Developing My Character

Hello, everyone. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know that I am writing a book, an urban fantasy. It’s about a woman who struggles with obesity and the mental issues that comes with not feeling pretty. My story takes place both in my character’s present world, our earth, and some alternative universe where she keeps encountering her demons or monsters. Yes, this character is loosely based on some of my personal experiences and characteristics but not entirely. She’s her own person and quite different from me.

I wanted to share a simple idea with all you fellow creative writers and bloggers. You can leave your comments below. Thank you.

I recently wrote about my issues with hypothyroidism, and it’s also an update that my health is improving. Here’s the link in case you’re interested. https://anaprose.com/2019/02/10/my-health-for-2019/

I have also mentioned that I have coped with weight issues. When I was younger, I used to be almost 200 pounds, and I am a small woman, 5’3. You can imagine how that was a lot for my height.

In my 30’s, I yo-yo quite a lot, something I am trying to change this year 2019 as a personal challenge. I am not at my goal weight at this moment. But I am nowhere near 200 lbs., which is great news, especially since hypothyroidism affects my weight a lot. With a lot of hard work, I should be at my goal in no time. But more importantly, my health is improving every day, thank God.

I was thinking that I’d like to have my character, whose name is Earth, struggle with hypothyroidism too.

What do you think? Below, I posted a scene I just wrote about an hour ago. Earth fell asleep during a movie she was watching with her friends, and she’s struggling to wake up due to exhaustion. The scene is still in progress. I know it might seem a bit out of context because, well, it’s chapter 33. I know writers should never present their unedited work. But in case you’re interested, I am trusting you to read my unedited work. Oh yes, the format is a WAY OFF because of WordPress. Feel free to provide feedback. If you’re not interested in reading part of my story. Well, this is the end of the blog. Have an awesome day.

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Chapter 33: The New Tower, Dream Talk

I tried to open my eyes. But I couldn’t. By the looks of it, Alexey, Evy, and Maze were still watching the movie. My mouth felt dry. I tried to ask for help. I knew my sleep was too deep. It’s like they didn’t notice I wanted to be woken. “Someone, please, wake me!” It was in vain. I tried to move my mouth, and something stopped me from it. My mouth felt heavy, and my tongue was not obeying me. “What’s happening?”

At a distance, I thought I heard Hybris, “Earth, wake up. Wake up”
I said, “No, leave me alone. I want to wake up.” The only thing is, I wished I said those words with ease. Instead, I struggled. It was like I was stuck in a slow-motion scene. My eyes were an opening to this theater of my life. I was here in the moment, on Earth, and at the same time, I heard that other world. I heard echoes of the thunder over the tower, including my own voice yelling for help. I heard the eerie and dissonant sound of the movie, Psycho still playing in the background.

My ears also captured the voices of my friends, my cats meowing somewhere in the house. All the noises meshed together between my present world and some alternate universe in my lucid dream. I kept wanting to fully wake up. Hybris kept calling my name. But I didn’t want to return there. Not anymore. I hated it. It was going too far, and I didn’t understand why. These crazy dreams. It’s like they want to teleport to the real world. I stayed still. I tried not to move or fight my immobile body. I was beginning to lose my ability to breathe. “It’s okay, Earth. It’ll pass. It’ll pass. Relax.” I heard Evy mentioned my name.

-“Look at her. She’s so sound asleep.”
-“I’m not. Help me wake up, Evy.”
-“Lou Ann mentioned that she’s caught Earth sleeping a lot at work,” Evy said with a bit of concerned.
-“Really? How long have you noticed that? As her coach, I should have been made aware,” Alexey said. He was annoyed.
-“I figured she’s been working too hard, or that…”
-“What?” Maze joined the conversation now.
-“Well, babe, you’re working her too hard with the diet and workout…”
-“Oh, Alexey. Do you think that your girlfriend is right and…
-“Excuse me, dude. But I never pushed her to the point of harming her health. Besides…” Alexey lowered his voice, “I think she might be struggling with either bulimia or anorexia. Have you seen how little she eats? That’s not my fault. I’ve been encouraging her to eat and a couple of times a day too. But she might be going through that stage.”
-“What stage, bro?”
-“You know. People, when they lose weight, they don’t ever want to be that big again. So they go to extremes, not knowing that starving is worse or as bad as overeating. Or they do know…”
-“Except they don’t care,” Evy added.
-“Yeah, exactly.”
-Great. Now they’re talking about me like I’m not here. Someone wake me up for heaven’s sake. These idiots. Talking about me like they know me.
-“Maybe she should go see a doctor about her health,” Maze also lowered his voice.
-“Idiots. I can hear everything.”
-“Evy, babe, you talk to her. You’re a girl. Maybe you can go with her too.”
-“Yeah, for sure. I’ll try to check up on her at work too.” The room was silent for a few seconds, then Evy said, “Why are we whispering. She’s like right there. She could be listening.”
-“Finally! Wake me up, dimwits!”
-“Her face looks a bit strained like she’s in pain or something,” Maze said inching close to my face.
-“And her eyes are partially opened,” Evy whispered.
-“Babe, wake her up.”
-“Alright,” Evy agreed. She got up.
-“Earth to Earth. Babe, wake up.” Evy lightly tapped my cheeks.
-“Yes, it’s working,” I thought.
-“Babe, wake up!”
-“AHHHHHH!” I jumped to my feet. They all stared at me. “Oh, hey, guys. What time is it?”
-“It’s about 1:30 at night,” Maze was weirded out by my behavior.
-“Right. Right. Okay, well, I am going to bed because I’m extremely exhausted…”
-“Earth, you fell asleep throughout the movie. How are you still tired?”
I sat back down. “Alexey, that’s an excellent question and…um… I don’t have the answer to that. But I do know that the credits are running, and that is my call for bedtime,” I said getting up from the couch once again.
They stared at each other. I tried to ignore them. -“Babe, were you having a nightmare or something?”
-“Did I look that uneasy?”
They all nodded. “You know, Evy. I was. But I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Good night, guys.” I walked away.

-“Babe, were you having a nightmare or something?”
-“Did I look that uneasy?”
They all nodded. “You know, Evy. I was. But I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Good night, guys.” I walked away.

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