Major project in school I chose to write a book. I'm only submitting 1000 words and analyzing it but it's being written as a book that I aspire to either learn from or publish in the not too distant future. I'm finding that as I write with a character who has a name they grow into it. Now I'm not gonna publish any of this since it needs to be sent away to be marked and I don't want to cause any confusion but I just want to ask people what, without knowing how I completely write or anything, what these names and small snippets of my writinh might tell you, were you a reader of this 'book'. I sure hope you don't mind being a junior member and all Arthur Molesworth -"Arthur Molesworth was a senile old man who had spent the last few decades of his life dedicated to collecting eggs. His home was dusty and had a stained, dry air to it, and it was filled with colourless paintings of what you could only assume were deceased explorers and adventurers..." Johnathan 'Johhny' Black -"He appeared to have been dwelling there, on naught but his own wits, for years and years. It was unapparent how he came to be the way he was, but when he sought the opinion of a shrub during a brief conversation on stars, everything he said seemed to make perfect, insane sense."(from my own writing). Bearing in mind this is all conceptual and whether they are even human is still being considered on the drawing board. This project isn't even due until sometime next year and I am choosing to get a head start with some girlfriends so we have time to be as accurate and detailed as we can. My parents and english teacher already read a lot of my work and given their opinions and whatnot and I don't want you to hold back. Don't be nasty since I am a bit of a doubt-nut but being constructive is great. It's not even definite these characters will make an appearance in this work but as far as learning how to identify a character by just a few lines could make a difference in how a reader reacts to them and I want to get these reactions to reflect on what I think they need to reflect. or whatever.
What the names and the small snippets tell me is that this might be something written in particular period in history; perhaps the 1700s or 1800s or even a fantasy piece. It seems like the characters would be eccentric enough to make them likable.
So with further development, and writing them, they could be memorable and even likable (or dis-likable depending on who they are)? Well that's what I'd love.
Yeah, based off the snippets, I would imagine both characters as being eccentric in a way. I think they actual have the potential to add an element of comedy or possibly make situations worse. They seem like characters I'd find in the movie Labyrinth. Maybe Arthur is senile. Maybe he's not really senile but just weird. Maybe he knows something of importance to the other characters. Maybe he works for the bad guy and his job is to just confuse the others. Maybe he dreams of going on an adventure like some of the people in the portraits on his wall but he's too cowardly... there is so much potential for that character and written correctly, he could be a very memorable character. The same goes with Johnny. I would imagine a character like Johnny (based on your snippets) would use a lot of doublespeak when speaking. He could be a rather humorous character. That's what I gathered, anyway.
Wow you totally got what I meant! Arthur may be sort of senile, in ways and at times, but knows ancient things that other characters may need. And he's pretty cowardly. Johnny I want to use as a sort of comic relief if the story is quite tense, exciting or serious.
