This is day 2 of a 12-day writing challenge that I’m following. If you’re just joining me now, you find out the details here.
Today’s challenge was this: “Create a character with personality traits of someone you love, but the physical characteristics of someone you don’t care for.”
I decided right away that I wanted to choose one of my cousins who has a fun, unique personality as the person that I love. Choosing a person I don’t care for is… a little more difficult. Do I choose someone I’ve worked with or gone to school with? The people close to me will know who it is. Do I choose someone I really can’t stand? The idea of thinking about their appearance gives me the creeps.
I have to admit that I chose to cheat again. In order to offend nobody, I decided to go with a fictional character: Emperor Palpatine from the original Star Wars trilogy.
Now imagine that face mixed with the personality of the most caring, sweet, innocent, hyper, active, happy, animal-loving girl on the face of the planet.
Yeah, I wasn’t seeing it, either.
But then I thought… what if this old, shriveled figure had once been full of life and love? Just like Palpatine claimed to know how to save people from death, maybe my nameless character figured out how to give away her life, love, and energy to people who need it. Now, at the end of her life, she has run out of goodness and is little more than an empty shell, hidden away lest she horrify people and undo all the good she once did them.
Not super original, but that’s the way I can see my cousin’s personality having anything to do with a face like Palpatine’s.
I’d love to hear your what-if’s, either suggestions on what I could do differently with the characters above or what would happen if you mixed your loved and not-so-loved ones.
Tomorrow will be much easier: I get to create a setting based on the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. I’ll see you then!