Eh. This is the thing: I planned to do a short photostory. I promised it to a friend of mine and I’d had it all planned out (in my head) partially scripted. I was feeling OK about it (I didn’t think it was stellar but as a bit of entertainment it’d be ok–kind of like potato chips vs. a piece of pizza).
Anyway, that was all moving along smoothly until I stumbled onto a problem. Or maybe “remembered” is more accurate. I’m speaking in particular about Imogen (aka Ayumi).
The plan was to use Imogen as the stereotypical heartless bitch & wicked man-stealing woman. You know, the hard edge to contrast with Alison’s very soft & giving edge. That would guarantee some good drama, harsh words & maybe a revelation or two…But…..
But…
Then I had the bright idea maybe I needed a “refresher” on what Imogen’s personality & history was. To be honest off the top of my head all I could remember was that she was head librarian, not very social, and had a wanker of a neighbor who was always stealing her roses.
So I dug up her personality & profile sheet out of the archives… weeeell. :unsure:
Can I say I was surprised to find out that I’d made her Alison’s best & closest friend? And that it was mutual? :blink: What the hell was I thinking?
Which leads me to where I am now.
Rethinking a character
I’ve spent the last week mulling this over & trying to come up with an alternate plan. Sure I could use another character instead (except that I really want to use her), and I don’t have any one sufficiently interesting on hand.
The Pros of using Imogen:
- It adds some further drama/tension to the situation
- It develops the relationship dynamic between Alison & Imogen more
- It may reveal more information to me about their secondary & tertiary relationships & shared friends
- I get to use two dolls that I really like
- It might make for a more interesting story (or a 2 parter)
The Cons of using Imogen:
- I have to re-script (most of it)
- It will require a different way of “hooking up” August & Imogen. By default it will require further explanation
- It will be a more involved photostory which I can’t perceive wrapping up in one episode (well not unless I made it another 15+ page photostory)
- It means I’m going to have to give some deeper thought about how the two of them (Imogen & Alison) would fix their friendship after the reveal.
So. There you have it.
I’d thought about changing Imogen’s personality but I’m hesitant to do so. I think I’m going to have to find a way to make this work. Maybe I can get some good scripting done & it’ll flow from there.
I sure hope so.
2 Responses to “Unexpected Complications: rethinking a character?”
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Maybe subconsciously, you didn’t forget they were best friends. Maybe some part of your brain thought this version sounded like more fun! :whistle:
I think it will definitely add a lot more depth and drama to the story, even if the story ends up longer, who cares? If a story is interesting, I’ll read 5000 pages of it! You love Imogen the way she is, so it wouldn’t really be fair to change her personality, unless you feel like it doesn’t suit her anymore.
Looking at your pro and con lists, it seems pretty clear which direction you’re leaning in :happy: All your pros are exciting and pro-y, and the cons all boil down to the same thing– more work, lol But it won’t seem like so much work if you’re excited and intrigued by the story.
Anyway, my 2 (or 50!) cents
Hope the writing goes well, I’m excited to see how it turns out!
Thanks C, it’s good to know that and it’s really great to have someone else’s input on this…sometimes it’s pretty easy to delude yourself into thinking something’s a good idea when it really sucks! :pinch:
I had a good breakthrough yesterday & managed to get the first 5 pages of scripting done–and yes! Yes!!! It’s starting to come together in my brain & is making sense. :biggrin: I’m very pleased with that!
The only thing is that I’m going to have to build at least 2 more sets for it (walls at least) for scenes that I wrote, but I think it’s doable, especially if I keep them to the smaller sizes if at all possible.
Imogen & Alison are definitely going to have to figure something out before their friendship goes up in flames!