Meet My New Best Friends, Or Rather, Worst Nightmares. We'll see...

Jesus. Being creative is hard. I don't know how long I'm going to last in the writing world if I have to do this much longer. I mean, I get all these ideas at the most inopportune moments. I'll be in my bed at like 12:45 sleeping, and all of the sudden I'll wake up with some genius idea that my brain couldn't wait  five hours to develop. Yesterday, I was sitting on the bus, half asleep with no paper in sight when I had the ideas for two of the major characters of the story. Oh, and during my biology test, I figured out how I am going to start off my TED talk. Although I appreciate the ideas, they truly couldn't be any more inconvenient. So, thanks brain, but you're on my list. Well, except for the whole keeping me alive thing. Anyway, I like that this process is easy for me, thinking of ideas etc. I just wish that these ideas didn't pop into my head in the middle of math class. Oh the struggles...

BIG NEWS! I have decided to direct my story to the mystery/thriller genre. 

As I said, I created character profiles. While the real story would include dozens of characters, I figured that the beginning would only include a few major ones. These profiles are subject of the beginning of the story, who knows what could happen? Except, oh wait! I DO! While I was creating characters, I wanted to get into as much detail as possible so that I really know my characters and how they will react to situations that occur in the plot. I found this website, http://www.squidoo.com/character-development-questions that helped me through this process. It lists multiple questions in each area of development and by thinking about these questions, I developed my characters even further. I got rid of some of them, as they weren't important to my story. Anyway, meet our main character, Charlie Kirland. I kid, I kid, that isn't really her name. Well, I hope not. The name is in progress right now...

BASICS: 

1. Name Charlie (Charlotte) Kirkland(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
2. Age: 27
3. Approximate height: 5'5
4. Approximate weight? 135
5. Hair colour? Normally brown
6. Eye colour? Gray
7. Where are they from? Suburbs of Washington
8. Where are they now? New York

BACKSTORY: 

1. Who are their parents? Parents overprotective, annoying, overbearing, worried, don't approve of journalism career
2. What did they want to be when they grew up? An actress or a journalist
3. What did/do their parents want them to be? A Lawyer
4. Do they have siblings? Older or younger? Brothers or sisters? Nope, only child.
5. Do they or have ever had a significant other? Are they still with them? Why? Why not? Had a boyfriend, she asked him to move in after 6 years and he got freaked out
6. What were they doing right before the story starts? Just fired, out of work with no money
7. Up until now, what's the most noteworthy thing they've done? To them? To the people around them?high school valedictorian went to Oxford to get away from parents

TASTES:

1. What's your character's favourite colour? Teal
2. Do they/would they choose to wear a scent? What would it be? Men's cologne
3. Do they care about what things look like? All things, or only some? Used to care, not much any more because broke etc.
4. What's their favourite ice cream flavour? Moose Tracks
5. Are they a tea, or coffee drinker? Or soft drinks, or do they drink a lot of alcohol? What kind? Java chip frappacino with whipped cream and salted caramel every morning
6. What kind of books do they read? What TV shows and movies do they watch? Reads mysteries and celebrity biographies, also enjoys any book recommended by (...) the coffee shop guy, Watches Survivor (OBVIOUSLY!) and crime shows, especially Body Of Proof (Highly Recommended)
7. What kind of music do they like? Do they like music at all? Adam Lambert, Bon Jovi, and INXS
8. If they were about to die, what would they have as their last meal? (What the heck kind of question is this? No answer, this is so stupid. I mean, um, oh)

 So that you don't die of utter boredom, I'll stop there. The list goes on and on, but basically, the characters amounted to this: 
Meet Charlie Kirkland. With a name like that, her parents didn't really give her a shot. Charlie is an out of work journalist who can't exactly afford the New York City apartment she rents. In fact, the eviction notice on the front door seems to show that she can't afford it at all. Charlie is single, and miserable. She has hope still that her big break is coming, a feeling keeps nagging at her to keep an eye open. She lives alone, far away from the familiar comforts of Wichita Kansas. As a kid Charlie always felt like a bubble, lying low on the surface, always ready to pop up and explode her creativity all over, but eventually she came to realize that staying in the confines of her hometown would do no good. After all, one can only write so many stories about vicious cows and proper grass care before they're about to take a lawnmower to their head. When Charlie sees (x crime) occur, she knows that this is it. She calls up whoever will listen and finds herself thrown into what could become the most dangerous experience of her life.

Meet (Estelle). Estelle works as the evidence locker security desk worker. A glance at her will take you back to the sixties, her beehive hair reaching so far up that it was comical. She looked like one of those characters in Horton hears a who, a whovian. Estelle has a raspy, deep voice that could only come as a result of a serious cigarette problem. Always trying to quit though, estelle promises to change. As the research journalist that she is, Ethel always finds new "cures" for addiction that Estelle can try, and the two have developed a bond over the years. Where as most people won't let reporters anywhere near the scene of the crime, Estelle calls up Ethel with any promising case. 

I am still ironing out the details for the final main character, who will become a love interest for Charlie. So far, I have this: 

Meet (James? no... Phil? Nope. Jake? WHY IS THIS PART SO DIFFICULT? IT'S A SINGLE WORD!) Shawn: Shawn is a love interest, he works at a coffee shop, likes Charlie, offers to help her with the case, proves to be very helpful.

Other Possible Names: Zack, Ian, James.

Over the next week I will write out a detailed story map of all events and plot details including crimes for the story. In addition I will begin the drafting process. Here's to hoping it goes well! Oh, and if you are up for a challenge and would be willing to edit my drafts, comment below and let me know! Until next time, keep it creative! I'm sorry, that was terrible. Anyway, Sayanora! Okay, I should just get off the internet before I ruin everything.