May 14, 2009

In Exercise 14, my character could be described like this:


Cayla was the snotty but popular girl at school and for a while she was my best friend. Everyone wanted to be her friend. Three was a crowd with her and someone was always left out. She was rebellious. She made girls lie to their parents. She made me lie, which was exceptionally rare. She didn’t physically make us do it, but she had a weird control over others decisions.

She was conniving and backstabbing. And oddly enough, she was jealous of me. She made me lose some of my closest friends. She played us against each other and usually it worked. She always wanted to smoke cigarettes and drink at such a young age. She was interested in guys from the get-go. Around age fourteen she was stealing girl’s boyfriends and then cheating on them.

I imagine she is still a partier to this day. She’s twenty and I’m sure she has a baby now, probably a toddler. Her and her baby’s father are probably split up because she was unfaithful. I can see her still living in her mother’s house and her mother still giving her everything she wants. She isn’t going to school and she doesn’t have or even want a job. She will eventually make a rich man fall in love with her; marry her; and then she’ll use him for his house and money, while she sleeps around town with whomever she pleases. Poor guy. I feel sorry for whoever he is.


While completing Exercise 27 I learned a lot about my character. It made me really consider how she would be thinking and living her life. I learned more about the everyday details of my character. I figured she would have comfy clothes including sweat pants and sweat shirts for lounging around at home with her child and I am positive she has several seductive shirts, skirts and dresses for going out with friends. I decided her refrigerator would have items like baby food, healthy food and beer, and her medicine chest would also have baby medicine, adult medicine like tylenol, and then birth control and possibly condoms. The hardest thing to consider was the items in her car trunk. I imagine there would not be a lot in it. There could be some extra clothes for her or the baby. She may have extra diapers or wipes, or even an extra diaper bag in case she ever forgets something. She could have some sort of emergency bag and probably a stroller.

Looking back on these exercises, there were several things that surprised me. The most surprises I found were during Exercise 27. The first thing that surprised me was what that exercise asked you to do. It is not something most people would think to do, which is probably why it is an exercise. These everyday, real-life items found in these places make the character authentic and easier to relate to. The next surprise was that I actually could come up with items in all of these places and I really began to think in the mindset of how my character would be. I think this was a great exercise to do and should really be done on any character you are creating. Lists, such as these, can help you develop a character in the story if you get stuck and need some help. These lists help you remember who your character is and what they are all about.