Character Building (Writer’s Notes)

Many of you are writers, at least a few of you that have taken the time to send me an email over the years. I don’t know if this is true for everyone but I thought I’d share one of my methods for building a new character. It’s fun for me.

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2012/264/d/9/dylandra_character_development_by_jozef_szekeres_by_elf_fin-d5fh2xb.jpg

Phase One:
I people watch. I give each stranger a back story based on their walk and how they’re interacting in the given environment. I pull pieces of their perceived personality and use my favorite features of them to complete a style. I very rarely see a stranger that completes the picture that I’m trying to build so I take each physical feature and pull together a look.

Phase Two:
I ear hustle. Being nosey in a public place is both interesting and informative. Some of the conversations that people feel free to have out in the open would amaze you. Talks about child support, bathroom habits, living situations, fights, accidental deaths, the stories are all around if you just listen. Is it rude to eaves drop? Yes, but I don’t know these people so even if I do tell someone a part of their story, there’s no way to connect it to a person. Also, ear hustling is a great way to find new names for characters.

Phase Three:
I give a little piece of myself. In my female characters I fill in the blanks from my own life. In my male characters I give a little piece of the men that I know. Writing is always much more genuine when you stick to what you know. I love revisiting places that I know well and introducing the characteristics of old friends into pop up characters along the story.

Feel free to go back and read some of my short story excerpts and pick apart the characters.

Wish me luck in completing my current project, hopefully this story won’t end up on the shelf. I’d love to know if any of you use a similar method, or if you have any advice.  🙂
marellewrites@gmail.com

Let’s Play Catch Up

http://ibikeburlington.blogspot.com/2011/04/playing-catch-up-its-virtually.html

So over my summer break I discovered that I am much fatter than I ever anticipated. I’m grateful for the gift/curse of genetics that camouflage the flub… but I had to get on a mission.

Objective 1:
I increased my activity by walking home from work rather than driving everywhere I go. I finally got through the move that I believe I told you all about so I’m now in walking distance and that gives me at least 30mins of movement a day during the week. There’s also a walk club that my sorority sisters and I formed that meets every Saturday. This brings me up to 6 out of 7 days of activity.

Objective 2:
I gave up leaning on carbs so heavily. It’s been a struggle, but doing the “Water Challenge” this month helps me keep the carbs down by eliminating sugary drinks. It’s been hard to drink nothing but water for 30days, especially considering my affinity for wine and spirits.

Objective 3:
I need to either take time to develop an exercise program, or join a gym that will do that for me. Those of you that have been reading me for a while know that I’m both a former Martial Artist, and former US Navy Sailor. If there’s anyone that knows how to exercise , you’d imagine that it would be someone with my resume. So I’m taking it back to old school. This in turn has also inspired a business idea, which I’m sure doesn’t shock my faithful readers.

Now that you know all about my struggle, you won’t be surprised when I start posting things about my progress on this journey.

I’m not giving up on the “Girl He Ain’t Slick” but there have been some emails that warranted referrals to professionals. Know that when you email me your drama, I’m more interested in actually helping you, than having something to post, so if it’s too far out, I’m going to reply with a number of a professional that can actually get you together. It’s because I love you.

I took a look at my stats this morning, and I’m impressed. Thank you to everyone that took my break as time to catch up on my old pieces. I’ll keep writing, I promise. Sometimes I need a little break, but honestly I end up missing you guys like crazy. Until my next post.

All Good Things

Weekend Get Away (Continuation of writing samples)

I really didn’t intend to make this a full blow story, but I sort of fell in love with it, so enjoy!


There are three bars of 4G service in this random piece of the woods. I’ve never been so excited to have a working phone in my life. The first thing I do is try to make a call, but I hang up immediately when I realize in order to do that I have to talk, and I still haven’t caught my breath. I send out a group text.

If you made it to the cabin safely, call me. -Mom

I hit send. Luke is looking over my shoulder confused.

“If one of the intruders has a phone they won’t know that we’ve escaped.” I say confidently, proud of how cunning and sly I’d been.

“So what of the guy we just ran from? Don’t you think he’ll send back a report?” Luke answers trying to make sense of what I’d just done.

As soon as the message is sent out, my mobile signal fades but the data is still strong.

”We have to find somewhere to rest until we are able to come up with a plan, one that doesn’t involve Wal-Mart or some vigilante attempts at a rescue mission.” I pull up a map and there’s a Ranger’s station a few miles in the same direction we’d been running. Neither of us had time to get any water and at this rate if we have another need to increase our speed we may pass out from dehydration.

 Shortly after start walking my phone regains a signal and multiple texts flood the notification bar.

Two of them left looking for you two, run! -Laura’s phone

Everything  is fine Mom, having a great time. -Tim’s phone

“Luke there’s another one out here, and they have Tim’s phone. We have to find water before we do anything else or we won’t make it. I know we’re going to have to run again.” I can feel myself getting ready to cry, I try to keep it together but I’m afraid and so far Luke hasn’t proven to be much more than the person that got me into this situation. At least back at the cabin I’d have everyone else, we could work together and maybe overthrow the intruders. Instead I’m in the middle of the woods with a guy that I can outrun, the only bright side to that is that they’ll catch him first. I’m frustrated and angry and ready to give up.

Just as I get ready to tell Luke I think we should split up. I hear footsteps followed by a thud.
The guy that we’d just outrun has knocked Luke out cold. I don’t have enough energy to run, so I put up one hand and put my phone in my pocket with the other, and as I place my hand into my pocket I swap out the phone for my knife. This is ending right now. I think to myself.

I flick out the blade and charge straight ahead. I take a swipe at the big lug and he swats me in the face. I flow backwards with the strike and sweep my arm under his and chop him in the throat. As he gasps for air I take my knife and turn the handle so the blade is under my fists. I stab him in the side of the neck as hard as I can, he hits the ground and chokes on his own blood.

Luke won’t wake up.

Dream Journal Entry- Building

My entire life I’ve had extremely vivid dreams. I’ve played multiple characters, flown, ran at light speeds, climbed with acrobatic ease and walked on ceilings. I thought I’d share some of my dreams with you. Most of my dreams have a “home base” so to speak, of some sort of building. Interestingly enough, most of the buildings I’ve dreamed about I’ve been able to locate in real life and in most occasions they were places I lived/worked/visited after having had the dream. I’ll designate these posts by “-D” after the title of the post. That way you don’t confuse them with posts about my actual life (Sometimes my life is that absurd) or stories that I’ve made up. These are the things my mind creates when I’m not awake.

Now that we have that out of the way, Enjoy!

6 Story.

The air is purple and blue. There’s a carnival taking place down the street and there’s a crowd forming a line to make their way down the street. It’s hard to walk, the steps are small and tight and there’s not enough space to make a full stride. I lift one foot off the ground behind me, lean forward and fly to the front of the line.

The carnival only has two rides, the Ferris Wheel and the Scrambler. There’s a commotion taking place in the space between the two rides and the mood shifts from excitement to fear. There aren’t any faces that stand out but two people seem to know me, and there is a dark figure that gives the energy that they would like to harm us.

We run, and as I attempt to fly I’m never able to quite get off the ground so there are large leaps but I keep coming back to the ground. There are houses lining the street, one story cape cods, and at the end of the road there stands the 6 story building that feels like “home base”. The thought of If I can make it to the building and into my section of it, everything will be alright, comes to mind and I grab the shoulders of the two people running with me and I’m finally able to lift off and fly to the parking lot of the building.

On the ground floor in front of us there seems to be a hospital/clinic. There’s a set of stairs that appear in my thoughts so I lead the other two into the building where this “memory” is suggesting and the stairs are not visible. There is an elevator and I can feel the panic well up in my chest as I try to press the button but I can’t feel it. Someone else from the building needs to go up, so they press it for us and we get on.

We make it to the top floor, and I just know that one of the doors leads to my space. I try every door until I find it. The mood shifts back to calm until I hear a knock. Rather than go see who’s at the door I lift out of my current character and hover above the room. I’m able to see everyone involved in the dream to include the person that’s supposed to be me. The knock is coming from the dark figure from the carnival.

I wake up in the middle of the group climbing down an outdoor fire escape.

The Dream Realized:

http://www.woodwarddesignbuild.com/capabilities/projects/federal-city/

Not the large building in the center, but the building in the top left corner is the one that I ended up living in after this dream. There was a Hospital/Clinic on the ground floor in the back.
This dream is from 2002 and part of a series of dreams of the same building, I lived in this place by the middle of 2003…….on the top floor.

This is for those who would like to dig into the meaning of some of my dreams:
http://www.auntyflo.com/dream-dictionary/buildings

So far..

http://foundwalls.com/steven-stahlberg-road/

I was told by a somewhat wise individual I met along my journey to always operate in purpose. If you invest your most precious asset into something (your time) be sure that it is worthy of every moment and that the returns are of equal or greater value. (Ok, I added that last piece to make them sound awe
some).

There will be many opportunities that will knock, if we execute in excellence, and not every one is appropriate for your journey in life. A good opportunity does not automatically qualify something as the right opportunity. I once tried to tackle everything that was thrown my way, and not step on too many toes, or make people uncomfortable with my declination of an offer. However, a no is possibly the greatest gift you can give someone if your heart refuses to follow your feet.

I’ve got a very diverse background as a result of a long period in time of not being able to say no. Countless hours of study in many subjects and fields all because someone noticed an aptitude for absorbing a concept. For years I struggled with not knowing what I wanted to do with the rest of my life because I couldn’t narrow down what I was “good” at simply because the list was too long. It wasn’t until years ago when I started this blog, left it alone, and couldn’t help but come back that I realize my passion is in capturing the human experience. Which explains my ability to play the piano, do hair, ride a horse, give an excellent massage and tear apart a contract. It’s not that I’m good at all these individual tasks, it’s that I am able to dissect a moment and understand everything that went into making it possible.

I said all that to say, I love to write. I can do this until the day that I die. I sincerely appreciate the support. I take a look at my stats, and you keep coming back! So I pledge to you that as long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing. Maybe one day writing will take me to where I’m trying to go in life, but until then and even through that day I’ll never forget the dedication of my readers.

Thank You…..

Weekend Escape (continuation of writing sample)

We stand in the middle of the woods. Me in pajama pants and a t-shirt, Luke in sweatpants and a tank. The signal on the phone is non-existent, we’re wandering trying to find the spot that will allow us to pull up a map. Luke’s phone blinks.

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=188891

“I’ve got the map” he stage whispers across the woods to me.

My heart is beating rapidly and I’m trying to make sense of what’s taking place. There’s no way we can double back to get the van we all rode in without putting the rest of our friends in danger. I don’t think Luke has any money, but you never can tell with men, and suddenly my knife isn’t the security blanket that it once served as in the city. I get dizzy and sit on a broken log a while and try to devise a plan. I remember driving up there weren’t many places to stop off, but there was a sign that said that there was another lake area ten miles north east from the turn. I look up and notice that Luke is already moving. I get up and run after him.

When I finally catch up, he tells me he plans on finding the nearest store and going back to get everyone else. My nerves are shot, I’m tired and there’s no way to know if we’ll actually get help or if we’ll end up worse than we started.

As soon as all those thoughts fill my head I hear another set of footsteps behind us moving quickly. I turn around and there’s the tallest, widest dirty looking Caucasian guy with an axe. My heart almost explodes trying to pump enough blood to my limbs to take off like Flo-Jo. My legs just take over the rest of my body and I’m moving, I pass Luke, I’m running so fast and hard that I start to wonder if I’ll ever be able to stop. I don’t have time to worry, or think of what may happen if I don’t make it, I just run. I can see a cabin ahead and the lights are on, I remember Luke said the intruders told him they came from another cabin.

 I peel off my shirt as I run to try and blend in with the night. There’s an open field and another tree line on the other side of the cabin. I fan out and run in a crescent so I can get an eye on what’s still behind me and to stay out of sight of whomever may be in the cabin up to no good. I’m able to turn my head enough to see that Luke is keeping up but that great big guy isn’t in sight. I keep my pace until I get to the other tree line and I hide behind a large pine tree deep enough in the woods to keep cover. The kudzu has made a great canopy and I consider trying to climb but my legs are finished for the night.

“Where the hell did you get that speed from girl?” Luke asks gasping for breath.
“Fear I guess.” I reply as I try to find a clear path to keep moving.

A slight vibration catches my attention in the back pocket of my pants…. There’s a signal.

Bad Ass Children

Let me preface this by saying, no I do not have children of my own. I do however have Godchildren so I at least am able to relate to how much they are blessings and say the darndest things, cute, honest, blah blah blah..

 

http://jugsandbeaks.wordpress.com/tag/saigon/

Now, NOBODY and I express emphatically not a soul in the world, wants to deal with your bad ass children. Not even your Momma, not the teacher and for the purpose of tonight’s discussion, not the public at large. I’m coming to you live from a place called a Laundromat, (for my overseas readers who probably live somewhere where they’ve figured out a better way for the middle class to get clean clothing) that’s American for soapy practice hell.

 

My normal routine includes a very reasonably priced drop-off place, but due to fatigue I missed the lady with whom I regularly entrust my garments. So since I’m stuck, I’m going to discuss it here with you, and as usual, you tell me if I’m wrong.

 

I don’t venture out into the general public often (OCD germaphobe, not a snob) and when I do I’m generally in adult settings or somewhat regulated environments. The Washateria/Laundromat I decided to visit tonight is teeming with untamed young people. I was shaken down for video game money, feared for the life and safety of a tiny cart surfer and generally annoyed by the constant hum of child chatter.

 

These are two separate groups of bad kids which brings me to the conclusion that there’s a flaw in the design of modern parenting. I think back on my childhood and what I was able to get away with in public and my list pales in comparison to the depth and breadth of the insanity these kids pull off. It’s like they lack good old fashioned fear as well as respect. (Did they stop teaching “Stranger Danger”?)

 

Here’s what I understand, 4 is the last good year for most kids. I also know that after they “graduate” kindergarten, they should have the basics on how to act in public. I also know that they’ll never get that part if they’ve got punk ass parents that let them act a fool.

 

I’m not saying beat them, I’m also not saying keep them at home. I am however saying that how they act in public is a reflection on you, and although there are rare occasions in which kids are bad even though they’ve been taught better, nobody knows your kid like you, and more than likely nobody loves them like you do either. So keep them close when you know they’re crazy. The rest of us didn’t sign up to be bothered with them.

 

 

Weekend Trip (writing sample)



http://cedarmountainpines.com/photos-2/browning

Nobody suspected how far from home we were. This was just like an other trip out to the woods, plenty of alcohol, cards and music. The cabin I took everyone to is beautiful, but there’s nothing within a 10 mile radius, but since everyone slept on the way up, most of them are too drunk to realize this isn’t our normal park.

As night falls we all gather on the deck and start up a random conversation about life. The air is fresh and clean and the fire pit is keeping us just warm enough without being unbearably hot. The group gets lost in a deep discussion and I decide to turn in early since I had breakfast duty in the morning. I can get to my room from the deck so I just walk in and pull the shades. I drift off to sleep rather quickly thanks to the wine I’d been drinking through the evening.

In the middle of the night I wake up to go to the restroom. I can still see the light from the fire pit and assume that everyone is still up. I decide not to turn on the lights until I close the bathroom door so they don’t see that I’m awake and try to bring me into the conversation. When I close the door and flip the switch, I notice all but one bulb is missing around the mirror. I decide to investigate what’s happened to the rest of the bulbs because I don’t want to be charged for them when it’s time to check out. I walk from my room out into the great room and notice everyone is scattered throughout the living room area. Before I get a chance to say anything I feel a hand cover my mouth and pull me back into my room.

“Don’t scream it’s me, I’m saving your life” the familiar voice is my friend Luke.
I try to take in the scene before I’m too far to see, and I notice that there are more people in the room than our original group.

“Who are those people?’ I whisper as I grab my shoes and locate my pocket knife.

“They came up saying that they were in the cabin down the road and wanted to join the party, but they took everyone hostage.”

“How did you get away?” I ask completely confused and heading towards the balcony door.

“They never saw me sitting in the corner.” He looks just as confused as he opens the door slowly to be sure that none of them are still on the deck.

 “We should be able to get to Buford Dam Rd. pretty soon if we run for it, I know Lake Lanier like the back of my hand.” He gets an excited spark in his eye until he looks at my face.
“What’s wrong?”

“We’re in North Georgia. I have no idea how to get around without a GPS” I tell him as I grab my phone from the charger on the nightstand.

“I hope, you’re in shape.” Luke picks me up and throws me off the side of the deck.

I land soft knees and start running for the tree line. Luke jumps and catches up with me quickly. We try to find a place that will hide the light of our phones so we can call for help.

The Stairs (writing sample)

Tell me what you think. Another writing sample.

http://www.scenicreflections.com/download/544121/HORROR_STAIRS_Wallpaper/

   Walking up the stairs I get an eerie feeling, like I’ve been here before. There’s something about the smell of old food in the air, the thick pile carpet under my shoes and the slight creak of the stairs with each step. My heart begins to race at the thought of what could possibly be at the very top landing. Everyone that dared me to come into this house is gathered at the front door looking up through the side glass. Then it hits me, the type of fear that stops you in mid-stride, and I can’t bring myself to take another step. There’s a slight cool breeze, followed by heat. I want to run, but I can’t move. I’d like to scream but all the wind has been sucked out of my chest and I feel a tear welling up in my right eye just waiting to roll down my cheek.

  Everything goes silent, then suddenly a burst of footsteps heading in my direction start. I abandon all common sense and jump from the step I’m on to the bottom landing and run towards the door. I notice all my friends are gone and I can tell that the footsteps haven’t stopped. I thrust open the door and run until I go airborne off the porch. I pick myself up and start running towards my house down the street, then I have a thought. “I don’t want whatever is chasing me to know where I live”

I run past my house and down the street towards the police station. As soon as I cross the last block, I feel a rush of relief. I look back and I all I see is a person in a hood walking in the opposite direction. I stop running once I’m in front of the police station, this time when I look back, I see that same figure turn around and start walking quickly in my direction. I start running again, this time into the police station. I notice that all of my friends that were at the window are huddled in a corner talking to a police officer. I’m immediately furious and start to yell.

“Why the hell did you all leave me?!”

Nobody even looks up. I walk over to one and grab his shoulder to turn him around and I wake up in my bed, covered in sweat and hoarse. I’m never taking Z-quil again.

Trust Issues

Quick overview, I’ve lived in a world where people can be married for over 20 years and deep down hate one another. I’ve seen best friends bang the other’s significant others, and cousins hit on ex-spouses. I’ve watched people smile on one side of their mouths and out the other side spew nothing but hate. People are shady as hell.

This doesn’t mean that I won’t have an open heart, and be a kind person. This just means I don’t put a thing past a human being. People do not value loyalty, respect and honesty. So let’s get to the motivation behind the lines.



http://sayingimages.com/life-is-full-of-fake-people/

Prior to formally meeting most people that are already in the circles of my friends and loved ones I pay attention to the types of stories that are told about the individual. If everything I hear is nothing but negativity, I have no need to be in attendance at anything that they will be present. (very few exceptions)

Next, if a person’s name is constantly associated with an individual that I absolutely know that I don’t care for, they are generally deemed shady by association. I will give this person an opportunity to prove me wrong, but I refuse to let them in any closer than you would a classmate.

I was recently invited to break bread with an individual that I’ve not been able to get any type of clearance on. Mainly because they served as a spy. Not to say that they had a skewed loyalty, but the fact that they could comfortably serve in that capacity, no matter which side they serve, let’s me know that they’ve got a loose base. For that I respectfully declined the invitation. Perhaps I’m being too hard on them. Perhaps they felt a duty to be a sneak, but I just refuse to mess with an individual that can even pretend to be fake.

You tell me if I’m doing too much. I doubt it seriously, but someone may have a better perspective. Agree or disagree, share your thoughts on the subject.