I’m
just itching to write this story. (for
links to the other parts please check the bottom of this post)
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| The Cistern |
Story
Idea:
Chrys and Spencer go out to a
foreclosed house and find a woman inside a cistern in the basement. Spencer wants to find out who she is and help
her while Chrys wants to know what happened to the family. They start getting bad feelings and noticing
odd things happening. A body in the
restaurant oven is just one of them. It isn’t what’s in the dark you need to be
afraid of.
The
Characters:
Spencer Alcrest – the chef/owner
of The Alcrest Gastropub. He took over
the business upon his father’s death and is trying to make it a great success.
Chrys Wanderingspirit – foster sister
to Spencer. Her mother disappeared when
she was young. Now she is a free spirit
enjoying life and bothering her brother.
To
figure out characters I usually just take notes as I’m writing. I will write in what a character is wearing
and then write it down in a separate file or in my head the idea that he/she is
a vegetarian – take note. This time I
wanted to do character sketches so that I know who these people are. To do this I searched out different character charts and found this one that is 8 pages of details from the physical to what
their day is like to how they relate to random kids and what their favorite TV show is.
Examples:
Name: Chrys Wanderingspirit
Nationality: Native/Canadian
Brief description of home: Apartment above The Alcrest Gastropub
Does she live with anyone? Yes, her foster brother Spencer who is the chef/owner of The Alcrest
Pets: Chihuahua named Breeze after her mother
Most traumatic event in life: Day her mother disapeared.
Morning Routine: Wakes late after hitting the snooze a lot. Showers and takes care of hair which includes whipping her head back and forth spraying water. Her breakfast is usually coffee. Takes Breeze for a walk.
Any prominent features? Full lips, especially the bottom one. Birthmark on left cheek bone.
Basically by the time Spencer and Chrys go out and meet the public I will know almost everything I can about both of them. Sure, there will be things that I don't know and will learn as the story is written and there are some things that will change or evolve.
What is left is to take what you have and write a small paragraph describing your characters to see what you have.
What is left is to take what you have and write a small paragraph describing your characters to see what you have.
Spencer wiped the prep table down with a cloth. It was almost time to put his chef coat
on. His defined jaw line was clean
shaven, the restaurant owner, while his strong arms were tattooed, the rock
star chef. His blond hair was short and
spiked on top with just a touch of product.
Soft aqua marine eyes searched around for anything out of place. He was blessed with his Father’s hometown
good looks and strong body, the only two things the man gave him without having
to be asked for. Spencer’s mottos were
inked onto his forearms, “Suck the Marrow,” on his left from the Thoreau quote
about seizing the day and on the right a quote from Whiting, “God sends meat,
but the devil sends cooks.” The first
sits under the tattoo of a pig and the other is between the claws of a lobster
crawling down from his upper arm. At
first they were to rebel against the image his parents had for him, but then he
just enjoyed it. He flashed a smile
making dimples appear in each cheek. He
got a lot more looks from the ladies than he would ever admit to.
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| Does my description do her justice? |
Chrys combed her fingers back through her hair as she crossed the
room. The mane of dark brown, black in
the dim light, fell softly over her shoulders.
Anyone would say she was good-looking, but she could be downright
gorgeous if given the right motivation.
Today she wore a little mascara around her oval eyes. Those and her light caramel skin were signs
of her Native Canadian heritage. She
smiled with full lips and white teeth.
The only chink in her armor was maybe the slightly prominent two front
teeth, but those were usually not noticed.
Her body was trim and tight from workouts at the gym and playing sports
at the park with her friends. There was
nothing too “out there.” Her breasts
were small and she never showed much skin, but she did often get second
looks. She was the image of the girl
next door.
So if you have been reading the Journey of a Story you know that Spencer owns The Alcrest Gastropub. In order to run a restaurant you need staff. Chrys is one of the servers, but two people can't run it. There are cooks and servers and dishwashers..etc. I already have some ideas for a couple of them, but I need ideas for more and of course names. If anyone out there is interested in naming a character in a future novel please leave me a comment here or connect with me through the link up options on the side.
Coming Soon: The Prologue
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