Daily Prompt: Standing Out and then Fading into the Background
Stand-out in a crowd
As always, I only take on a Daily Prompt for this blog when I think it pertains to my characters, and in this case, it very much does.
“When was the last time you really stood out in a crowd? Are you comfortable in that position, or do you wish you could fade into the woodwork?”
In my most recent casebook, I decided to take away one of Portia’s abilities. I couldn’t decide which would make a better story, so I posed the question to the readers in this blog and their votes resulted in a tie!
This meant that poor Portia lost her hearing and her ability to speak in an explosion (wrote that scene last week – very fun to write!).
What this also means is that Portia no longer stands out in a crowd… or at least not the way she likes to.
Growing up, my protagonist was an introvert; a girl who preferred reading a book in a corner to socializing with friends. Upon arriving in London and taking up the mantle of Consulting Detective from her grandparents, she begins to step out from the crowd and discovers she likes being seen as special. She develops relationships and starts up a business based on her special abilities that do set her apart from the crowd.
But in this latest casebook, I have taken away two of the abilities that (obviously) contribute to her detective skills, and she is struggling to compensate for them. In the meantime, her business is falling down around her ears, she has withdrawn from College and she is again retreating into herself and trying to back away from people and society.
It’s going to be a fight (my detective is stubborn, much like me) but I am going to find a way to bring her back out in front.