Day 55: Character Sketch

I am supposed to be drafting a short story for my fiction class, but I have not come up with any good ideas thus far.  I'm going to use today's post to flesh out my protagonist and plot.

It needs to be told in first person and needs to take place in one scene.  I think my narrator is going to be a girl, a college student about my age.  She is headstrong, driven, outgoing, and very protective of her friends.  She makes friends easily but only considers a few to be true friends, and those are the ones she is loyal to.  She has a part-time job working in the mall at one of her favorite stores.  Fashion is her weakness, and that is why she wants to get a degree in business.  Her other weakness is being selfish, almost at the cost of the cost of her friendships.  She doesn't realize that she wants what her friends have.  She lives her life through her friends, which is why she is so involved in their lives.  She doesn't realize her flaws.  Her thoughts are condescending and judgmental towards others.  Her attitude has cost her to lose some friends.

I think her name will be Sam, direct and cute, like her character on the surface.  She teased boys in high school and now she is not in any relationship.  Perhaps boys feel intimidated by her, or she is intimidated by them.  They distract her from her goals.  And why does she want to be so successful?  She is an only child, raised by her single mother, who got her heart broken after her husband ran away and exhausted herself from working two to three jobs to survive.  Sam does not want to end up like her mother.  Boys only hurt you.  It all boils down to helping yourself.

Sam doesn't realize she is the protagonist of my story.  She thinks the problem is with her best friend since middle school.  They managed to stay together and attended the same college.  Sam almost considers her a sister.  They shared the same dreams.  Go to college, work at the same store and build their careers, graduate, and get rich.  Her friend is artistic and crafty.  She'd design the clothes and Sam would sell them.  Her name is either Mirelle/Mira, to be admired, or something that means attractive or lovely. 

Mira fell in love last year with a guy that Sam never liked.  There was something suspicious about him, something that never made her feel right about him.  She feels he is no good for her friend.  Now he is planning on proposing.  Sam accidentally saw him in the jeweler's on her way to work.  She peered in and saw him looking at engagement rings.  She doesn't think Mira should marry him and decides to confront her friend about it.  If Mira married him, she would throw away her life.

That will be when the story opens up, in Mira's dorm room she shares with Sam, at a lull in their afternoon.  Sam will not be narrating the story, but the story will be a run-off of her thoughts.  She is nervous because she does not want to hurt her friend but feels it has to be done.  Perhaps subconsciously she would like to date Mira's boyfriend; he has qualities she admires.  She would never do it though.  Mira is aware of Sam's flaws and confronts her about them.

Their dorm room is neat but intimate.  Mira has comfortable things, a cozy pillow with a handmade cover and a fuzzy blanket.  Sam has a desk she is almost always at.  Their beds are nearly right next to each other so they could talk into the wee hours of the morning at times.  Sam always has to be responsible, always has to stay productive.  Even cleaning up (putting away laundry or folding clothes) while talking.

Boy, this helped a lot!  What do you think of it?  Any suggestions or things I should change?