So… I’m still stuck on labels again today, but I wanna make it fun and interesting. Do you remember “The Breakfast Club?” The athlete… The Princess… The Criminal… The Basketcase… The Brain?”
If you’re like me, you fell into all kinds of labels, but none of them were as unique as those you gained outside of high school. As a teen I was an athlete and a brain as were many of my teammates. The one you may already have guessed if you read the last post, and one that I think I am most proud of, is loner. At times it was a bummer, but I learned a lot about myself in those times. They have also lent amazing insight to what I needed now. A single divorced teacher in a very small town. I have found my tools that helped make it a well worthwhile choice. Soo… with that thought in mind, here are a few adult labels that I have heard through the years.
I have been tagged as…
1. The Rottweiler’s owner/mom
2. The hyper yellow dog’s mom
3. The photography lady
4. … this one is more a matter of interpretation more than what I have heard… ‘The lady who hollers long and loud’
…. love my cross country and basketball students. Lung power from singing has added a whole new level of volume and breath control that garners reactions when I get fully engaged and want my crew to feel the support.
5. The local cat lady
… seriously I didn’t even try… nor intend to be… All I wanted to do was give a couple of cats a place to stay until I could find their forever home because they were in a building that was going to be torn down. Four years later… two became close to twenty because of them and the fact that the neighbor’s had a cat who left a litter here… and they stayed… and had litters too. Now ‘fix them’ you say… so do I, but feral is the name of the game right now… ugh…
As you can tell, critters are a passion and focal point for me. Sanity they do provide so I indulge them and living in a ranching community, pets are a big deal. Now you may be wondering why… why I must prattle on about labels and just ramble on and on. Well… Mostly it is because I am attempting to use this tool as a method to a character building madness. That and I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this month, so I have a writing goal and since I am stuck on their cute, crazy or complicated quirks – you all have to suffa…ha! Hopefully you read this because you want to. 😀
Anyway… Here are my primary ideas for my now six, characters that lead the charge.
Phelan is an artist who works with charcoal. He is sixteen, a very supportive friend, and … psh… that is all it feels like I know. I have his appearance down. I have that he doesn’t ask for help easily, but I don’t have what inspires a need to ask for help. I don’t have a solid feel for what his weakness is.
Next is Cerri (Cerridwyn – k sound if needed), who is is self proclaimed best friend from elementary school. An athlete who loves to write in secret, is strong willed and always watching out for her friends whether they need it or not. She is the guardian and temper is a weakness for her. Owning that she loves to write is becoming a possible second. Still – only these basics and appearance are identified.
Next is Keegan. I want one to have a defined weakness and he is my go to character. One that deals with autism or ptsd. I chose those because I understand them, and I know the abilities linked to them. I have yet to fully wrap my mind around how to fully apply either, though the fact that he has troubles with gaining access to his power could be a confidence issue, or a trigger to help me build off of.
Willow is a talented horticulturist and Cerri’s cousin, but lives with her and is more of a sister since her parents were in a wreck when they were little. She is a year younger than the others, but her no-nonsense attitude gives her an edge on them. Weakness…. she is short…. not gonna work. So am I. She is… stubborn… need I repeat myself? Smart, to the point of annoying others – maybe. That could be the asset which draws her into arguments that are not necessary simply because it is a processing tool… hmm.. interesting.. See? Talking it out, even on paper, works. I like the arguing simply to fine tune her thoughts idea.
Okay… so now we are at Myles. He is someone who has a magical voice that always draws people in when he sings, but it drives his friends crazy because they see him enough to appreciate moments that do NOT require music. And yet he tries hard to make it work anyway. He also could be classified as the class or group clown. With him it is relatively easy. His love of music and performing are the same as Willow’s – strength and weakness all wrapped up in one.
Now my last is one I have been stewing on for three years. Yep. I knew I wanted another girl in the picture but this week is when I finally nailed down who it would be. Kaylin is brought into the tale in book 2 – Cerri’s adventure – through a misadventure of her own. She had been kidnapped and Cerri stumbles onto them when she gets separated from the others. This will go a long way toward filling some gaps that I have had, but I still need to flesh her out… Heck I need to flesh them all out.
I need to spend more time boring the heck out of you all to figure half of my idea out. Ideas out. The characters are in story order as of right now… but holy gee hosophat (or however you spell it). I have a ton to do before I can even feel like book one is ready to share and edit.
Soooo…. With this rambling mumbo jumbo fogging up your brain as much as mine, I am going to let you go.
I hope you have a fantastic day, night, week… month.
Stay safe one and all!
Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!
Kath
BaconfortheBrain 