I've been working on Rosealie's character. Trying to figure out who she is and why she hates the people/things she does and why she acts the way she does (she's not very nice). I do need to work on my villains. Trying to mirror them to who she is, but a more intense version. People who are past the point of no return.
So, kind of like having her struggle with which is more important? Desires vs needs? Something like she should save her brother, but she really really wants to destroy the company? Kinda like how you should be studying for the exam, but something more interesting is happening that's calling you away?
You have to make her real. Handily Marcel Proust came up with a list of questions you can ask your character. Conduct an interview with her - it's alot of fun!
Here is Proust’s Questionnaire (
http://thewritepractice.com/proust-questionnaire/)
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your greatest fear?
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Which living person do you most admire?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your current state of mind?
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
On what occasion do you lie?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Which living person do you most despise?
What is the quality you most like in a man?
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
When and where were you happiest?
Which talent would you most like to have?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Where would you most like to live?
What is your most treasured possession?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
What is your favorite occupation?
What is your most marked characteristic?
What do you most value in your friends?
Who are your favorite writers?
Who is your hero of fiction?
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Who are your heroes in real life?
What are your favorite names?
What is it that you most dislike?
What is your greatest regret?
How would you like to die?
What is your motto?
One of my characters, a troubled but brilliant youth who aligns himself with the bad guys after they promise him the riches and fame he so desperately craves, thought this interview was such a load of nonsense that he walked out; bizarrely the questions continued to came. Most of his answers were vitriolic and highly unpleasant. I wish I hadn't interviewed him.
The persons in, eg. what living persons do you most admire - I used other characters for living persons, not actual real people. I might try that, but I don't wish to taint my world with the quotidien
