Good morning everyone. Did you have a good weekend? Any thoughts circle through your brain about your story? I hope you jotted them down. If you haven’t already, take a moment to look at your five sentence list. Anything you need to change, tweak, adjust? We’ll wait.
Insert hold muzak here. (I’m imagining a staticky rendition of The Copacabana by Barry Mantilow in case you want to hum along – not sure why, but it seemed appropriate today.)
Done? Fabulous. On with the show.
So today’s task is relatively clear cut. Take your first sentence. Below it, list out five bullet points for your main character. It is time we get to know them a little. These can be as short or as long as you want. It can be a one sentence bullet point or it can be a paragraph per point if you have thought through the details. (if you have had the story in the back of your head for a while, you might have a lot of info in your brain about them. If you have just come up with your idea, some of the details may be a little fuzzy at the moment. There is nothing wrong or right about your list. It will be added to (and possibly edited down) along the way.
One thing to remember. There are going to be some of you tempted to list five appearance related items (Point one, hair color, point two, height, point three, favorite shirt). If you know what your character looks like great. Make all of one point the appearance items, hair, height, Hawaiian shirt and all. Then make the other four points non-appearance related things about your character.
(And yes, noticeable limp, scars and tattoos all go in the appearance category. If it is a relevant part to your story and not just part of their appearance -for example a tattoo of a treasure map that will lead them off on their adventure – highlight the mention of the tattoo in the appearance section so you remember it is needed elsewhere, but leave it as part of the appearance)
As an example, let’s go back to our bit about Bob.
This is a story about Bob.
1-Bob is an average looking guy in his late thirties, maybe even early forties (clarify as timeline develops if necessary). Everything about him is average and forgettable. He is the invisible cog in the machine of his life.
2-Bob married Sarah right out of college and despite his degree in Marine Biology, he went to work for his father in law at his lumber yard because Henry (the father in law) had a heart attack three days after the wedding and needed help.
3-Bob works hard and is conscientious. He doesn’t point out his hard work and he is now just expected to do the job. Others in the family (his wife’s brothers and cousins) take credit and because it is a ‘Family Company’ and he just married in, he is considered by them to be an employee and replaceable despite doing most of the work.
4-Even though he works hard the regular hours give him steady nonwork hours which he has used to keep his certifications up and to do work in his field. He has turned his man cave into a sort of lab and has been quietly building a reputation and using his vacation and leave to do work since Sarah prefers trips with her friends.
5-Bob’s parents are gone but he has one brother who lives far away.
And there you have it, our five points of the example. If you want to see how my story is progressing, My Task three will be up momentarily. Good luck with yours and I will see you back here tomorrow morning for task number Four.
Ten til Midnight 