I had plans for this space tonight
Jun. 9th, 2015 11:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessBut I've forgotten it so here, have the thing I forgot last night. Yesterday, Chuck Wendig of Terrible Minds posted a neat challenge on his blog to have others critique your character (the idea being one you're having troubles with). I got some very helpful and interesting ideas from this (that I had best go clip and save). Here's what I put up (It needed to be around 100 words so a few suggestions were things I had already done).
Meet Luc and any suggestions you might have would be helpful. This was a really simple idea that did seem to be helpful or at least made you think from different angles.
Luc is a displace Cajun living in Las Vegas after the hurricane took his bayou home. He is under the thumb of his abusive father and brother. Dad pulled them out of middle school around age 13 so Luc is uneducated and working for his dad in a bar. He’s a bisexual Catholic and his family and his priest have made him fear his sexuality. He meets Arrigo, a wealthy paranormal investigator who wakes up Luc’s dreams of getting his GED and getting out of that house. Luc fears his family and his own future with his lack of education. Luc has spent his life (he’s mid 20s) doing what his father says, pretending to be completely straight and being a punching bag for his dad and brother. Some of my problems with Luc is trying to find the other side of him beyond the timid submissive. The only dream I know he has is getting that GED. I know I need to flesh out his wants and pastimes more.
It sounds like he’s in a very limiting environment, so you can use that to your advantage.
As far as wants: what things does he have, or reasonably have access to? Does he have access to television, to see commercials for material things or advertisements for a way of life that he thinks is better? Does he see people in the bar that he wants to emulate? Does he feel like he’s ALLOWED to want things? Does he feel guilty if he sees something (an article of clothing, a relationship, a personality trait) and realizes he wants it?
Pastimes: Does he know any kids his own age? Does he miss people from the middle school? Is he friendly with any of the bar patrons (either in a “better be nice to this kid ’cause he’ll snitch to the owner” kind of way or “this kid’s kinda funny, why dontcha have a sip with us”)? Are any of these people bad influences? Does he smoke or drink with any of them? Alone? How many hours a day does he work? What kinds of things to do are available/in walking distance for him, since he can’t drive? Is he athletic at all? Is he a closeted bookworm?
Start at the bar and work your way out. Kids tend to do what’s available to them. And good luck.
***
Setting a scene or two where he confronts his father, or another ancillary character, might help. I had a character once who was horribly afraid of an abusive step-mother, but whacking her once with the bunk bed ladder and the fights she had with a bully showed she wasn’t a hapless, hopeless submissive.
What does he want to use his GED for, does he have aspirations beyond the High School equivalency?
***
Hmm… Maybe Luc himself isn’t exactly sure what he wants yet. I’ve known some people who really had only one goal in life (like Luc getting out of his parent’s house and getting his GED) and once they accomplished it, they were just lost. It isn’t that unusual for someone to kind of have that one shining star that gets them through the day, and then have to find themselves again. You could try using it as a form of character development. Have him be firm in his determination to do this thing, and then have to kind of find himself again once he does, or along the way. Maybe it’s not just your journey to find out who he is and what he wants, but his own journey as well. Or maybe as he starts to pursue this goal, is that when he finds other things that peak his interest? How does his pursuit of these things start to open his mind? As for pasttimes, does he do things that make him look cool and hide his sexuality more? Does he do sports? Skateboard? Martial arts? Which of these things would he genuinely enjoy and which are just a front?
***
Catholicism is heavily ritualistic. (an observation, not an attack) As faith goes, it’s seeped in centuries of doctrine, with elaborate ceremonies marking all the major events in a person’s life in ways that solidify the individual in the community. I say this because Luc seems trapped, yes? Despite his fears and his self-loathing, Luc can still find comfort and therefore a small freedom in the RITUAL of his faith. Slaves used Christianity to subvert and misdirect their slavers and right under their very noses. Instead of making it his weakness, make the structure of it his strength, his private defiance. The PROCESS of the prayer, all of those things are something Luc has complete control over, even if it’s within the confines of a morality that condemns his sexuality. And, finding some aspect of the ritual of something maybe Arrigo does for the paranormal world, showing Luc that the little control he does have in his caged world can translate into this other world where there is more control could be all the fire he needs to take the first step on that journey to be free of his shackles. And then the GED is a stepping stone, and not an end goal.
Make sense?
Just a thought. I think it’s doing abuse victims a huge disservice to portray them as weak. To survive the day in, day out of abuse, it takes a lot of inner-strength and energy, just to wake up everyday.
I'm talking to a local friend who is willing to help me make a website. That's great. I'd rather give a friend my money than a stranger. Hopefully I'll have it done in July.
My friend ES sent me this link diversity in comics It brings up good points including that villains need to be diverse too but it's SO easy to go wrong with that.
early color photos
Let's be honest. This thing wouldn't be a river where I'm from. It's more like a creek and only about 3 feet deep. It did however allow for some neat pictures
Another pretty bridge
Marriage Island. That is not dirt. It's one giant cypress root ball
The oldest cypress in San Antone over 350 years old
La Mansion del rio hotel a former Catholic boys school turned hotel. Would be a really neat place to stay
This is a mosaic made up of over 400K glass tiles
A fig tree that's half inside and half outside the building!
Back off the river now. A close up of the medically oriented windows of the Emily Morgan Hotel
I just liked the sky in this Alamo pic
Meet Luc and any suggestions you might have would be helpful. This was a really simple idea that did seem to be helpful or at least made you think from different angles.
Luc is a displace Cajun living in Las Vegas after the hurricane took his bayou home. He is under the thumb of his abusive father and brother. Dad pulled them out of middle school around age 13 so Luc is uneducated and working for his dad in a bar. He’s a bisexual Catholic and his family and his priest have made him fear his sexuality. He meets Arrigo, a wealthy paranormal investigator who wakes up Luc’s dreams of getting his GED and getting out of that house. Luc fears his family and his own future with his lack of education. Luc has spent his life (he’s mid 20s) doing what his father says, pretending to be completely straight and being a punching bag for his dad and brother. Some of my problems with Luc is trying to find the other side of him beyond the timid submissive. The only dream I know he has is getting that GED. I know I need to flesh out his wants and pastimes more.
It sounds like he’s in a very limiting environment, so you can use that to your advantage.
As far as wants: what things does he have, or reasonably have access to? Does he have access to television, to see commercials for material things or advertisements for a way of life that he thinks is better? Does he see people in the bar that he wants to emulate? Does he feel like he’s ALLOWED to want things? Does he feel guilty if he sees something (an article of clothing, a relationship, a personality trait) and realizes he wants it?
Pastimes: Does he know any kids his own age? Does he miss people from the middle school? Is he friendly with any of the bar patrons (either in a “better be nice to this kid ’cause he’ll snitch to the owner” kind of way or “this kid’s kinda funny, why dontcha have a sip with us”)? Are any of these people bad influences? Does he smoke or drink with any of them? Alone? How many hours a day does he work? What kinds of things to do are available/in walking distance for him, since he can’t drive? Is he athletic at all? Is he a closeted bookworm?
Start at the bar and work your way out. Kids tend to do what’s available to them. And good luck.
***
Setting a scene or two where he confronts his father, or another ancillary character, might help. I had a character once who was horribly afraid of an abusive step-mother, but whacking her once with the bunk bed ladder and the fights she had with a bully showed she wasn’t a hapless, hopeless submissive.
What does he want to use his GED for, does he have aspirations beyond the High School equivalency?
***
Hmm… Maybe Luc himself isn’t exactly sure what he wants yet. I’ve known some people who really had only one goal in life (like Luc getting out of his parent’s house and getting his GED) and once they accomplished it, they were just lost. It isn’t that unusual for someone to kind of have that one shining star that gets them through the day, and then have to find themselves again. You could try using it as a form of character development. Have him be firm in his determination to do this thing, and then have to kind of find himself again once he does, or along the way. Maybe it’s not just your journey to find out who he is and what he wants, but his own journey as well. Or maybe as he starts to pursue this goal, is that when he finds other things that peak his interest? How does his pursuit of these things start to open his mind? As for pasttimes, does he do things that make him look cool and hide his sexuality more? Does he do sports? Skateboard? Martial arts? Which of these things would he genuinely enjoy and which are just a front?
***
Catholicism is heavily ritualistic. (an observation, not an attack) As faith goes, it’s seeped in centuries of doctrine, with elaborate ceremonies marking all the major events in a person’s life in ways that solidify the individual in the community. I say this because Luc seems trapped, yes? Despite his fears and his self-loathing, Luc can still find comfort and therefore a small freedom in the RITUAL of his faith. Slaves used Christianity to subvert and misdirect their slavers and right under their very noses. Instead of making it his weakness, make the structure of it his strength, his private defiance. The PROCESS of the prayer, all of those things are something Luc has complete control over, even if it’s within the confines of a morality that condemns his sexuality. And, finding some aspect of the ritual of something maybe Arrigo does for the paranormal world, showing Luc that the little control he does have in his caged world can translate into this other world where there is more control could be all the fire he needs to take the first step on that journey to be free of his shackles. And then the GED is a stepping stone, and not an end goal.
Make sense?
Just a thought. I think it’s doing abuse victims a huge disservice to portray them as weak. To survive the day in, day out of abuse, it takes a lot of inner-strength and energy, just to wake up everyday.
I'm talking to a local friend who is willing to help me make a website. That's great. I'd rather give a friend my money than a stranger. Hopefully I'll have it done in July.
My friend ES sent me this link diversity in comics It brings up good points including that villains need to be diverse too but it's SO easy to go wrong with that.
early color photos
Let's be honest. This thing wouldn't be a river where I'm from. It's more like a creek and only about 3 feet deep. It did however allow for some neat pictures
Another pretty bridge
Marriage Island. That is not dirt. It's one giant cypress root ball
The oldest cypress in San Antone over 350 years old
La Mansion del rio hotel a former Catholic boys school turned hotel. Would be a really neat place to stay
This is a mosaic made up of over 400K glass tiles
A fig tree that's half inside and half outside the building!
Back off the river now. A close up of the medically oriented windows of the Emily Morgan Hotel
I just liked the sky in this Alamo pic
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no subject
Date: 2015-06-10 09:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-10 10:57 am (UTC)The old color photos are amazing. I love them.
Your photos are cool, too. The fig tree is wonderful. And yeah, that's a creek. There's one right down the road from Mom's house.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-10 06:09 pm (UTC)Aren't they amazing? She was a pretty girl
Shhh don't tell the Texans. They think it's a river
no subject
Date: 2015-06-10 06:40 pm (UTC)I need to put up the bird I saw there. I know it's a heron type. Bet you'll know what it is. He was pretty and not the least bit shy
no subject
Date: 2015-06-10 11:59 pm (UTC)She was.
I thought everything was bigger in TX.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 10:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 10:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 10:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 06:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 06:27 pm (UTC)the airmen back in the 60s called it shit creek or at least they did when Dad was stationed there