bloody hell, are we starting this rubbish again?" Simon asked, impatient to be going. He shook his head. "Don't see it, can't see it, won't see it. Why do we keep asking, anyhow?"

"Because she sees it," Gus said. He placed a firm hand on Simon's shoulder. "And that's enough."

Simon sighed dramatically, and shook off the hand. "Fine. You all have fun playing spot-the-spotless, and I'll be in the van. Quite possibly eating the last of the cheese curls. Mitch, you coming with me?"

The drummer shook his head in a slight indication that may have been no.

Judging from his immobility, Simon took it as such and walked away to the van, sighing louder. "Some people, and their compulsive needs for attention, I swear."

The sound of a door slamming shut as he clamored in.

"Go on," Gus said. "What else?"

But Sarah had turned away from the last shimmery remains of the portal, tired of seeing what only she could see. "He never believes me," she said. The defeat in her voice made her sound distant, even though she sat beside them still, right outside the venue on the slightly sticky curb.

"He's got a hard time believing in anything these days," Gus said. "It's nothing personal."

Mitch lay a hand on Sarah's arm, and when she turned, he placed his palm flat against her face. "I believe you," he said.

Sarah smiled. For now, that was enough.