202 - Freewriting About Real-Life Characters

Think about someone you know or see regularly who is completely over the top, a real "character". Write about the characteristics - both physical and behavioural - that make this person fascinating. Then invent a backstory that explains why this individual looks and acts the way they do. Feel free to do this for multiple real-life characters.

Person 1

Physicality

He's a tall white man with short curly blond hair which sits like a messy mop on top of his head and always looks windswept, as though he runs he often runs his hand through his hair. He's in his late 40s and is broad in the way of a man who was once sporty but now spends a lot of his time sitting down or eating.

Behaviour

He rushes in and out of rooms as though he always has somewhere better to be, but seeks approval like a puppy. He speaks more than anyone else as a way of asserting his own importance and dominance, but he's not a strong communicator. In groups, he is boisterous and inconsiderate but individually he is uncertain and vulnerable.

Backstory

He was born to a privileged upper-middle-class family, the second of three boys. He was sent away to boarding school at the age of ten where he struggled to find his feet. By the time he was at university, he had spent his whole life socialising with people who were just like him; white men from families with money. He flubbed his way through university and quickly realised that he could make money by socialising and connecting people, and the easiest place to do that was in advertising.
He met his soon-to-be wife when he was in his early thirties and she got pregnant quickly, pushing the need for a marriage sooner than he would have liked. His family grew quickly, and before he knew it he had two sons. He was determined to not put them through the boarding school upbringing that he experienced but struggled as a father not to teach them the lessons which were ingrained in him.

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Person 2

Physicality

She's a relatively tall five-year-old white girl, with wild curls which erupt from her head like a lion's mane. Her outfit of choice is a Batman costume complete with a mask, but she can also be found clucking like a chicken or lying on the floor, dressed as Spiderman, pretending to be a battery.

Behaviour

She has seemingly endless energy, bounding to and fro. She smiles with the whole of her body and laughs with carefree abandon. She is inquisitive, but easily distracted and not at all interested in "grown-up things".

Backstory

She is the youngest of two girls and has grown up with a loving family around her who have not only allowed but actively encouraged her to be exactly who she is. In her short life, she has struggled with some illness which frustrates her endless energy, but she fights her way through it as she does everything.

Background

This is part of the Ready. Set. Novel! project I'm working on.
The previous section of exercises were around finding themes, and this is the second exercise in the character section.