Well it is getting closer and closer to the month of November. I am getting more and more excited about this years NaNo, as I feel that this is my year that I Amy Bougourd will in fact win and have a 50,000 word novel under my belt! I have never won before, and I am both excited and dreading it! I am sure I will be driving everyone around me crazy with the amount of time I will be spending sat on my bed as I am now typing my NaNo away! Unless of course I find a uber cool writing programme out there to install on my macbook… Anyone know of any?
Anyway, I just thought that I should update with a more polished plot plan, and my first complete (I think!) character biography for my FMC. (Female Main Character.)
Life Doesn’t Always Come Up Roses.
Plan/Plot/Prep etc…
Plot line: (i.e. short summary) Escaping her father, Aphelia is on a life-changing journey to discover who her family are, with dark consequences that threaten the life that she knew.
Main idea/plot:
The FMC (female main character), Aphelia Falle lives at home with her lazy good for nothing father, he is all she has for family as her mother died of complications at birth. (but in actual fact she was murdered by her father’s gang.) Her father has dealings in drugs, and drinks heavily on a regular basis. Aphelia is constantly abused and blamed by her father for things she does not know about but will do in time. After one fateful night where her father over steps the boundaries and rapes her, robbing her of her innocence, she packs one bag with a few clothes, a picture of her mum and with a small amount of savings, escapes into the back streets of London.
On her journey she meets many different and interesting characters. The first one that she comes across is a prostitute by the name of Tabitha. Tabitha is a prostitute not by choice, but because that is the only way for her to make money in this day and age. Taking pity on the young girl, she takes Aphelia in to her grotty bedsit, which is not much, but is all that Aphelia can find at such short notice after escaping the clutches of her father. (for the first few chapters.)
Other plot points for the middle/end:
- Old drug dealers of her father harass Aphelia as her father owes them a lot of money.
- Tried to when younger, go to the authorities for help about her father, but they never helped her or caught him.
- Aphelia ends up somewhere far from home i.e. Europe or America.
- Aphelia finds and meets up with family from her Mother’s side (via the surname, Falle.) Each have their own dark pasts with issues of betrayal, lies etc. Possibility of her being abandoned/ dumped to her father after her mother being murdered.
- Possibility of meeting and falling in love with someone along the way, (MMC?) Won’t bring him in until the plot is well established.
- Also include flashbacks of her past etc.
Female Main Character Biography:
Physical:
Name: Aphelia Falle
Age: 19
Height: 5foot7
Weight: 10 stone 5lbs
Hair: Long red straight/wavy hair
Eyes: Soft brown doe like eyes
Walks with confidence, but is guarded. Always on the edge and ready to flee at any moment. Muscles are strong but small for her slender unassuming frame. She has a fringe of red hair hide her eyes. Defining feature is a small scar on the inside of her wrist from where she cut herself once as a child by falling through a window. Therefore her physicality is a quiet, unassuming although untrusting girl, she is strong. Appears weak due to the fact that from years of abuse, she doesn’t know how to react to certain situations and will either be sarcastic/cocky/interested or quiet and withdrawn. Has not been in many social situations.
Social:
She was public schooled and left at the age of 16 with 9 GCSE’s all at grade C and above. She really enjoyed school and learning, and had a few friends. However her father dragged her out of school and forced her into working at small gift shop, doing the tills and stacking shelves as well as being forced to sell drugs by her father. All of her money went to her father for his drink/drug habit and was therefore economically poor, yet saved up 10 pounds each week under her bed. When she leaves her father she has 520 pounds saved from the 3 years that she has worked. Aphelia does not believe in anything and holds the viewpoint that if there was a God he would have helped her by now. As far as she is concerned he does not exist. She is white and has no political inclinations as they are all a waste of space and never helped her when she needed it. Does not have many hobbies, but does enjoy reading occasionally, and listens to music as a form of escapism, dreaming of a better life.
Emotional:
She is very often lonely, isolated and feels like no one understands or knows what she has been through. She does not have any reason to trust anyone that she meets or knows. She has lacked a strong female role model as her mother died when she was young. She fears angry people, but will snap when provoked. Always scared that she will never escape the clutches of her father. She has never been able to have a relationship as she feels that she is never able to be close to anyone. Has always craved that intimacy with someone else. Her main goals and motivations are to find out who her mum’s family is and understand where she comes from. She is introverted and pessimistic as well as untrusting and hates being seen as vulnerable.
I am loving this so far, I think I have a pretty strong main female protaganist. Anyway my goals before NaNo start now are:
- To write all MC/SMC character biographies like the one above.
- Plan a conclusion
- Work on and polish other plot ideas
- Possibly think of some scenes.
And of course keep it all updated here in my creative blog! <3
“A writer doesn’t solve problems. He allows them to emerge.”- Friedrich Durrenmatt
