Wednesday 2 March 2011

Super-Snooper Blogfest, March 2


It's Super-Snoop Blogfest time! Click on the picture to read more about it and see links to other participants' blogs!

"For the blogfest, you need to describe a setting that tells us something about your character's personality. Characters can be of any age, living in any time or place. But don't tell us about the character, tell us about his or her stuff. We'll get to know the character from what you write." - Alison Pearce Stevens

I had a hard time deciding which character to focus on for this blogfest, but in the end I decided to go with somebody I'm having such a lot to do with right now (revisions...argh!!). I tried to remove all mention of the character, to see if you can guess more about him/her. Anyway...here's a description of what you'd find if you stepped into this person's place of abode (am I allowed to tell you it's a rental?):

DOWNSTAIRS
Entering the home
There's a short hallway leading into the rest of the house. In this hallway is a coat rack which has a handbag, frizzy pink wig and guitar carry bag hanging from it. In other words, it holds anything but coats. The hallway also features a bookcase packed full of guitar tab books, a hand-me-down record collection and music magazines. Finally, the guitars and amplifiers and all the other necessary equipment are stored in the hallway. Great place for it, wouldn't you say? When the hallway ends, you get to the rest of the house.

The dining table/area
On the dining room table there is stuff. Lots of stuff. An example of what might be found on it on any given day is: a few more guitar tab books, issues of Alternative Press and Guitar World magazine, half full (or empty, depending on the mood) glasses of water, scraps of paper with notes scribbled on them. Basically nothing that you'd use for actually dining. At right angles to the dining area and the living area is a cabinet that houses all sorts of stuff - art and travel books, a handful of biographies, participation ribbons from school sports carnivals, a certificate for a prize won in high school music class, and a tiny collection of family heirlooms like a gold "key" brooch and a bracelet with emeralds in it.

The kitchen
It's pretty cramped, and is basically a strip of tile with benches on either side (one of which houses the small sink). There is no dishwasher. There are a lot of mismatched dishes, hand-me-downs of all varieties. There is an accidental collection of mugs, the result of numerous Christmases and other gift-giving occasions. There's a silver clock on the wall, and a medium-sized refrigerator which is one of the shiniest and most modern things in the home. On the fridge are a series of ridiculous magnets, including a magnetic calendar with pictures of hedgehogs on every month of the year. In the fridge is snack material, and a variety of types of beer. There's also a jug of chilled water in there.

The living area
There is a single three-seater couch, fabric-covered and rather mangy, but it's covered with a series of blankets. Opposite it is a slick black coffee table, the only other shiny modern thing in the place (except for guitar equipment). The coffee table is also covered in magazines, and the TV remotes are on there. There's always at least one coffee mug on the table. The TV is a wall-mounted old-style one that hasn't yet been hooked up to the digital aerial. It has pretty crappy snowy reception. Underneath the TV is a CD cabinet housing an extensive CD collection. It's organised chronologically.

The garden
Through the sliding doors in the living area there is a small garden that usually looks pretty lush but overgrown. There are a fair few weeds competing for attention at the best of times, though periodically throughout the year those weeds find themselves in grave peril as rent inspection time rolls around. There is a small patch of grass out in the garden that tiny picnics can be had on, but only if you like cramped picnics.

UPSTAIRS
The bedroom
In the tiny bedroom, whose walls are painted dark blue, there is a queen-sized bed with a green polka-dot pattern, an old-style carved wooden dresser. There is also a series of items from IKEA: wardrobe; set of drawers; lamp; moderate-sized bookcase. The bookcase houses old copies of middle-grade fiction. Under the bed is a box full of stuff belonging to somebody else, which rarely comes out from its hiding place. The small window has white cotton curtains.

Bathroom
The bathroom upstairs is all in blue translucent tiles, and makes a person feel like they're standing on the bottom of the Blue Lagoon gazing upward through their goggles. Even in winter, the room looks light and summery.

Do you feel like you know this person now? I feel like I do a little better now, myself. :D

27 comments:

  1. Hmmm. The character to me strikes me as someone that thrives on organized chaos and to which music is more than just a passing fancy. I also think that the character spends a lot of time in bars or pubs perhaps performing and has gotten a taste for beer (explaining the nice fridge to house it). Am I close?

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  2. Yep, you're close! :)

    I am not sure if it's a matter of thriving on it, but this person just has more important things to think about (in their mind at least) than keeping a tidy home. ;)

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  3. Hehe, I so totally want my house to be like this when I get one, only with a bit more writing related items mixed in. Something about crazy disorganization and surrounding yourself (in the most untidy way possible) with everything you love seems awesome. I feel like I know this character very well now!

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  4. I'm guessing this person may be a bit of a pack at, as she/he still has all sorts of stuff from high school and that box under the bed and all. Either that, or they've poured so much of themselves into their music that they haven't had time to give thought to throwing things away, which would also explain the chaos and the piling of the dishes that haven't been washed yet. And I definitely want a magnetic calendar with hedgehogs on it now. :P
    -Michael

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  5. Madeline, your house will be interesting (when you have it :D) I have no doubt!

    Michael - maybe not a huge packrat, but this person is definitely stuck in the past in some ways. But yes, music is the consuming passion. ;)

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  6. Hi,

    I have no idea: perhaps a student musician who gigs in spare time to supplement uni fees! ;)

    BTW: lovely descriptions.

    best
    F

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  7. What great description! Definitely someone who has a particular focus in his (her?) life: music. And that doesn't leave much time or effort for other things, like straightening up. I think the carefully sorted CD collection underlines the impression given by the rest of the stuff. Thanks for participating!

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  8. Great description! I can see the music dance around the character. I music is a way for scattered people to feel connected. I find that in my son, anyway. :)

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  9. Awesome detail! Please never catalogue my home ... :-)

    EJ

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  10. Thanks for telling us about this blogfest. It was fun to read what you wrote.

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  11. Man, I want a pink wig and a guitar. Sounds awesome. My stupid coat rack holds coats--BORING.

    A music person just chillin' and relaxin' and enjoying life.

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  12. It sounds like your character has other things to worry about than tidying up. The dining room table sounds like how mine looked at my old house. I enjoy that you detailed every room. Helps give us even more of a glimpse into this character's life.

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  13. OOh lots of rooms. I like the descriptions. Sounds like a musician with not much money. Maybe a young person? :O)

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  14. Just so you all know, she (yes, it's a girl) very rarely wears that pink wig ;) Her best friend is more likely to put it on at any given moment. Hehe.

    But yes, she's a musician and music is most of her life (when she's not working as a waitress).

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  15. The person sounds a lot like me. A quirky musician who doesn't care much about trends, who likes sort of an organized mess and doesn't really have the time to tidy, so as long as he/she know where everything is....Probably has a sarcastic sense of humour, and is a bit odd, but probably funny to be around, with the potential to be reclusive. Am I getting close at all?

    <3 Gina Blechman

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  16. Gina - you pretty much got it perfectly! ;) She definitely doesn't care about trends, she's sarcastic and funny, but she also loves her alone time. And she's surrounded by extroverts, but isn't quite one herself.

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  17. Lol! sounds akin to my character! A struggling musician. He wouldn't have to store the equipment in his house if he had the works (roadies). Great description! A lot more detailed than mine! ;)

    Thank you for visiting and commenting on my entry! :)


    Elizabeth

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  18. Wow Tisha - you described every room! I am completely impressed. I only did one room. LOL

    I definitely get the impression your character is female - probably the pink wig. I'm quite curious about the box of stuff under the bed, though. I'm guessing it holds stuff that brings back memories that are painful to examine too closely or too often.

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  19. Sorry for the typo on your name Trisha! I so wish for an edit button on the blogger comments.

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  20. That's fine Sheery, at least you didn't call me Pat :D I get a little twitchy when that happens! ;)

    And yes, you're right - the box is full of her ex-boyfriend's stuff (he who died). I didn't want to give too much detail about that as I was trying to give away her story without actually saying it outright :D

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  21. Great idea for a blogfest. You were certainly thorough and yes, it's a great way of getting to know the characters.

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  22. Wow, that was a lot of work. Excellent character description.

    ......dhole

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  23. Holy moly, guacamole! That was stellar work!

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  24. Oooh, this is an interesting exercise!

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  25. Wow! You went above and beyond! Great entry!

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  26. Thanks guys - yes, I do tend to think a lot about my characters, and this exercise helped me to get to know my MC better ;)

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  27. How the heck to you win every single contest you sign up for? You deserve all the rewards for your talent of course, but you also win the random ones. I'm starting to think you're the luckiest person I know. Congrats on winning the Snoop fest!

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!