I Need Help

or, all about my MC, Avidron

The Problem

Hi friends. I am currently writing a thriller-y sorta book about a fella named Avidron. Though the background I can give you is limited, a lot will be uncovered in the next section.

I just read Lydia Matlock’s awesome post about knowing your characters, and it made me realise I don’t know enough. I need help figuring out my main character, Avidron Carter. That’s why y’all are here, right? To help me with my writing?

So here’s everything about him, and your job is to ask any questions you have (questions about other characters aside from Av are permissible as well). Have fun, and maybe treat it like a mini-interview.

About Avidron Carter

Name: Avidron Carter

Age: 30

Occupation: Concert guitarist. Although it doesn’t make a lot of money, this is his dream job and he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.

Background: He grew up on a ranch in Bristol UK. He is the second oldest of five kids, his older brother being seven years older than him, and his closest sister one year younger. At age 12, his father died in an accident, and his older brother, Nathan, took the place of father-figure. At age 14, Avidron ran away from home, going to various locations in the UK until he boarded a charter boat and began travelling the world at age 16. He only contacted his family once, on his 16th birthday, but otherwise remained totally estranged.

Desire: Before the book starts, his only desire is to marry the love of his life, Paisley, and continue travelling the world with her. In accordance with the plot of the book, his desires shift to wanting to save his best friend, Marc, from some terrible fate which comes at the end of the “Clock” (more about this in the conflict section).

Virtue: Avidron has a problem with virtues. That is, he doesn’t really seem to have any. Towards specific people, he is loving and compassionate, but towards most people he’s cold, unsmiling, and harsh. His fiancee even notes the fact that she knows something is wrong because Avidron smiled, “Paisley knew he was not okay, however, because Avidron never really smiled.” I guess I would say that he would sacrifice everything in his life to be with Paisley and stay friends with Marc, even offering to die in Marc’s place.

Powers: Guitar playing. Exceptionally good memory.

Quirks: He sees colours in descriptions (ie. the colour yellow is described as “the colour of logic”, or a navy blue hoodie is “the colour of casual authority”, etc).

Suffering-causers: The Clock. Also the memory of his childhood is quite painful to him. He has PTSD from it, which causes him to break down in a scene when Nathan comes to visit.

Who kill for: Undoubtedly Marc. If someone was holding Marc at gunpoint, and Avidron had a gun, he would kill the guy if there was no other option. If it was possible to just shoot the fella in the arm or whatever, he’d do that first, but if nothing else presents, he would rather kill the dude than let Marc die.

Conflict/Obstacle: The Clock, an endlessly ticking down mental– well, clock, which first superimposed itself on him in a nightmare, now constantly haunts him, day and night. It is always in the corner of his vision somewhere, and when he sleeps, his dreams are tormented by visions of numbers. It began at 336:00:01, which is the hourly equivalent of two weeks (and one second), and it never lets up: “They never stopped, and try as he may, they never even slowed down. Everything remained perfectly out of his control.”

Perfect day: In Avidron’s mind, the perfect day would probably be something like hanging out at his house on a rainy day with Paisley and Marc. After the last light fades, he would turn off all house lights except maybe a single lamp, and they would sit in a serene silence only interrupted by the rhythmic pounding of the rain.

Who/what die for: To stop the clock: “I tell you, I’m gonna die trying to find a way to stop the clock”. For Paisley. For Marc: “What do I have to live for if you aren’t there living with me?”

Alright that’s all. If you’d like to read the beginning of the book, you can find it here: Number252: The Novel Excerpt

Ask all the questions you can possibly think of, please! I’m drowning over here! I need some help!

…thanks guys.

ps. this is my first post, so don’t beat me up about it, m’kay?

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