When I was young

Creating a character isn’t always quick. At least not if you want them to be interesting. To be interesting, they need to have history. Even when other characters don't have a clue about that history, it can play into the story adding uniqueness and even elements of surprise. Remember, a character's reputation is not necessarily who they are. In some cases, it might be the red herring that introduces an unlikely hero.

Today we’ll create an old woman character who is talking with a young woman who reminds her of herself decades before. Here’s what you need to know about the old woman.

• Emma married young.
• Had four children.
• Husband drank too much.
• Worked hard to try and bring money in. Cleaned houses, took in people’s laundry and ironing.

Snapshot from her younger self

Emma's husband, Andrew, shows up at a house she’s cleaning. He smells of whiskey. She’s in the middle of waxing the floor. Her youngest baby is on a blanket on the floor. He demands she come home, says that she’s embarrassing him by cleaning for people. She gives him a firm, “I’ll be home when I’m done here.” He pulls a gun and starts waving it around. She fears for her daughter and pushes past her drunken spouse and rushes down the stairs. He calls her to stop, but she runs across the field toward the road. She’s short and grass of a field is waist deep. Her mind races as she tries to figure out what to do. The gun goes off. She raises her hands and screams. Another gunshot. She trips and falls. The bullet sliced through the fleshy skin between her thumb and forefinger.

Andrew's voice. “My God, I’ve killed her.”

Another gunshot.

She stands and learns she is now a young widow with four children….

Today’s creative writing prompt

This prompt is really an exercise in character development. Emma is with a young woman she can see is struggling. Your writing exercise today is to create the back story of this young woman. A quick way to learn her backstory is to do a character interview. 

What does Emma see/know that has her concerned? Once you know the young woman’s backstory, write a scene of dialog between the two. In it, expose elements of their stories. It doesn't have to be an info dump, make it real. But your goal is to bring out a fact that might shock or surprise most readers.

 

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