Writing Exercise #8

"I have the honor to be your obedient servant, A dot Ham"

"Your Obedient Servant" and King George's songs have been stuck in my head since watching Hamilton again last Friday. 😊🎜 I saw the traveling production last year when they performed in Omaha and I'm so glad Disney decided to air the recorded performance early. Not only was it great to watch it again, but with the ability to zoom in close on camera you could see everyone's facial expressions up close, which was pretty amazing. My eyes may have gotten a little misty a couple times - during "It's Quiet Uptown," after Hamilton's son died, and at the end. Allergies, man...I'm not crying, you're crying. 

Legislative update...sadly things are no better. We came back Monday and most of the morning was taken up yammering instead of debating legislation. The rest of the week wasn't much better. A second senator joined Senator Chambers in talking up time on the mic regarding things other than the bill currently being debated. And we had two senators who self-isolated up in our designated "quarantine" balcony due to being exposed to people who tested positive to Covid-19. And today, a hearing was abruptly shut down because the chairman received word that someone in the room had been exposed to Covid-19. The way he worded it makes me think it was a senator. My coworker hypothesized it's Sen. Matt Hansen...he left the hearing a little more than 15 minutes before Sen. Wayne made the announcement. No update as yet, so I guess we'll see.  

Two weeks down, two more to survive. 

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For this week's writing exercise, we decided to work on another multi-part project. One of the other writers and I were having trouble with character creation, so we decided to do a "crossover" with our book club and base the writing on side characters from Jane Austen novels. I picked Margaret Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, specifically her depiction in the 1995 movie.

WRITING EXERCISE

Neil likes to find his characters by listening, so try having a conversation with a character of your own. Use the worksheet at the end of this chapter to help shape the basics and get to know your character through their own voice. You can create a new character now or use the one you created in the Writing Exercise of Chapter 6: Story Case Study: The Graveyard Book.

Once you’ve developed your character above, write a one-page description of them. This can be an informational character bio or part of a scene—whatever feels right. Use any of the following techniques to enhance your description:

• Instead of writing a full physical description, let your reader see the character through a single odd feature—a nickname or a tattoo, for example. How did she get it? What’s her history with it? How does she feel about it? 

• Choose a big event—good or bad—from your character’s past and use it to introduce them. How has this event affected their life today? What are the psychological or physical repercussions? Maybe your character quit politics but they can’t stop making deals and trying to impress everyone they meet.

• Identify a significant character trait and write down the ways it can be expressed. Then choose one of those ways and build a scene from it. For example, if your character is mildly autistic and has trouble meeting people’s gazes, create a scene for them where they have to look someone in the eye. 

• What is your character’s favorite space? It can often give you insights to describe their house, kitchen, bedroom, office, car, etc. and why it’s the place they feel happiest.

WORKSHEET: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Have your character answer the following questions. Make them as long or short as you like.How do you feel about your looks? Describe yourself.

1. How do you feel about your looks? Describe yourself.  I don’t yet care much about my looks. I have curly honey colored hair, which runs as wild as I do. 
2. How old are you? I'm thirteen years old.
3. What three adjectives best describe you? Bright, curious, romantic
4. How do you feel about money? It’s useful. It buys books and pays for things.
5. What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you? My father passed away and I had to move out of my house when my half-brother inherited it.
6. Do you see your parents regularly? My father passed away and I live with my mother...because I’m thirteen.
7. What three objects best describe your childhood? Explain. Shoes - taking walks is something we do on a regular basis; Tea cups - we’re British. Tea is important; Books - that’s where adventure abound! 
8. Are you religious? Not especially, though I may pay more attention should Edward join the church.
9. What scientific invention really rocks your world? The chaise and four?
10. What’s your worst pet peeve? Being treated like a child.
11. What’s your favorite food? Tea cake?
12. Who’s the most important person in the world to you right now? Marianne. Elinor is too bossy.

If one walks into the library at precisely the right moment, they would see a mass of curly hair disappear behind the heavy curtains that camouflages the broad benches that run along each of the north windows. These hideaways offer the perfect place to read in peace and are frequented by one Miss Margaret Dashwood. 

Margaret’s flaxen spirals are the perfect attribute for describing her - bright, spunky, slightly wild and heading in curious directions. While the prevailing hairstyles mimicked social mores, at the tender age of thirteen, Margaret wears hers unrestrained, flowing freely down her back, and rarely encumbers it with a hat. 

When roaming the countryside with her older sisters, Margaret uses a simple ribbon to  prevent her locks from hindering her view of the scenic landscape surrounding them or an obstacle in her path. Skipping  through the rolling hills which surround their home on a bright Spring day, the sun makes her hair look honey gold. 

Spending time with her sisters - Elinor and Marianne - is important to Margaret, for not only does she enjoy their company, but because it makes her feel more grown up. Listening to them talk while either brushes her dense mane makes her feel a part of their world. This also helps to form hers - to be respectful and kind like Elinor, while also being passionate and a romantic like Marianne - while still being a boisterous and precocious young woman.

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This ran a bit short, filling about half a page instead of a full one...oops! 😐

~ Katie Q. 🐧

Our book club has been reading Jane Austen novels and we saved the best for last  -Pride and Prejudice. Such an enjoyable piece of literature. 💗 Since our time with Austen is coming to an end, I thought I'd rank the main love interests from each book, from my favorite to least favorite. 

Ranking of Austen love interests: 

1. Mr. Knightley - Emma 💗💗💗💗💗 He's intelligent, kind, confident, thoughtful and caring, playful with a sense of humor and doesn't take himself too seriously. His relationship with Emma has always been my favorite. They were close friends first and he loves her for who she is, while also encouraging her to be a better version of herself.
2. Mr. Darcy - Pride & Prejudice 💗💗💗💗💗
   I can relate to Darcy being uncomfortable in a room full of strangers and preferring the company of his own party, but I don't think I've ever turned down dancing with someone because they aren't attractive enough to temp me. 😆 Once Darcy gets over himself, he proves to be a kind and caring man. The fact that his housekeeper thinks so highly of him says a lot about his character, as does his obvious love for his sister. His involvement in saving Lydia also gains him innumerable points, since dealing with and helping Wickham must have been the last thing he ever wanted to do, but he did it anyway out of love for Elizabeth. Loyalty to his friends and family is also one of his most attractive traits. 
3. Colonel Brandon - Sense & Sensibility 💗💗💗💗💗
   While more on the quiet side, Colonel Brandon was happy to have meaningful conversations and seemed to be a cultured man. He was thoughtful, dedicated, caring and clearly someone who put others before himself. Like Darcy, he's a man of action, going out of his way to do things for those he cares about.  
4. Mr. Bingley - Pride & Prejudice 💗💗💗💗
   Austen’s personification of a human Golden Retriever, Bingley is sweet, kind, joyful and trusting (my first thought was naive, but a friend suggested trusting, which I like better). Or, to quote Jane - “sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!”
5. Henry Tilney - Northanger Abbey 💗💗💗💗 Tilney and Bingley are very similar characters, though Henry might be a bit more outgoing. Part of my preference for Bingley is his counterpart - I like Jane more than Catherine.
6. Edward Ferrars - Sense and Sensibility 💗💗💗
   While keeping his promise to Lucy was admirable, I would have liked Edward more if he’d had some backbone. Though a victim of circumstance, with an overbearing mother and the inability to have a normal career, he was still responsible for his actions. While he thought he was only risking his heart in getting close to Elinor, his behavior caused her to be in uncomfortable-to-painful social situations, not to mention nearly breaking her heart.
7. Captain Wentworth - Persuasion 💗💗
   Other than Ann liking him and enjoying time spent in his company, I didn't have particularly warm feelings for Captain Wentworth. I remember him having good manners and being recognized for his military career...and his letter at the end of the book is pretty great, but otherwise he was a bit eh. 
8. Edmund Bertram - Mansfield Park 💔
   I officially didn't like Edmund. He was sanctimonious, a stuffed shirt and downright rude and unkind to Fanny when she refused to marry Henry Crawford. Ugh. 

What would your ranking be?