Day 2 Assignments

[Lois Wickstrom]

Lois’ Character Descriptions

What I learned – I don’t have a clear focus on my characters’ core conflicts.

2. Select a main character and answer the following questions:

Who is the character? Role in the show? Meff – boy who becomes a skunk

Noteworthy traits: sneaky, show-off

Intriguing history: he becomes a skunk when he is sprayed by a skunk. He becomes human again when he eats a rotten egg.

Intrigue? Mystery? Until now, Meff didn’t know that his father and aunt are were-skunks.

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? He disobeys his father and does risky things.

Irony — Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character – will do risky things to save family, but will abandon family to save the town.

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters – boys just want to have fun – Dad wants to keep the family secret a secret

Unpredictable? He never knows when he’ll be sprayed by a skunk. BUT, he also carries a spraycan of skunk smell so he can become a skunk when he wants to. However he can’t carry a rotten egg. Skunks don’t have pockets.

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters – growing friendship with woman who buys him for a pet.

3. Organize the answers and choose which you are going to use in your description of that character. A sneaky disobedient boy who can become a skunk is the best hope to defeat the mad scientist who is taking over the town. He must hide his secret and do undercover work while competing in a Skunk Beauty Contest

4. Sequence the info and write a START, MIDDLE, and END. Write a ROUGH DRAFT of the character description.

Beginning: Meff gets sprayed and turns into skunk

Middle: he must win a skunk beauty pageant while protecting the mephiderite on his family skunk farm.

End: Meff fights a potentially mortal battle with Mann – skunk vs owl

5. Continue steps 2 – 4 for each main character.

—

1. Pull out your BW Framework as source material.

2. Select a main character and answer the following questions:

Who is the character? Role in the show? Kamali Parker – works for villain, buys Meff for a pet

Noteworthy traits Loves skunks has 6 of them for pets.

Intriguing history:

Intrigue? Mystery? Why did she move to Skunk Hollow?

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? She won’t give Meff back to his family.

Irony — Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character Works for Mann, the more she learns about him the more she decides to betray him. But she needs her job.

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters Loves skunks and wants to keep her job even though her boss harms skunks. Wants to keep Meff as a pet even though his family wants him back.

Unpredictable? Will she return Meff to his family? Will she turn on Mann? Will she help Meff escape from the beauty pageant?

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters She owns Meff. She works for Mann.

3. Organize the answers and choose which you are going to use in your description of that character. A skunk-lover, whose boss is working to destroy the skunk farm, buys a pet skunk from the local skunk farm, not knowing that he’s really the owner’s son.

4. Sequence the info and write a START, MIDDLE, and END. Write a ROUGH DRAFT of the character description.

Start: A skunk lover takes a job at an anti-skunk company

Middle: and accidentally buys the skunk farm owner’s were-skunk son as a pet

End: to enter him in the skunk beauty pageant.

5. Continue steps 2 – 4 for each main character.

—

1. Pull out your BW Framework as source material.

2. Select a main character and answer the following questions:

Who is the character? Role in the show? Howland Mann – mad scientist, villain, kidnaps Aunt Abigail and plans to take over the town.

Noteworthy traits Smart, Powerful, talented chemist, makes skunk beauty products, hates skunks

Intriguing history:

Intrigue? Mystery? Why does he want the mephiderite on Meff’s family skunk farm?

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? He kidnaps Aunt Abigail to enter in the Skunk Beauty Contest. He wants the mephiderite on Meff’s family skunk farm, which the family needs so they can be were-skunks.

Irony — Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character: He hates skunks, but he makes skunk beauty products.

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters – he wants to own the mephiderite on Meff’s family farm.

Unpredictable? Always a new scheme when the last one fails

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters: he is Kamali Parker’s boss.

3. Organize the answers and choose which you are going to use in your description of that character.

Mann is a power-mad greedy capitalist who likes to change into an owl. In order to do this, he needs a rock that is only found on the Skunk Farm, and the owners won’t sell.

4. Sequence the info and write a START, MIDDLE, and END. Write a ROUGH DRAFT of the character description.

Start: Mann makes beauty products for skunks and custom medicines.

Middle: He sponsors the Skunk Beauty Pageant

End: He freezes the whole town so he can steal mephiderite from the skunk farm.

5. Continue steps 2 – 4 for each main character.

[Griffith Lambert]

Lesson 2

Griff’s Compelling Characters for THE LAST STRAW

What I learned doing this assignment: Exposing the layers of one character leads to peeling back layers of the connected characters.

Stephanie:

· Role in the show: Single mother of Randy and Todd

· Noteworthy traits: Fiercely protective; dogged tenacity, strong moral compass

· Intriguing History: MBA in journalism; still connected to ex husband

· Intrigue? Mystery? What really happened to the Ex?

· Drive conflict: Argues with her boys, disappears without a trace.

· Irony: Talented journalist doing “fluff” pieces for a small publisher.

· Opposing agendas: Breaking a story/taking care of her boys

· Unpredictable: Temper.

· Intriguing relationships: Unknown friction with Marcey

Start: A struggling single mother of two challenging teenaged boys

Middle: Gets the opportunity to prove herself as an investigative journalist

End: and is torn between breaking the story and keeping her parental responsibilities.

Stephanie is a struggling single mom doing her best to raise teenaged sons while plugging away at a less-than-satisfying writing gig for a local publisher. Always on the lookout for a story that could break her into investigative journalism, she thinks she may be onto it through Marcey, her neighbor Brad’s daughter.

The more distracted Stephanie becomes in pursuit of her big break, the more discontent her boys Randy and Todd become with her parenting. As she loses control of the boys she comes under the scrutiny of school counselors and social services and begins to feel cornered.

Randy:

· Role in the show: Older son of Stephanie, older brother of Todd

· Noteworthy traits: Angry, hot-tempered, bullying.

· Intriguing History: Randy had a mother and father all to himself until Todd came along.

· Intrigue? Mystery? Randy claims to excel at sports but nobody other than Marcey has seen it.

· Drive conflict: He bullies Todd and Stephanie.

· Irony: Randy is small while younger brother Todd is big.

· Opposing agendas: Randy thinks Todd needs to learn to defend himself.

· Unpredictable: Randy gets into fights at school and is hard to discipline.

· Intriguing relationships: Has a big crush on Marcey

Start: Randy is small for his age

Middle: Younger brother Todd is big for his age. Randy has anger issues.

End: Randy feels like he has never had the same attention from his mother since Todd was born.

Randy is small for his age and therefore feels cheated in life. His frustration is exacerbated by the fact that younger brother Todd is built like a linebacker. All Randy knows is that life was pretty good at home until Todd was born, so he naturally associates Todd with his father’s exit from their lives.

When their mother goes missing after a nasty argument with not only the boys but spilling over to the neighbor’s daughter, Marcey, Randy is left to wonder if Stephanie’s departure is directly related to his own behavior.

When he and brother Todd are shunted around in the foster care system they decide to band together, following tantalizing clues that the grown-ups don’t consider important.

Todd

· Role in the show: Younger (but bigger) brother of Randy

· Noteworthy traits: Analytical, calm, introspective, smart.

· Intriguing History: Misses a father he never knew.

· Intrigue? Mystery? He has been tutored in survival training by neighbor Brad.

· Drive conflict? Blames Stephanie for father’s absence.

· Irony: He feels protective of Randy.

· Opposing agendas: He wants Randy off his back but is protective of him at the same time.

· Unpredictable: Todd can be sullen and has a thin skin.

· Intriguing relationships: Neighbor Brad is a mentor (for better or worse.)

Start: Todd came along right about the time that Stephanie and her husband parted ways.

Middle: Todd suffers the anger issues of his brother Randy and feels overlooked by Stephanie.

End: Todd outs his mother’s parenting to his counselor, then feels badly about the consequences.

Todd’s father left home when he was a baby and Stephanie has frustratingly little to say on the subject. When home life becomes chaotic and Randy is particularly bullying, Todd retreats into his own world and eventually finds a mentor in neighbor Brad.

As annoying as Randy is, Todd has a strong big-brother instinct to protect him, even though he is the younger brother.

Knowing that his mother would strongly disapprove of the tutoring in Survivalism that Brad can offer, Todd keeps his interest in martial arts and weapons a secret. No one had any way to predict how useful this would become.

Brad

· Role in the show: Stephanie’s neighbor and father of Marcey.

· Noteworthy traits: Patient, talented, worldly.

· Intriguing History: He was once a famous rocker who gave it up to raise his daughter.

· Intrigue? Mystery? Marcey’s mother died of a drug overdose – Brad carries guilt.

· Drive conflict? He rides Marcey hard about her Party Girl lifestyle.

· Irony: Brad was a famous rocker now teaching guitar to kids.

· Opposing agendas: Caring for Marcey while wanting to get the old band back together.

· Unpredictable: Brad lapses into reveries about the “old days.”

· Intriguing relationships: Is attracted to Stephanie. Serves as Todd’s mentor.

Start: Brad is a nerdy music teacher with a secret history as a rock star.

Middle : Brad gave it all up to raise his daughter, Marcey, after her mother overdosed.

End: Brad’s concern about Marcey’s party lifestyle is fueled by guilt over her mother’s death.

Brad Collins was at the top of his game as Crash Damitch, lead guitarist and singer of the platinum-record-selling band “Hell Toupé.” When his ex-wife died of a drug overdose Brad gave it all up to move away and raise his then 10-year-old daughter, Marcey.

Now in her early ‘20s, Marcey’s habit of disappearing for days at a time makes Brad fear that she will end up like her mother. He finds some parenting solace in Todd, who appears to be in need of a father figure in his life. Todd and Brad share an interest in Survivalism.

When one of Marcey’s excursions goes on too long and appears to coincide with neighbor Stephanie’s disappearance, Brad feels like he must take the search into his own hands.

Marcey

· Role in the show: Brad’s daughter, Stephanie’s neighbor.

· Noteworthy traits: Secretive, dismissive, fierce.

· Intriguing History: Mother died of a drug overdose, then she came to live with Brad.

· Intrigue? Mystery? Marcey pretends to be an aimless party girl while protecting her father from her true avocation of human rights activist.

· Drive conflict: Lies to Brad and Stephanie but Stephanie is onto her.

· Irony: Seems like a slacker but is really on a mission to help others.

· Opposing agendas: Doesn’t want Brad to worry but needs her independence.

· Unpredictable: Marcey takes off into the desert for days at a time.

· Intriguing relationships: Girlfriend Harmony.

Start: Marcey’s girlhood was interrupted by the tragic death of her mother.

Middle: Marcey feels a strong identity with her mother’s Hispanic ethnicity.

End: Living in a border town has made Marcey keenly aware of the plight of migrants and refugees wanting to come to the US for work or asylum.

Marcey’s mother tried to give her as normal a life as possible in the shadow of Brad’s celebrity, but the high-life eventually claimed her as a victim. Coming from Los Angeles to live a quiet life in the Arizona suburbs with her father was truly a culture shock.

Marcey’s proximity to border culture inspired an interest in her Hispanic lineage and an interest in border politics. Immigration policies radicalized her in her teens and she decided to dedicate herself to change, adopting a party girl persona to mask the real dangers of her activism in the desert.

Marcey and her girlfriend regularly joust with the Border Patrol agents, risking arrest and injury to leave supplies in the desert for migrants and refugees making the dangerous crossing. She explains her disappearances to Brad as a fictional never-ending party.

[Lisa Molenda]

What I learned doing this assignment is to not get hung up on the details and keep it moving.

Lisa’s Character Descriptions

JANE

Who is the character? Jane Role in the show? Lead, fish out of water

Noteworthy traits: loves animals, hates suffering, is taking care of her sick mother while in school for her PHD

Intriguing history: has always been an overachiever and somewhat of a perfectionist.

Intrigue? She is a vegan activist and vampire. Mystery? She is existing among humans and among the secret society of vampires.

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? She wants to stop the rich OC vampires from operating their human farms.

Irony — Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character. She is a vegan, but also a vampire. She doesn’t agree with the ethics of the vampires killing people, but she kills people who she decides are “bad enough”

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters Jane wants to stop the OC vampires, Lucy wants to Sabotage Jane, and Marc, vampire hunters want to kill the vampires, vampires want to survive off the blood from the human farms, and think it is ethical and normal.

Unpredictable? Who will Jane kill next? Will Jane be able to control her thirst? How will Jane be able to continue to call herself a vegan.

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters- love interest with Marc, Lucy is her enemy, she can’t stand Ammo, Heather gets on her nerves, but she loves her. Dr. Berkwood is losing trust in her and knows something is off.

3. Organize the answers and choose which you are going to use in your description of that character.

Jane, a vegan activist, gets turned into a vampire. She has to reevaluate her ethics in order to survive and keep her thirst incontrol. She finds out that there’s a secret society of vampires who have human farms, a way to keep “the undesirables” off the streets, but Jane doesn’t agree with their ethics, even though she has to kill to survive. She only kills the people she deems as “bad” who don’t deserve to live. Jane sets out on a plan to take down the Orange County Vampires, but she has no idea what she’s getting herself into. The vampires have control over the whole city and more. Plus, they have people in the government and high levels of authority who are either under their control, or are also vampires. Jane is unsure who she can trust, but she wants to take down this unethical organization.

MARC

Who is the character? Marc Role in the show? Love interest of Jane

Noteworthy traits: Doesn’t agree with the ethics of the OC vampires, but feels powerless against them. Care’s about Jane and wants to help her. Wants to know what it’s like to be an “ethical” vampire. Doesn’t like hurting people

Intriguing history: was turned in the 1950’s by Lucy, a ruthless and entitled vampire who is hundreds of years old

Intrigue? Mystery? Jaded and sarcastic. We don’t know what his past life was like before he was a vampire. He doesn’t remember what it was like to be a human, since he’s become so disconnected from humans, since they are his source of food

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? He wants to take down the OC vampires, but doesn’t know how. He can’t stand Lucy, but she’s in love with him and will do anything to have him or control him. He wants to gain Dr. Berkwood’s trust so he can gain Jane’s trust, but she’s onto them both. He still works for the OC vampires

Irony — Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character. He doesn’t like killing, but he kills to survive. He is disconnected to humans, bu secretly loves Jane. He loves Jane, but might be betraying her

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters. He is on both sides, the OC vampires and Jane. Who will he choose? Dr. Berkwood doesn’t trust him.

Unpredictable? Who will he kill next? Will he get caught or killed by the vampire hunters?

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters. Lucy loves him. He can’t stand her. He loves Jane, but Jane is clueless. He doesn’t understand people, but he wants to remember what it was like being a human and having a support system.

Marc, a sarcastic and Jaded vampire who was turned in the 1950’s, takes an interest in Jane. He doesn’t understand her, but wants to know more. He turns her after she is hit by a slaughterhouse truck to save her life, but that’s not okay with Lucy, a much older vampire who turned him, and thinks she can have control of his life. Marc doesn’t like killing people, but needs to to survive. He is intrigued by Jaen, who still wants to be an ethical vegan, but he still has ties with the OC vampires, even though he doesn’t agree with their ethics. He wants to have a true connection again. He forgot what that feels like since he can’t connect with humans, since they are his food.

Dr. Berkwood

Who is the character? Role in the show? Scientist, mentor to Jane.

Noteworthy traits- helpful and encouraging to everyone.

Intriguing history: In a past life, she was the witch who created the curse of the vampire.

Intrigue? Mystery? She is a witch, but not comfortable with her powers, but feels it doesn’t feel like it’s real, since she’s a scientist

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? She doesn’t trust Marc. She’s suspicious of Jane ever since she turned.

Irony — Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character: She’s a scientist who is a witch

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters: She wants to see her students succeed, but has a fear of abandonment so she hates seeing them leave. She loves animals, but she’s had to do research on animals to get her degree. Gets underneath some students skin because she compares factory farming to slavery

Unpredictable? She’s the sweetest person, but very protective of her kids. She takes on some of her students as children of her own

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters: She cares about Jane, but grows to not trust her, because Jane is hiding something from her, but she doesn’t know what. She’s suspicious of Marc.

Dr. Berkwood, Jane’s professor, is a vegan activist and mentor to Jane. She is a witch, who created the curse of the vampires in a past life. She has powerful intuition nd suspects something is off with Jane after she turns, and thinks Marc is behind it, so she doesn’t trust him either. She sets out to find out what they are hiding, which could come to her detriment if she does. Her scientific background makes her very sceptical of anything supernatural. She takes on some students as if they are her own kids, since she feels like she failed with her own, and she has a fear of abandonment, so when her students leave, she can’t handle it, so she drinks. That makes her lose control of her powers and cause more harm than good, and mostly to herself.

[Brenda Clarke]

I am starting to gain a better understanding of my characters doing this exercise and gradually with each new exercise, will bring them to life.

LESSON 2. CHARACTER DESCRIPTION.

HARRIET WRIGHT

Role in the show a middle-class horse trainer turns bad ass in order to find the whereabouts of her missing lover

Noteworthy traits passionate, driven, animal lover
Intrigue? Mystery? She has become a successful businesswoman in a man’s

world. She is in love with her maid. Wears a man’s disguise when involved in crime.

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? Willing to commit crimes in order to gain the trust of the criminal underworld, who may give her answers to her missing lover. She gets herself into dangerous situations, all the while trying to keep her secrets from her doting mother.

Irony – Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character appears to be a good hard working woman yet gets involved with the criminal underworld

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters she dislikes cruelty to animals and yet would beat a man if he beat his horse.

Unpredictable? A woman of action, defiant. She fights back, lashes out.

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters. Has fallen in love with her maid Rosie. Her doting mother Mrs Wright, wants to set her daughter up with a wealthy husband. With the Criminal Under-world she goes bold. She eventually meets Elliot Edwards.

START: A middle class horse trainer, turns into a bad ass in order to find the whereabouts of her missing lover – she leaves no stone unturned.

MIDDLE: A passionate and driven person willing to commit crimes to gain the trust of the criminal underworld, who may have some information as to the whereabouts of her maid. Conflict, Intrigue and anger issues.

ENDING: often gets into dangerous situations and is prepared to go down paths she never dreamed of taking.

EDIT VERSION:

A middle-class horse trainer discovers her lover has suddenly gone missing and leaves no stone unturned to find the answers. She must participate in criminal activities in order to be trusted by the underworld boss to gain their trust and in return they may supply information as to the whereabouts of her maid.

Not only does she hide her sexuality from her doting mother but dresses as a man when carrying out the crimes for the underworld boss. She tends to be quick tempered and lashes out when her back is against the wall. She’ll take risks and is prepared to go down paths she never dreamed of taking in the pursuit of uniting with Rosie – even if it means sailing to the opposite side of the world to the new colonies of Australia.

ELLIOT OTTO EDWARDS

Role in the show an aristocratic gentleman comes to terms with his true self when his lover is arrested for “crimes of an unnatural act”

Noteworthy traits flamboyant, self-centred, expert swordsman

Intrigue? Mystery? He has fallen in love with a common sailor and keeps his homosexuality hidden from his overbearing father but eventually comes out to his younger sister.

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? He desperately wants to save his lover and somehow build a life together

Irony – Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character he has the money and means to make things happen but when it comes to rescuing his lover he’s becomes a recluse and hits the bottle.

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters He appears to be a wealthy gentleman with the world at his fingertips yet is quite feminine and doubts his right to be happy.

Unpredictable? Despite his spoilt and cloistered up-bringing he grows a backbone and makes the decision to rescue his lover, leaving his wealth and heritage behind. He seeks out the villain who is blackmailing him and put a stop to the harassment.

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters. He falls deeply in love with a common sailor and despite his father’s persistence to marry and produce an heir he ventures on a quest to reunite with Richard. He has a chance meeting with Harriet and as the two discover their common ground they decide to have a “fake marriage”.

START: an aristocratic gentleman comes to terms with his true self when his lover is arrested for “crimes of an unnatural act”. He becomes a recluse and hits the bottle not knowing what to do about his circumstance.

MIDDLE: He eventually comes out to his sister and decides to rescue the love of his life Richard, a common sailor. A chance meeting with Harriet and her similar circumstances provide them with the opportunity of having a fake marriage.

ENDING: In doing so he leaves behind his wealth and heritage to pursue a life of love and happiness even if it means sailing to the Antipodes.

EDIT VERSION:

An aristocratic gentleman comes to terms with his true self when his lover is arrested for “crimes of an unnatural act”. He becomes a recluse and hits the bottle not knowing what to do about his circumstances. He eventually comes out to his younger sister and decides to rescue the love of his life Richard, a common sailor.

His overbearing father wants him to marry and produce an heir but this completely goes against his grain. However, a chance meeting with Harriet at the Old Bailey, he realises they have similar circumstances which provide them with the opportunity of a fake marriage. Under the guise of newly-weds they head off to the Antipodes as free settlers giving up his heritage and wealth in the hopes of re-uniting with lover.

ROSIE COTTON

Role in the show an ordinary maid gets entangled in her sister’s crime when she is arrested for being in possession of stolen clothing. She is whisked off to prison and later sentenced 7 years hard labour in the Colonies of Australia

Noteworthy traits honest, hard-working, happy go lucky
Intrigue? Mystery? She is madly in love with her mistress, yet tells porky pies about

her “beau”.

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? She tries to make contact with Harriet in order to assist her.

Irony – Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character she is not conflicted about her attraction to the same sex yet despises her older sister’s criminal activities.

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters she has no secret agenda’s and wears her heart on her sleeve.

Unpredictable? Whilst being transported to Australia she is raped on board ship and decides to keep the child.

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters. Desperately in love with Harriet, has a love hate relationship with her “troubled” sister Tily.

START: an ordinary maid gets entangled in her sister’s crime when she is arrested for being in possession of stolen clothing. She is whisked off to prison and later sentenced to 7 years hard labour in the Colonies of Australia.

MIDDLE: She keeps the love of her mistress a secret to her employer, Mrs. Wright and makes up fanciful stories of a supposed “boyfriend”.

ENDING: Despite all the hardships thrown at her; the conviction, the transportation, her rape, death of her sister, her inner strength and conviction shines through.

EDIT VERSION:

An ordinary maid gets entangled in her sister’s crime when she is arrested for being in possession of stolen clothing. She is whisked off to prison and later sentenced to 7 years hard labour in the colonies of Australia. She keeps the love of her mistress a secret to her employer, Mrs. Wright and makes up fanciful stories of a supposed “boyfriend”.

Despite all the hardships thrown at her; the conviction the transportation, her rape and the death of her sister she manages to hold onto her inner strength and conviction that one day she will be re-untied with the love of her life, Harriet.

RICHARD SMITH

Role in the show A handsome young sailor quickly assists his lover’s escape one night when suddenly the “Molly” house they are spending the night in is raided. His lover is free but now he faces hanging for “acts of an unnatural nature”.

Noteworthy traits expert seaman/cockswain,
Intrigue? Mystery? Overtly masculine to hide his homosexuality, especially from his

straight sailor mates.

How do they support or drive the conflict with others? The romantic ties with his rich gentleman friend place him in the hope of one day being freed.

Irony – Opposites or paradoxes that exist with the character she is not conflicted about her attraction to the same sex yet despises her older sister’s criminal activities.

Opposing agendas/etc. that naturally causes conflict with other characters he lives two quite separate lives, one as a butch sailor and the other as a closeted homosexual.

Unpredictable? Desperate to keep his sexuality a secret, even has a tattoo of a mermaid on his left arm to keep up a heterosexual appearance.

Intriguing relationship with one or more characters. He and Elliot are in love with one another and suddenly their life is interrupted, when one of his sailor mates finds out what he is up to and ruins everything.

START: A handsome young sailor quickly assists his lover’s escape one night when suddenly the “Molly” house they are spending the night in is raided. His lover is free but now he faces hanging for “acts of an unnatural nature”.

MIDDLE: He puts on a butch bravado to hide his homosexuality from his sailor mates. Unbeknown to him one of his sailor mates finds out what he is up to and ruins everything. The jury wave his sentence of death and instead he is transported to Australia for 10 years of hard labour.

ENDING: Whilst on the voyage, he is called upon to help steer the ship through a storm and is held up as a hero both by the crew and the passengers. He hangs out for the hope of one day spending the rest of his life with Elliot.

EDIT VERSION:

A handsome young sailor quickly assists his lover to escape one night when suddenly the “Molly” house they are spending the night in is raided. His lover is free but now he faces hanging for “acts of an unnatural nature”. His life is suddenly turned upside down when unbeknown to him one of his sailor mates finds out what his is up to and ruins everything.

The jury waver his sentence of death but instead is transported to the Antipodes for 10 years hard labour. Whilst on the voyage, he is called upon to help steer the ship through a storm and is held up as a hero both by the crew and passengers. Despite his butch bravado he hangs all his hopes of one day spending the rest of his life with Elliot.

[Luc Pagès]

Luc’s Character Descriptions

What I learned doing this assignment is that narrowing the descriptions of my characters helps to keep focused on what is important. But I still have to figure out why then some of the stuff I feel are most interesting can’t find their place in there.

JACQUELINE
Role: An 80 y/old lady, between life and death in a coma, has only one purpose – live a last love experience in Limbo, before dying.
Noteworthy traits: Brilliant. Caring. Conservative.
Intriguing history: Before she got married, she had a love affair that marked her for life.
Intrigue? : Totally unprepared for this last love affair, it grows on her unexpectedly. Will she succeed before she is unplugged by the staff, or « relieved » by her husband?
Mystery? : Why did she commit suicide? And how is Jacky’s suicide linked with her’s? What happened with her first love?
Drive conflict: Will do what ever it takes to live this affair.
Irony: She looks young, but is really over 80. Has a juvenile romantic affair at the doorstep of death. Totally unprepared, although she’s had the experience of life, makes immature decisions, because she has nothing else than « Carpe Diem » to loose.
Intriguing relationships: Rocker, Jacky and the Student.

Final punchline: She never expected such a fun death.

START: In a coma after a suicide attempt, an old lady falls in love with another patient in a coma, as they meet in their respective NDE’s.
MIDDLE: Discovering a parallel world, with other people also in NDE, where she meets someone and falls for him. She doesn’t want to die anymore, but how can she tell that to her husband and to the medical staff who want to unplug her?
ENDING: Will cheat, lie, manipulate, blackmail and do what ever it takes to live this last love affair, and discover her true own self.

EDITED VERSION
An old lady who doesn’t expect anything from life any more, commits suicide and ends up in a coma where she discovers a parallel world filled with patients from the same hospital, going through their own NDE and interacting with each other. There, she falls unexpectedly in love and although she can die any minute, she can’t stop herself from living this last romantic affair, and will stop at nothing to make it happen, discovering her true nature in the process.

MEDICAL STUDENT
Role: A 25 y/old guy taking the identity of his twin brother who was doing internship in an intensive care unit (but is actually the disfigured patient in a coma that everyone is trying to identify) who has no medical skill, but must do as if he had, endangering the lives of every patients.
Noteworthy traits: Clumsy, soft-hearted and insecure.
Intriguing history: Ugly duckling of his family.
Intrigue? : Hears voices coming from Limbo, pleading for him to communicate their last wishes.
Mystery? : What happened between him and his brother that brought this situation?
Drive conflict: Wants to keep his brother’s identity. So what if he wakes up?
Irony: Is genuinly taking care of his brother, but needs him dead.
Intriguing relationships: Falls for the Nurse. Helps a teenager experience some kind of sex before dying. Is pressured by Jacqueline to intervene with the staff for her.

START: An unappreciated medical student in an intensive care unit, trying to hide the fact that he took his twin brother’s identity, who is the real student, but is lying unconscious in the unit, disfigured and unidentified.
MIDDLE: Finds out he can hear the voices of patient in coma, who trie to have him make errands for them.
ENDING: Totally unskilled, often making dangerous mistakes, he unexpectedly finds his calling bridging the two worlds.

EDITED VERSION

A lousy medical student in an intensive care unit finds out he can hear voices coming from a parallel world, where patients in coma are trying to have him run errands for them, before dying. He resists, because he doesn’t want to attract attention, having taken the identity of his twin brother who is lying unconscious and unidentified in the service. Totally unskilled and often making dangerous mistakes, he unexpectedly finds his calling bridging the two worlds.

[Frank Kim]

Frank’s Character Descriptions

What I learned doing this assignment is…

What I learned is that the BW Framework is a really handy tool for retrieving vital bits of character and story data that I couldn’t remember on my own. In answer the character questions, I discovered that it’s relatively easy to come up with a whole new main character, which I did for three new ones.

I was able to condense this information down into a three-paragraph structure composed of the START, MIDDLE, and END sections and create the beginnings of what I hope will be very compelling character descriptions. More drafts will follow.

Rough Draft 1: Marjorie Hak-Jordan

Marjorie was found in the bayou as a little girl with no memory of where she came from. She was adopted by a middle-class family in a Gulf Coast community and raised as their own. By the time she is a senior in high school, she has mostly adjusted seamlessly into this new family.

But at night she has strange dreams about being a part of a family that is not the one she lives with. Meanwhile, her friend Gwendolyn Caprice suddenly disappears one day. Her bloody clothes make the authorities presume she was attacked by an alligator. Marjorie knows something else is responsible and, what’s more, that her friend is still alive.

She must go on her own, with the help of only two of her friends, to save Gwendolyn. And then, on the first night of her investigation, while having one of her strange dreams, these dream-parents address her directly for the first time and reveal to her that she is not who she thinks she is.

Rough Draft 2: The Old Fisherman

The old fisherman is a man who thought he had left a career steeped in violence and blood behind. Tired of the killing, even if it was for a good cause, he now spends his days on a boat catching his next dinner out in the Gulf waters.

All that comes to an end when he runs into Marjorie. See, he was the one who found Marjorie as a young girl, being trafficked by a pedophile. The old fisherman wasn’t so old then and was able to kill the pedophile and take a mute and traumatized Marjorie to a couple he know: Hank and Nancy Grover. They already have a little boy but they are willing to adopt the girl as they are in the process of moving to this new town. Everyone in the town assume that this girl has always been part of their family.

The old fisherman didn’t think Marjorie would ever come find him again. But here she is, asking about the one thing he REALLY hoped she wouldn’t ask about: the strange steel capsule that he uncovered near where he first found Marjorie.

Rough Draft 3: Ennio Torquemada

Ennio’s best friend was Hak Sung – a brilliant physicist and engineer. They were thick as thieves, until Sung betrayed their government by building clandestine teleportation tech and escaping with his family to somewhere outside the jurisdiction of the State. Ennio was forced to destroy the portal tech, causing an explosion that killed the Hak-Jordan children, and put Sung and his wife Barbara Jordan into comas.

Angered that his once best-friend could betray everything they stood for, Ennio begins probing their comatose minds with invasive surgery. His collaborator, Dr. Lorraine Abascal, and he believe they can extract the knowledge of how to build the portal from the parents’ minds. But as the years drag on, their experiment yields little positive results until they hit a breakthrough.

Just as their about to learn the secrets of these fugitives, Ennio’s competitor, Easton Gray and his security goons interrupt the process. The experiment fails and Easton takes custody of Sung and Barbara as they wake from their comas for the first time in 8 years. But Ennio knows something the others don’t: the Hak-Jordan children are alive and Ennio was able to send one of his minions to the world where the daughter Marjorie currently resides. Once his cyborg shapeshifter returns with the girl, he’ll be vindicated and his hated rival Easton will be permanently taken care of.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  Frank Kim.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  Frank Kim.