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Starting to feel like I'm on my own in this thing now! Come on Zack, make sure I have something to read
Tell me about your protagonist
Don't worry, Dude. I promise you won't be alone in this challenge.
Here's a little info on the characters in my story...
- Earl Bannister, age 44, local carpenter, devoted Christian, loving father. Earl lost his wife, Ellie, two years ago. Since then, it's just been Earl and his son, Campbell. Campbell is Earl's whole world now. Everything he does is in an effort to give his son the best life possible.
- Judy Hamilton, age 35, mortician, mother of two. A sweet and caring lady. Her husband died in a mysterious accident a few months ago, so Judy and her children moved to this small town for a fresh start. Ever since the Hamiltons have arrived, a cloud of bad luck has hung over the town. Crops have gone bad, livestock has gotten sick, and the sky always seems to be gloomy.
- Sheriff Bryan Guerra, age 36, the new Sheriff in town, arrived a few years ago. Dry and sarcastic, not a very social person. A haunted past, Bryan used to be a cop in Honduras. Bryan enjoys the small-town peace and quiet.
- Griffin Hamilton, age 12, Judy's son. Pale skin, the darkest eyes. Griffin is very smart and extremely manipulative. He has been suspected for multiple cruel pranks at his school, though nothing has been proved.
- Caroline Hamilton, age 10, Judy's daughter. Like her brother, pale skin with dark eyes. Unlike her brother, Caroline rarely speaks. She is always at her brother's side, always standing there with a creepy look in her eyes.
- Ted "Teddy" Lucas, age 39, local bar owner, longtime best friend of Earl. Teddy's son, Ted Jr, and Earl's son are best friends. Die-hard college football fan.
- Debbie Lucas, age 38, Teddy's wife, she has been a stay at home mother ever since Ted Jr was born. In her spare time, she writes romance stories. She's a nice, generous woman.
- Martin Green, age 33, local factory worker and known alcoholic. He has spent the weekend in jail more times than he can remember. Despite his flaws, he is a great father to his daughter, Heather.
- Ronnie Green, 42, Martin's loser older brother, a total weasel. Ronnie is the one who gets Martin in trouble most of the time.
These are all copy and pasted from my character sheet. I'm aware this is probably extremely basic compared to most character sheets. This is just the way I've always done it. Probably why my characters are always so shallow.
Nice bios, Zack - The siblings already coming across as creepy lol. I like the contrast between them, one manipulative and talkative, dominant, the other quiet and submissive - or so I'm led to believe. Also mortician for the mother, nice choice of occupation.
Looks like you got enough in there - no idea how in-depth bios should be - I guess just enough so you know how they will react in situations in your story?
Looking forward to reading it.
I only really have two main characters - but I'll throw out some of the more minor ones for the sake of it (it's a good writing exercise anyway)
Cecilia 30's - The lower end of the class system. Lives in a slum made with now-defunct rusting aeroplanes upcycled to be caravan style homes. Reporter. Suffered a miscarriage several years back and told she can't have kids - The one thing she wants more than anything in the world.
Abaddon 40's - Middle-class. Lead engineer on the gravity train project. 8-year-old son died of cancer a few years back, but he wasnt with him at the end because he was working on the gravity train, now resents the whole project.
Barman - Android barman who works on the gravity train. Is fed live information on passengers bios so he can offer top-of-the-line service to societies elite. Not programmed with emotional responses, only to serve - etiquette and the law are the only drivers of his moral compass and actions.
Arthur - 70's - High-society, extremely wealthy but no one knows how he obtained it. A pompous twat whose intellect makes him feel superior over everyone else. Chauvinistic and prefers looking at women to talking to them. Everyone hopes he doesn't make it to the end of the film.
Hilda - 40's - Arthur's trophy girlfriend - not wife because Arthur doesn't trust her enough. In her younger days, she thought to be a trophy wife was the only way to go, and even though it got her out of the slums, she is now trapped - deep down she hates it, but is addicted to the lifestyle.
Anyone else still in this, throw out your characters - Screw COVID-19 and it's hold on our lives, we need a reprieve - Plus it gets the creative juices flowing, right?
Looks like you got enough in there - no idea how in-depth bios should be - I guess just enough so you know how they will react in situations in your story?
Compared to other character sheets I've seen, mine are incredibly basic. Lol. But they work for me, so whatever.
Cecilia 30's - The lower end of the class system. Lives in a slum made with now-defunct rusting aeroplanes upcycled to be caravan style homes. Reporter. Suffered a miscarriage several years back and told she can't have kids - The one thing she wants more than anything in the world.
Abaddon 40's - Middle-class. Lead engineer on the gravity train project. 8-year-old son died of cancer a few years back, but he wasnt with him at the end because he was working on the gravity train, now resents the whole project.
Barman - Android barman who works on the gravity train. Is fed live information on passengers bios so he can offer top-of-the-line service to societies elite. Not programmed with emotional responses, only to serve - etiquette and the law are the only drivers of his moral compass and actions.
Arthur - 70's - High-society, extremely wealthy but no one knows how he obtained it. A pompous twat whose intellect makes him feel superior over everyone else. Chauvinistic and prefers looking at women to talking to them. Everyone hopes he doesn't make it to the end of the film.
Hilda - 40's - Arthur's trophy girlfriend - not wife because Arthur doesn't trust her enough. In her younger days, she thought to be a trophy wife was the only way to go, and even though it got her out of the slums, she is now trapped - deep down she hates it, but is addicted to the lifestyle.
Interesting characters.
Abaddon sounds like a complex, tragic guy.
Barman, in particular, seems like he could be a fun character. Lots of potential.
You have a gnarly death scene in mind for Arthur? He sounds like the type of character audiences would love to hate.
I am in this thing no matter what. I promised myself I'd get it done.
Got off to a slow start, and I'm a slow ass writer in general. Only on pg. 20.
But I think I've finally hit my stride. So I need to get to the midpoint by April. That leaves 20 days to finish the second half. Which is impossible, but I'm doing it.
No world ending virus is going to slow me down. I say bring it all on. Coronavirus, swine flu, bird flu, bubonic plague... you cannot stop me!!
Question for Zack and Matthew... which one is your main character(s)?
I don't have character sheets but I'll try to write up something in the next couple days. Despite much planning in my head, I didn't actually map out a lot of details... gotta let certain things take shape.
But I do know exactly what is I want to say from the get go, which is a first.
Reason being, I hated what I came up with. Turned it around, changed some things. First solution? Make it a short. Yes, I know it's meant to be a feature. That eased the tension.
Next day looked at it again. Still hated it. No matter what. The material was beneath me. Ever feel like that?
Solution? To the scrap heap. Good news is I have two features I actually like to work on.
Question for Zack and Matthew... which one is your main character(s)?
I don't have character sheets but I'll try to write up something in the next couple days. Despite much planning in my head, I didn't actually map out a lot of details... gotta let certain things take shape.
But I do know exactly what is I want to say from the get go, which is a first.
Cecilia is the main character with Abaddon supporting.
Here's a little more info on the Hamilton family, who are the villains of this story.
Judy is MUCH older than she looks. Over 200 hundred years old. Same with her children. Judy is a witch. She placed an immortality curse on her and both her children. But there is a catch, they must feed on human souls to keep themselves from rotting. The younger the soul, the more powerful.
All three of the family are witches (guess Griffin is a warlock, but whatever). And they all have different abilities.
Judy has the ability to casts curses, obviously. When she realizes that the townfolk are coming for her children, she puts a fear curse on her property. Anyone who steps foot on the property will be haunted by their worst fears.
Griffin has the ability to turn anyone into his undead slave. He uses a cursed blade to cut his victim, which causes their head to slowly and agonizingly turn 180 degrees. Once the victim is dead, they are now Griffin's loyal servant. Since they are already dead, they can't be killed. You must dismember them.
Caroline has the scariest power. If she makes skin to skin contact with someone, that person paralyzed and their mind is transported to a hellish realm, where they are hunted in an old slaughterhouse by a horrible being known only The Butcher.
Cecilia is the main character with Abaddon supporting.
Cool. Sounds like there's plenty of pressure you can put on her with the poverty angle and the miscarriage. I'm assuming something creepy to do with a child will come up with the hallucinations you mentioned earlier... but I could be wrong.
Here's a little more info on the Hamilton family, who are the villains of this story.
Judy is MUCH older than she looks. Over 200 hundred years old. Same with her children. Judy is a witch. She placed an immortality curse on her and both her children. But there is a catch, they must feed on human souls to keep themselves from rotting. The younger the soul, the more powerful.
All three of the family are witches (guess Griffin is a warlock, but whatever). And they all have different abilities.
Judy has the ability to casts curses, obviously. When she realizes that the townfolk are coming for her children, she puts a fear curse on her property. Anyone who steps foot on the property will be haunted by their worst fears.
Griffin has the ability to turn anyone into his undead slave. He uses a cursed blade to cut his victim, which causes their head to slowly and agonizingly turn 180 degrees. Once the victim is dead, they are now Griffin's loyal servant. Since they are already dead, they can't be killed. You must dismember them.
Caroline has the scariest power. If she makes skin to skin contact with someone, that person paralyzed and their mind is transported to a hellish realm, where they are hunted in an old slaughterhouse by a horrible being known only The Butcher.
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March 2020 Feature 7WC
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