A little writing exercise in developing my character. (If I ever have another dog I will call it Red - really exuberant dog - of Dfor - as in D for Dog but that is borrowed from someone else).
I would love feedback if anyone reads it - as a true novice it would be interesting to know what people thought - ie whether there is a character coming alive or it's all so totally flat.
And I'm not sure of what happens now Red exists - a story is evolving from developing her I can see that. She is fictional but there are traits and characteristics of everyone drawn from experiences.
Name? Age? Place of birth?
Residence? Occupation? Appearance? Dress? Strengths? Weakness?
Obsessions? Ambition? Work habits? Hobbies? Illness? Family? Parents?
Kids? Siblings? Friends? Pets? Politics? Tics? Diet? Drugs? Favorite kinds
of coffee, cigarettes, alcohol? Erotic history? Favorite books, movies,
music? Desires? Fears? Most traumatic event? Most wonderful
experience? The major struggle, past and present?
If you give quick, spontaneous answers, you might surprise yourself with
the character that emerges.
Red (Rather exuberant doll – given to her as a child by her mother) aka Laura
41 yrs
London – sort of Chelsea by default but from parents renting an attic room before they started making their fortune. Family business – always a little dubious but on the front her father was involved in property development. Mother worked for the airlines (often away on business trips)
Now – cottage in the middle of Surrey countryside
Occupation – drug dealer (undercover) Buys and sells books and other kitsch finds – stall in Camden and a bookshop in Farnham. Did work in the City for ABN Amro as the events organiser – negotiating with suppliers. Lots of contact with the traders.
Appearance – short dark curly hair – tousled style – pale skin but tans easily a mahogany colouring. Blue eyes. Attractive and a natural sex appeal. People turn to look but not classically good looking.
Dress – smart, modern – own casual style – likes to wear red. Rarely wears make-up and never ever carries a handbag.
Strengths, - streetwise, self aware, caring,
Weaknesses – men. She is intrigued by complicated people and is attracted to men who are not clingy or interested in a run of the mill life. She likes men in positions of power, not for money necessarily but an attitude. Often they are married or unavailable in some way. As a result of being hurt once she has developed a hard shell and doesn’t let anyone get very close now.
Obsessions – fear of ageing and being alone.
Ambition – she’s not sure right now where she’s heading. She wants a baby and would like a loving relationship, however she gets bored easily. Mainly she is craving a baby.
Work habits – she can get into overworking and has done in the past. A high-flier career in the city led her into a sinister underworld and ultimately a breakdown. She is stuck in the drug dealing as she enjoys the financial benefits this brings but is also having to keep this all from the people she really cares about. Furthermore she is constantly paranoid of being watched and waiting for the day she gets caught. She is small fry but even so well known.
She loves the buying and selling of books and the book store just about breaks even. The Camden market stall actually makes money but is more of a fun thing to do every third Thursday. And she is anonymous although building a reputation for finding risky things.
Hobbies/interests – well she used to and still loves horse riding. She has a horse that she keeps in full livery but gets to spend time every Saturday with her horse LaGazelle. She has had LaGazelle from a foal and there is a strong bond between them. This is where she gets a sense of peace and freedom. She likes to travel
Illness – a breakdown at 38 yrs which is when she left the City environment – ended up in a private psychiatric hospital. Here she met one or two people that got her involved in dealing drugs and this escalated quickly into a thriving money maker. Initially it gave her a sense of adventure and drama in a world she had never entered before.
Family – there’s just her – only child. Parents family are there but she is ostracised as a black sheep unless someone wants to “borrow” some money. She obliges for the sake of her mother who champions family values.
Parents – father (Mike), self made property developer and seemingly involved in something that was rather beyond the law with his cousin (James). Mother (Kathleen) – a real snob, house-proud and socialite. Likes mixing with the “right” people. She is a go-between with Red and Mike as there is tension between them but Kathleen is generally interested in her work and connections and enjoys travelling on business especially with the 5 star treatment
Friends – Red is very popular – best friends are Ruth and Lori and Mark. Neither of them knows about the drug dealing for which Red feels terrible. She tells them everything except this.
Ruth is a vet, 41yrs also single and a really lovely gentle character, blonde, slim, very pretty. Has her own veterinary practice and is becoming well known. She has been approached by BBC to be involved in the making of a documentary but she is not interested. Lori wants her to become famous. Really nice men are very interested in Ruth but she is not interested in any of them. Nusa Dua, Bali.
Lori is happily married to Philip. Long dark curly hair and lots of it, attractive and very sexy. She is a feisty lady. Adores Ruth Lori loves adventure and creating a storm of which Philip is very patient and tolerant. Lori loves Philip but does get herself into flirtatious scraps. As far as Red knows Lori has not ever become emotionally involved with anyone but there is always a drama. Lori is cabin crew with British Airways and is bipolar. She regularly messes up her medication with too much alcohol or simply not taking them. They have a little girl, Honor (10yrs), who is very much the adult with her mother. Red spends time with Honor, takes her to the stables and they play together. Lori and Red met when at school – convent school. It’s been a turbulent relationship at times – lots of Lori slamming doors and putting the phone down and Red is sometimes scared to say what she means with Lori but they always sort it out. Lori loves Ruth and Ruth is very patient with Lori but gets frustrated with her. Ruth confides her worries about Lori to Red
Mark – friends since they were 18. Red has always been slightly in love with Mark. He is also in love with Red but they are too like brother and sister. Both only children and both sets of parents would have loved the union between them. However, Mark is promiscuous with the women always running to Red when he has got himself a “bunny boiler”. Mark is a pilot and loves flying. He knows Lori both through Red and through their work – long haul. Mark also adores Ruth who equally is coyly flirtatious with Mark. Red warns Mark to keep away!
Pets – LaGazelle and Suzi-Wong her mixed breed dog. Had her since a puppy even though everyone was telling her not to get a dog. Suzi-Wong is now 12 yrs but sprightly and still goes on slower rides. When she was younger she would go along even if it was all day. Suzi-Wong stays with Ruth whilst Red is working or out and about. Ruth’s practice is also in the countryside not too far from Red’s cottage. So they see each other a lot.
Politics – Red is a little mixed up with this. She believes in the social welfare but also enjoys having nice things and gaining wealth and material luxuries. She is aware that she has a prejudice against what she calls run of the mill women who are married and just trundle along. Would like there to be more peace in the world. Not directly involved in anything but likes to debate on a basis of sentiment rather than knowledge. She feels intimidated by politically aware friends. She has a friend who is involved with the Labour party but can’t abide his public image yet loves him personally and his wife of course.
Diet – Red has to watch her weight, she exercises regularly – jogging and dog walking and horse-riding helps. She tends to put on weight easily (like her mother).
Drugs – yes went through a period of using cocaine heavily. But stopped. Has dabbled in one or two other drugs but never has really got involved. She is aware that Lori is using cocaine and at times e’s. She is worried that Lori might find out about her dealing in drugs.
Coffee, alcohol, cigarettes – drinks too much coffee – loves sitting mid morning in a coffee shop reading a paper or meeting some friends. Is known to be carrying a flask mug of coffee most of the time. Enjoys a glass of red wine. Has drunk excessively in the past but doesn’t like being out of control. Yes Red smoked but gave up 5 years ago. Would like Lori to give up. Lori’s younger sister drink excessively and is becoming more and more of a problem to the family. Lori smokes and Red tries to encourage her to give up.
Erotic history – Red has had a number of relationships. She met a man she seemed to fall in love with but who didn’t want to commit to her. Greg – Second Lieutenant in the army. They met whilst she was taking a break staying in Jersey. They were involved but he would not agree to a relationship. Handsome but not classically. Since then Red has never allowed herself to fall in love. She has had torrid affairs and two longer term relationships but she gets bored easily when they want to be more settled. She had a very brief encounter with a woman which was a result of a very drunken night out in London. She has never forgotten this woman – Esther from Jamaica. She met a very good looking man – Tom – who was a swinger and she had a little fun exploring this world for a short time. She had a affair with a married man when working in the City – one of the directors (Nick). She had strong feelings for him but kept them under wraps, Ruth knew.
A lot of the time Red keeps herself to herself although does confide a lot in Ruth and Lori knows what’s going on. She has got herself into some difficult situations at times with sexual partners. She has been promiscuous but doesn’t like this particularly about herself.
Favourite books: Red loves reading but is a slow reader. She takes advice of what to read from others. Lori studied English so she admires Lori’s knowledge and borrows books from her. She last read Ishiguru Never Let Me Go and really enjoyed it. She would like to read more but refuses to read what she considers to be trashy novels. She is trying to encourage Lori to write – Lori talks about it but never does it. She tends to watch the film of the book as a quick way of knowing the book ad rather than reading it but then is disappointed in herself.
Music: She listens to all sorts. Not pop though. She is beginning to enjoy classical and opera recently but also thinks this is due to the ageing process and laughs about it. She comments that she will never like gardening which she associates with being old. She has someone come and fix the garden up, Victor, a local villager recently retired. She suggests he do whatever he wants but not to involve her. She rarely visits the garden unless friends are visiting and they will have coffee in the garden. It’s at these times she thinks she could make it like another room.
She likes specifically –
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds because he is so unusual and tells tales in his songs.
David Bowie (Ruth likes him too)
And loads of other one offs.
Films – she is not a fan of Hollywood or trashy TV movies as she calls them. Red is more likely to watch Cannes festival winners and the more obscure films – some art house at times. Most recently she watch The White Ribbon and rated it highly. She tries to see at least two films per week if she has time in the evenings. She rarely goes to the cinema but went along with Ruth to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Ruth’s mum Nancy. Afterwards they discussed the film –the pros and cons – Red loves this.
Desires – to be at ease with herself. Clear out the ghosts of the past, be peaceful, help others where she can, get out of drug dealing, be content with a simple life. Self development.
Fears – suffocation and she is claustrophobic – ever since seeing a horror film in which a woman was buried alive in a coffin. She has panic attacks thinking she can’t breathe but she doesn’t tell anyone about this.
She is not keen on moths and daddy-long legs and can get quite demanding when any are fluttering around. She fears being lonely but also fears being stifled and not having freedom to come and go as she pleases. Fears the loss of her parents and always has since a little girl.
Most traumatic event – mother being taken seriously ill whilst away on business in Australia and not being able to get to her or get her back and there was a fear that Kathleen would not survive. Mike her father was away with another woman (as usual). Red was 13 and didn’t know what to do.
Most wonderful experience: when she was given her first pony – Patricia – grey but usually yellow as she rolled in the grass so much. Strong-willed. A great little jumper and they spent hours together.
The major struggle past and present – the relationship with her father Mike – a lot of hatred for him for being a womaniser and being quite open about it with Red. Red kept it secret to protect her mother. Ongoing battle to have an ordinary family and yet being stifled by ordinary when she has it.
The battle in her to be a somebody but feeling better as just an anybody – wanting nice things but also wanting a simple persons life. Wanting to find love but seemingly closed to that since Greg. Not truly knowing a purpose.
Bliss
XX
