CHAT ARCHIVE - 9-9-2000, Character Resolution, section 3

[Meeting returns to ICQ.]

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ICQ Chat Save file
Started on Sun Sep 10 03:09:47 2000

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<Casey> I'm going to go quickly through the last of my notes.
<Casey> The contradictions of a character is what gives them depth and interest.
<Casey> For example, the nobility, depth, or sensitivity of their thoughts in contrast with the squalor of their living conditions.
<Casey> The obstacles they face or want to overcome. Their inability to achieve a goal, but their persistence anyway.
<Casey> This is often viewed as their WANTS vs. their NEEDS.
<Casey> (Your protag wants to be a farmer, but eventually agrees to go out and save the world. Or agrees to take his ailing parents into his home and caretake them.)
<Casey> What they suffer, and their choices. What avenues they take to get out of the situation they are in.
<Casey> End of notes.
<shorty103> that was very enlighting as always Casey
<Casey> I had an exercise, but I also realize that we've gone a lot later than we normally do.
<shorty103> we did, never noticed
<kissfan> yep we have for sure
<Jean> save it for next time, or email it to us for some practice
<Casey> Anyone interested in doing the exercise, or do you want to call it a night?
<Goshwin> uh oh
<Russ> Hi all
<Jean> I'm up, I think.
<Russ> Yeah, Your in trouble Gosh. (although I can't think of for what)
<Goshwin> I have a natural air of guilt
<Russ> Hehehe
<Casey> Need some help in coming up with a culpability?
<kissfan> feeling any better tonight, Russ
<shorty103> I will try Casey, but no promises here
<Russ> What is the exercise, Casey?
<Russ> Not really, Kathy, but I'm muddling through
<Casey> Creating a character.
<Jean> Uh oh
<Casey> What's your temperature?
<Russ> From scratch?
<kissfan> Oh my
<Casey> The shortened scratch version.
<Russ> Haven't taken it recently, but I don't think I'm too far over 100
<shorty103> that will take some doing for me, not very good at it
<Casey> Okay, let's give it a try.
<Casey> Name your character.
<Russ> The only way to get good at it is to do it, Rose. Over and over again
<Russ> Philimon Hughes
<Casey> That's a guy, Russ?
<Russ> Yup
<kissfan> lol his fever is showing HEHEE
<Casey> I've got Mary Weatherby.
<shorty103> I know, but it's been awhile since doing any writing, been busy with others things
<Goshwin> feaver? you mean russ has a "ned nold?)
<Russ> something like that, Gosh
<Casey> Kathy, Rose, Gosh, and Jean need a character name.
<Jean> Rusty Bullett
<kissfan> LOL
<Goshwin> Shaygoh
<kissfan> Mark Dotson
<Casey> Gosh has got a shaggy goat.
<Casey> Give your character one distinctive article of clothing.
<Jean> Weathered flannel shirt
<shorty103> Alexander London
<Russ> Plaid waistcoat
<Casey> Mary's got saddle Oxford shoes.
<kissfan> Black Leather Jacket
<Russ> matching bow tie
<Casey> LOL! Phil is cute, Russ.
<Russ> Size 14 broagans
<shorty103> white shirt, with a Disney tie, and black pants
<Casey> One article of clothing is enough, Russ.
<Russ> Can't stop...Juices flowing
<kissfan> LOL
<Casey> then run with it.
<Jean> hmmm
<Jean> ok, now what?
<Russ> Linen pants three inches too long
<Casey> Give him/her 1 small, revealing gesture or movement.
<Jean> spits tobacco
<Casey> Mary bites her nails.
<Russ> Twirls his glasses when thinking
<Jean> ooh, good one Russ
<Russ> Thanks
<Goshwin> scratchs behind ear
<Casey> I hope Rusty has a spittoon, Jean.
<kissfan> right eye twitches when nervous
<shorty103> cracks his knuckles
<Casey> With hind paw, right, Gosh?
<Jean> yep, on the front porch, right next to the swing...he he
<Jean> good one Kathy
<Casey> Okay, now we need 1 expression (verbal), curse, or slang term.
<Russ> Fewments
<Goshwin> earless
<Jean> dag nermit
<Casey> Oh Rose! I hate that. Cracking knuckles makes me shiver.
<Jean> <<<habitual knuckle cracker
<shorty103> than I'll try not to do when I come and visit you
<Jean> (amongst other things)
<Casey> "Is that so?"
<shorty103> hehehehe
<Casey> Give a smell to your character.
<Casey> (or scent)
<Russ> Dusty
<Casey> Lily-of-the-Valley powder.
<kissfan> ok slang word: cool
<Jean> Sweat and wheat
<kissfan> old leather and grease
<Casey> Now we need a favorite possession, small enough to carry.
<shorty103> can't think of a slang word at the moment, and the smell would be of oil, and dust
<Russ> Gold pocket watch once owned by Robert E. Lee
<Goshwin> a pebble
<Casey> A small gold cross on a chain she wears around her neck.
<Jean> a bandana or kerchief
<Casey> LOL! Russ.
<Russ> (hehehe)
<kissfan> Leather key chain with keys to his Harley
<Casey> I knew when Kathy said Leather Jacket that she had a biker.
<shorty103> still thinking
<kissfan> LOL yep HEHEE
<Russ> Don't think too hard Rose. What was the first thing that came to mind?
<kissfan> scary thing is I am describing a friend slightly
<Casey> That's okay, Kathy.
<Jean> nothing scary about a biker, Kathy
<shorty103> a bandana
<Russ> Then go with it. Your first instincts are sometimes the best
<Casey> Okay. Next, what is your character's earliest memory?
<kissfan> NA I like bikers I am a biker chick from way back
<Russ> Peeling a banana and watching "Howdy Doody"
<Casey> When Mary was 3 or 4 and had the chicken pox, her mother gave her a bath in the kitchen sink while her father and two of his friends sat at the kitchen table playing cards.
<shorty103> I can't seem to think straight,
<Jean> Running around buck naked except for his cowboy boots!
<kissfan> LOL
<Russ> So think crooked. Go with it. I haven't thought straight, well, ever
<Casey> Jean's got a real down home guy.
<Jean> I'm not expressing much imagination here, am I?
<Casey> Each of our characters is definitely different.
<kissfan> at 4 or 5 his father's friend gave him his first ride on a harley and has loved them ever since
<Casey> You're keeping him in character, Jean.
<Casey> That might be his happiest memory (which is next). Want to go younger than that, Kathy?
<Casey> Sitting in her father's lap while he reads the Sunday comic strips to her. (Happiest memory)
<shorty103> at three, sitting on his grandmothers knee giving her a big hug
<kissfan> lol being forced to eat canned spinach at 3
<Casey> Good one!
<kissfan> today he can't stand the stuff
<kissfan> LOL
<Jean> Helping pa with his first foal
<Russ> When he discovered a complete copy of General Longstreet's Diary
<Russ> At a garage sale
<Casey> Next is most painful memory.
<shorty103> getting the strap at school
<Russ> Being teased at his first Jr. High dance when he asked Marilou Francis to dance
<Jean> Sitting next to his mama's bed while she dies of influenza.
<Casey> Daddy was mowing the grass when it was wet from a rain and his foot slipped under the lawn mower.
<Jean> OUCH!
<kissfan> Butch his dog ran out in the road and was hit by a car when he was 6
<Jean> My dog's name is Butch!
<kissfan> LOL
<Russ> Is it flat?
<Jean> um, no.
<Casey> RUSS!
<kissfan> Is now LOL
<Jean> lol
<Russ> sorry, feverish ya know
<Casey> Whatever are you going to blame once the fever's gone, Russ?
<kissfan> oops being silly here
<Russ> Lack of a fever
<Casey> Okay. Now change one external detail so that it stands in contrast to another.
<Jean> nothing wrong with a warped sense of humor
<Russ> What exactly do you mean, Casey?
<Jean> Patten leather shoes.
<Casey> Okay. Mary had Saddle Oxfords. I'm changing them to a brown, frayed, button-down sweater, which will contrast her Lily-of-the-Valley powder smell.
<kissfan> dark grey suit
<kissfan> No I don't like that one
<Russ> Philimon has ice blue eyes to die for
<Russ> Usually only seen when he twirls his glasses
<Jean> A White suit would work, Kathy
<kissfan> how about ok a white suit
<Casey> Yeah. Bikers are usually seen in black.
<Casey> He really sticks out.
<kissfan> and hardly ever seen in a suit
<Jean> Yes, exactly.
<Russ> and I didn't even realize he was excited
<Jean> LMAO, Russ
<Casey> Okay. Finally, change 1 interior detail to stand in contrast to an exterior one.
<Casey> RUSS!
<kissfan> LOL
<Casey> You need aspirin.
<Russ> Feverish, Casey
<Jean> can I get an example of that Casey?
<Casey> Yes.
<Russ> Philimon is the most tenacious person you will ever meet
<Casey> I'm changing Mary's worst memory (to contrast the cross she wears): In vacation Bible school, she wet her pants when she was standing in front of the entire congregation.
<kissfan> LOL
<kissfan> ok
<Jean> So, I could say my character hates farming?
<Casey> Yes.
<Jean> ok
<Casey> Or is afraid of getting mouth cancer.
<Jean> Ahhh, now I get it
<Jean> Or criticizes people who "smoke"
<kissfan> ok how about he is always sweet and kind, he will always be there to help out anyone that need it
<Casey> Yep!
<Casey> What does that contrast, Kathy?
<kissfan> is that ok casey
<Jean> bikers are mean
<Jean> most aren't anyway
<kissfan> most bikers are gruff and real tough
<Casey> But that's a stereotype.
<Casey> What characteristic you've already given him can you contrast?
<kissfan> LOL I have known quite a few that are really the worst characters you would want to meet
<Casey> You have him hating spinach. Can he be a vegetarian?
<kissfan> I can't think of one
<kissfan> LOL Cool I like that HEHEE
<kissfan> yep that works
<Russ> Change his name to Popeye
<kissfan> LOL
<Casey> Or, you have his dog getting flattened. Now he puts cats in Laundromat driers and turns them on?
<Jean> lol
<kissfan> lol
<Casey> His nickname is Popeye.
<Jean> It's kind of like an animal rights activist that doesn't have any pets.
<Casey> Exactly, Jean.
<Casey> This has been a very simplistic exercise, but it gives you an idea of how to create unexpected twists in characters.
<Russ> Maybe he's a Vietnamese biker and after butch "hit the road"...Well, it would have been a shame to let all that meat go to waste
<kissfan> ok he is a vegetarian
<Casey> Ewww, Russ!
<kissfan> LOL RUSS
<Jean> oh grosss!!!!
<kissfan> Road kill Stew
<Jean> brb, gotta go barf!
<kissfan> but the kill must be fresh
<Jean> Very good exercise, as usual Casey
<Casey> Thanks, Jean.
<Jean> I gotta go now.
<Russ> Sorry I was a bit of an exercise distraction
<Russ> Good night, Jean. Take Care
<Jean> Nothing we're not used to Russ
<Casey> We needed the comic relief.
<Russ> Casey, One thing I would like to add to your exercise: Describe your character in one word.
<Casey> Daddy's girl requires two words, Russ.
<Russ> I'll let that one work.
<Casey> Thanks.
<Russ> Mine is the same as his smell: dusty
<Casey> I was picturing some of Harold's Civil War reenactor buddies with yours.
<Russ> He's a civil war historian
<Casey> And everybody's got an authentic Robert E. Lee something or other.
<Casey> That's why I was laughing.
<Russ> But did you catch the General Longstreet reference?
<kissfan> LOL how about sweet for mine HEHEE
<Casey> Yes, I did.
<Russ> Works for me, Kathy
[Chit-chat removed]
<crip> i saw a movie about a pregnant woman today and just don't have any reason to write about one. Maybe it'll kick in this week.
<Casey> But that was a different story!!!
<Casey> If you didn't write about anything that's already written about you might as well become an auto mechanic.
<Casey> At least you'd make a decent living.
<crip> i don't mean it was anything like my story. Seeing a disgusting bloody pregnant woman on the big screen today has just been a major turn off.
<Casey> Gross!
<kissfan> LOL
<kissfan> Spagetti anyone?
<kissfan> HEHEE
<Casey> Somebody shoot Kathy!
<Russ> No, but do you have any salsa?
<Casey> I do.

<Rudedog> darn, sounds like I missed a good one
<kissfan> lol you did
<Rudedog> Rudedog snaps his fingers in frustration
<Casey> Hey, Rude just got 1/9th of the exercise completed!
<kissfan> LOL yep
<Rudedog> !!! Really?
<Casey> Yep.
<Casey> You needed a small, revealing gesture.
<Casey> Nobody snapped fingers tonight.
<Casey> Nobody picked their nose, either.
<kissfan> that's true no one did!
<crip> we'll try harder next time, Casey.
<Casey> But then, SW left before we got to the exercise.
<Rudedog> *perspiration condensed into glisening drops on Rudedog's forehead, making glossy rivulets down his cheek*
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