In the hopes of getting back into some sort of writing routine, and learning along the way, I am taking part in the #FastandFurious Festival Writing Challenge. You can find out more about it HERE
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Task One
...take what you learn about each of the three characters from the dialogue in the extract below and then develop them until you have a paragraph describing the character more fully.
A woman in a restaurant whispers to her friend:
"You know who that is over there, don't you?"
The other woman surreptitiously glances at the other table:
"No, who?"
"That's just it, she's had so much work done you don't recognise her. That's Betty Grainger."
"No!"
"Yes, she's had her nose done, cheeks lifted, even a hair transplant."
"Whatever for?"
"She's going into politics."
"Seriously, that's really her?"
Character 1:
45-year-old Mary Anne is a stay-at-home Mum, raised by strict, religious parents, her life has pretty much panned out as planned. Married to the perfect man and raising a kid that's unofficially other parents' benchmark for comparison, she is the life of the party. A great cook, generous and friendly, even strangers gravitate towards her making her very popular in real life and on Facebook. Friends are compelled to share their secrets with her and ask for advice, which she is more than happy to dispense.
Character 2:
39-year-old Darla, Marybeth's best friend, some call shadow, others who know better call an ambiguous rival. Single, opinionated and always one mark short of making the cut. Has a chip on her shoulder of life's unfairness but hides it well with words and action of support and kindness when the situation calls for it. At other times, short-tempered with a low tolerance for stupidy. On her own she wallows in self-pity, stalking her friends on social media and coveting their lives. She is on a spiritual quest and depends heavily on her pendulum and tarot cards for advice.
Character 3:
51-year-old Betty was born into poverty but blessed with beauty and brains. Clambering out of her rathole, she felt she could do better, be better, work harder. Her actions matched her desires and she aced her assignments but not the affection of the kids and later colleagues. They begrudged her good grades/promotions and looks and were/are even a little scared of her. Continuously working on herself from the time she was seven, she has fixed much of her, including her walk, personality traits, words, expressions, body language and now, her face so when she runs for office, the involuntary, unconscious judgements of the masses would be in her favour.
Task Two
Write a short dialogue, no more than 70-100 words, where two characters are talking about a third one.
"You promised!!!"
"What now?"
"What now?!! You gave him money- again!!"
"He got a job. He'll give it back."
"Like 6 months ago, the year before that?! He is a useless bum! You allow it!! You encourage him!!"
"We are family. We need to look out for each other."
"You are so worried about what people will say about your precious son. That money is mine, not yours to give. How about you look out for me for a change? The one who takes care of you", she turned away, angry with the tears threatening to spill. (97 words)
And that wraps Day 1. I was supposed to have finished this assignment in an hour, but I have taken longer, gahhh. Will need to work on my timing. I also messed up with the first time I posted this, so here I go again and hope that the first post stays deleted...
Thank you for reading😊
Till next time, Carpe Diem❣️
Sh33la
Hi kaerpediem. How are you? I hope you're well.
I liked how you filled out the back story of the three women, especially the first gossiping woman, so different to mine who were both pretty mean spirited people 😂
Interesting that we both painted the politician who had had 'work done' as a good person. I wonder how accurate that is to reality... a politician being a good person 🤣 Wishful thinking maybe.
The dialogue was clear and concise and left me with a strong impression that it was two family members talking about another family member who is considered the black sheep.
Nice work!
I'm as good as good can be I suppose - but really, I am good :D
I suppose they start out wanting to be good and do good, but along the way get sucked into the whirlpool...
Yes, the dialogue is between mother and daughter... and the black sheep is the son/brother ;D
Thank you for reading and commenting @raj808 :D
Ahhh lovely way to describe the characters :) I try to write first, then read others' works so it won't influence my writing LOL :D I like your short stories on freewrite and glad to see you participating in this festival :)
I do the same
I too do mine first before reading, just in case :D
Thank you @iamraincrystal <33
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BEER.It is curious to see the different personality traits of our characters, they are so different.
However there is something in common between you and me and the other participants. We all assume the average age for each character being the last one older.
I liked your dialogue very much, I felt the person's anger and I think I even took their side. 🤣😬 Good job. @kaerpediem
Yes, I noticed that with the ages too
And also how the second character is on the quiet side in comparison to the first
Thank you for the feedback @soyunasantacruz :D
Hi @kaerpediem I like your character backgrounds. This is the first character I've read who likes to cook. I'd like to meet her spouse, as I've never in all my years met a "perfect man." I hadn't read your character background for Betty. I see we think alike.
You dialogue is spot on on so many levels. This situation happens more often than you'd think in families. I can see the money was given without consulting the other. That's a critical mistake, unless it's already been agreed upon in a relationship.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so for the feedback @justclickindiva
That dialogue is great! You put all the clues in without using and descriptive asides. I know exactly what is happening. A husband and wife arguing about their son, who obviously does not live up to his father's expectations. What we don't know, and a story would certainly reveal this, is...who's right. Is the mother too forgiving? Is the father too hard. Thus the conflict for an age-old family dynamic is established.
As for the profiles: nicely done. You have rounded out their personalities very well.
Yes, I read back the dialogue and it could very well be a couple too
Mother forgiving and father expecting his son to man-up
In my head it was a conversation between a mother and daughter about the son/brother
Thank you for the comment @agmoore :D
Nicely done, @kaerpediem! I really enjoyed reading your character descriptions.
This one is simply inspired:
It made me smile, and yet I also felt a real compassion for this complex person. She would make an excellent main character for a future story!
Well done on the dialog too. You did such a nice job with the tension between the two people.
You are putting ideas in my head - haha
Thank you @jayna, truly appreciate the comment :D
Greetings, @kaerpediem.
I'm catching up with the comments, reading the others I see some overlap with my reading: I also read two husbands arguing about an immature son. Maybe because the complaining character's relationship seems to be very pair-like, more husband-wife than mother-daughter.
I saw clearly the character of your three characters. I liked them.
.
Thank you for reading and commenting @gracielaacevedo :D
This is a good one @kaerpediem
I must say that your expressions of the three characters are super b. I was prompted to read each line, after line until I got to the dialogue which blew me away.
Your lines, not too long but I could tell what the argument was all about in my earliest reads. And I could totally relate because I once had an experience with my cousin who always has his mother to be on his side but never tries to please his dad for once by doing the right thing. Well done.