Small Idea- The protagonist of a Georgian-era historical romance. 

Where Might Your Audience Experience Your Story? On a cold and rainy day, curled up with a cup of tea and a good book. Perhaps sitting in a cafe and enjoying a drink and a snack. 

Who Is The Reader You Imagine? A young woman in her teens or twenties, who is interested in history and enjoys classic literature (like the works of Jane Austen) and period dramas (like Bridgerton). 

What Experiences and Feelings Do You Want to Create for this Reader? An escape from their mundane lives for a few hours. Immersion in a different time and place. 

Why Does Your Reader Need Your Story at this Time?  Like Lucy Bishop, the novel’s heroine, the target reader is a young woman finding her place in the world and learning to stand on her own. 

Five Things About Your Character That Make Them Relatable to Your Reader. 

1. Lucy is nineteen years old (in the same age range as the target audience) 
2. She is quiet and reserved and bookish (similar to the reader) 
3. Her character arc involves becoming more confident and learning to stand on her own as she enters the adult world (perhaps the reader is at a similar point in her life). 
4. Lucy craves independence and autonomy but is scared of change and losing the comfortable and familiar (this is relatable to the target young adult audience). 
5. Her story is also a romance since she’s operating within the world of courtship (the target audience consists of hopeless romantics who love swoon-worthy love stories)  

 

Would your character rather? 

• Be too hot or too cold? Lucy would prefer to be too cold. She likes being cozy, drinking tea and other warm drinks, and her favorite season is Fall. 
• Wear bright colors or muted colors? Lucy would prefer to wear muted colors. She is fair-skinned and light-haired and bright colors make her look washed out. Pale, muted colors are also fashionable and appropriate for a young, unmarried woman. 
• Invite everyone they know to a party or only a few?  Lucy would prefer to invite only a few people to a party. Large gatherings of people make her anxious and restless. 
• Help someone in trouble or call for aid? Lucy would do what she can to help before calling for aid. 
• Buy a gift or make it? Lucy loves crafts such as sewing, so she enjoys making presents for her friends and family. 
• Go somewhere loud to avoid their feelings or somewhere quiet to embrace them? Lucy would go somewhere quiet to embrace her emotions. 

 

What type of bag do they carry and what’s in their bag? 

• Lucy carries three different types of bags: the pocket she wears under her skirts, her work bag, and her shopping basket. 
• In the shopping basket: Lucy carries the shopping basket when she goes into town to run errands such as picking up her mail and buying ink, paper, and sealing wax. In the basket, she also carries a tip cup which she uses to hold the perrywinkles she sometimes buys from Old Ben, a local beggar. 
• In the work bag: The work bag contains Lucy’s sewing supplies and any needlework projects she is working on. She brings her work bag with her during social visits because she likes having something to do with her hands because she gets restless sitting around having to make dull conversation. 
• In the pocket: Lucy carries her money in her pocket along with her diary and a pencil. 

 

Four new things you’ve learned about your character? 

1. Lucy is somewhat reserved and introverted. She is thoughtful and in touch with her emotions. 
2. Lucy gets restless and anxious and likes activity and employment such as sewing and running errands. 
3. Lucy is thrifty and domestic. She enjoys sewing and other handicrafts and participates in the running of her household. 
4. The reserved and quiet Lucy expresses herself through writing, either in letters to friends and family or in her diary.  
   
   

   List Six Emotions 

   1. Boredom 
   2. Wonder 
   3. Grief 
   4. Desire 
   5. Frustration 
   6. Excitement 
   
   

   Roll a dice. Write about a time in your character’s life when they felt the emotion indicated by the number the dice fell on. Do this twice. 

   
   

   Grief: Eighteen months prior to the start of the novel, Lucy’s beloved father died in a horseback riding accident, and she was devastated. Lucy and her mother took turns watching over the body during the six days between the death and the funeral. During her turns, Lucy reads aloud from her father’s favorite books such as Laurence Stern’s Tristram Shandy. She’s comforted by the thought that her father’s spirit is still in the house and can hear her. Her mother told her that the dead can send signs and messages from heaven to their living loved ones. One of her father’s favorite lines from Tristram Shandy is: “…so long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him,--pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?”  Later on, one of the servants is going through the attic and finds an old hobby-horse toy that Lucy used to play with. Lucy found this funny. 

   
   

   Frustration: When Rafe and Lucy were children, they used the chairs and table clothes from Miss Dawes’, Rafe’s guardian, dining room to build a fort. It was Lucy’s idea. She ran away and hid when they got caught. Rafe gallantly took the blame and the punishment for her. Lucy felt terrible for letting Rafe take her punishment and was frustrated with her own cowardice. What she learned from the experience was that she should be less cowardly and face the consequences of her actions instead of hiding behind other people. 

   
   

   What do these moments tell you about the character? 

   • Lucy is religious and somewhat superstitious 
   • She was close with her father. 
   • She can find something positive/humorous even in her worst moments. 
   • Lucy has a bit of a rebellious and mischievous streak which Rafe brings out. 
   • She was something of a meek and cowardly child and was terrified of getting in trouble for the mischief she got up to with Rafe. 
   • She is able to learn from her mistakes and grow as a person.  
     
     

     Adjectives to describe your character: Selfless, resilient, loyal to those she loves. 

     
     

     Strengths: Lucy is a kind, selfless person. She is able to find beauty and positivity even in her worst moments and can learn and grow from her mistakes. She is loyal to her friends and family and is willing to make sacrifices for them. 

     
     

     Weaknesses: Lucy is a compulsive people pleaser with a habit of sacrificing herself for the benefit of others. She does what other people want her to do and hides her true feelings from them. Lucy is loyal and has a hard time cutting off/giving up on people she loves, even when it’s in her best interest to. 

     
     

     What do they want? Lucy wants to marry well to spite Rafe, her childhood sweetheart and first love who broke her heart when he went away and left her. She attracts the attention of Bellamy de Vere, a wealthy and eligible gentleman, which greatly pleased her mother and aunt. Lucy and her mother are in reduced circulation after the death of her father, so Lucy’s marriage to de Vere will save the family. 

     
     

     What do they fear? She fears not living up to society’s expectations. She’s also afraid of having her heart broken again. 

     
     

     What is their misbelief? That she has to do what others want/expect her to do. That she can’t open up her heart again because she will get hurt. 

     
     

     What happened to create this misbelief?  Lucy was a well behaved child and a good student growing up and was addicted to the praise and approval of her parents and other adults. She fell in love with her rebellious and free spirited childhood friend, Rafe, who broke her heart when he went away. During the years Rafe wasn’t away, Lucy’s father died and she and her mother were forced to leave their home. Rafe wasn’t there for her in her time of need.