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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Imaginings

“WAG #7: Imaginings” This one is people-watching with a twist. Observe a stranger
and sketch a brief background for them, including a secret. Then describe why they
are in that particular place at that particular time (where you ran into them) and
how it will affect their future. Feel free to be creative, but don’t forget to describe
the concrete reality that made you pick them in the first place!

I am going to use a scene to describe my main character’s secret. Here is a scene, his own private thoughts, giving a detailed description of what he wants and how he plans to get it.

Pouring himself two fingers of finely-aged bourbon, billionaire business tycoon Michael DeVeccio walked on the verandah of his mansion and gazed into the foothills. The raw beauty of the Red Rock Mountains encompassed him – massive columns of rock and open valleys thickly studded with sagebrush, miles of rugged terrain where rock formation changed from a startling white limestone to an iron-rich red, and lush forests full of petrified logs the Paiute Indians believed to be weapons of the wolf gods. And what a rush to climb to the top of the mountain and survey the dazzling Vegas Strip like king of the jungle.
Fishing a Marlboro from the pack, he tapped it three times on the parapet before lighting it. He inhaled deeply, allowing the nicotine to filter into his brain. Under the hunter’s moon, night predators slithered out of the underbrush, just on the periphery of the jagged twists and turns of the canyon. From deep in the woods, a coyote howled, its keening wail slicing through the quiet. Michael loved the call of the wild. The primitive cries got under his skin, arousing him. Dominant and defiant, animals fought to protect what belong to them. He especially admired the sleek moves of the panther. With its keen eyesight, acute hearing, and uncanny ability to sneak up on its prey unnoticed, it pounced on its victim in one slick move. Michael understood the moves of the night predators. He was one of them.
Michael DeVeccio had it all. A billion dollar construction company that built luxury resorts all over the world, a twenty-four room mansion with servants at his beck and call, the most dazzling club on the Vegas Strip, a fleet of outlandishly expensive sports cars, a private jet—and more money than he could use in ten life times. He had it all with the exception of one thing, a son, an heir to his vast domain. And once he found the perfect woman to produce his heir and propagate the family business, the DeVeccio Empire would rule the universe. He envisioned the ideal woman to produce his heir being flawless in every way. Her inner beauty would shine as bright as her outward appearance, she’d have proper etiquette with impeccable manners, and she’d be cultured in fine arts. His perfect woman would be well educated on current events when hosting extravagant parties and galas for his business associates. She’d be honest and sincere and loyal to him and only him. And she would not be a woman beguiled by his wealth and fortune. Yes, he mused, taking a final drag of his cigarette. This perfect woman would be angelic and worthy of producing the heir to his kingdom. And the time had come to find that woman. And it would happen. He ruled it so.



So you get the idea. His intention is to beguile the perfect woman into believing she is the woman of his dreams…for the sole purpose of producing his heir…

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like how you incorporated this exercise into your current project!

I always like being in a character's head and feeling what they feel... make them seem more real to me.

Sharon Donovan said...

Thanks, Nixy. Michael is certainly real to me I've been writing about him for so long. LOL

Anonymous said...

That guy's looking for the perfect woman to produce a son? I hope he has all daughters!

Elizabeth Haysmont said...

Wow. I hope when they find one another, she softens him before he hardens her.

Nice, Sharon.

Gunnar Helliesen said...

I was impressed at how you managed to get me inside Michael's head in just a few paragraphs, very enjoyable!

Sharon Donovan said...

Okay, Mickey. This guy has charisma like you wouldn't believe...at first. This book is about the mind of a serial killer and how he manipulates people for years into believing he is perfectly sane. But as the story unfolds, his mind begins to snap....

Sharon Donovan said...

Sorry Sue. Not going to happen...at least with Michael. It isn't until the romantic hero, the homicide detective investigating Michael for recent slayings in the foothills comes to the rescue do things take a change. Then they really turn...making Michael more determined than ever to seek vengeance...

Sharon Donovan said...

Hi Gunnar. Thanks for commenting. Glad you were able to get into Michael's mind. That must mean all those creative writing classes paid off! LOL

Linda Banche said...

Hi Sharon. I love your descriptions.

Your excerpt really took me in. I thought you were describing the hero. Am I glad you weren't, because I don't like him.

Sharon Donovan said...

Hi Linda! So glad you dropped in. Oh, that Michael is a devil in disguise, isn't he? He really knows how to pour it on. I allow the reader to see his sinister side long before the heroine of the story takes off her rose-colored glasses. But by that time, her life is in jeopardy. I'm glad you were drawn in!

J. M. Strother said...

Gotta love those megalomaniacs. This does a great job of setting up Michael's character, and I am already sympathetic to the woman even though I've never met her. You capture little details so well, that make it seem oh so real, like tapping the cigarette three times before lighting it. But my favorite part was this,

"Michael understood the moves of the night predators. He was one of them."

Great little piece of foreshadowing there, seems to me. Great WAG this week!
~jon

Sharon Donovan said...

Thanks, Jon. Sometimes it's the little things that make the character stand out. From my studies in psychology, the sociopaths and psychopaths generally have some sort of compulsive disorder as well. Thanks for your comment. As always, very enlightening.