Novel Wars Character Sketch - Maxine Murray

I'm still here, I promise!

So! One of my goals for this year is to spend some time each month with the characters from my attempted Nano, Novel Wars. A character sketch, in my opinion, is something that gives an author a better sense of who the character is, and how to best to present the character to the reader. I'm using a list I found on Tumblr for this, as I think it gives a good background on some of the things that I may not normally think of. So, with no further ado, I present Maxine Murray, host of Novel Wars!

• How they present themselves - always put together very professionally, trying to look like an established member of the media.
• How they stand - very prim, straight backed, head up.
• How much space they take up when they’re sitting (Meaning do they ‘manspread’ or do they hunch into themselves?) - she's been trying to work on making herself take up more space, but she still defaults to keeping her arms tucked in and feet together when in public.
• Whether or not they use their hands when they talk - constantly, especially when she's trying to describe something to other people who aren't in the business.
• How they talk to their parents - she doesn't.
• Whether or not they smile at strangers - she generally has a smile on her face, and if the stranger might be part of the industry, the smile's even bigger.
• Whether or not their smile reaches their eyes - sometimes, but not often.
• How they treat animals - she thinks animals are fantastic from afar, but she would never dream of having a pet.
• What their friends are like - she doesn't have many, and the ones she does have aren't close.
• What kind of people they surround themselves with - generally, people who can help her career.
• How they talk about themselves - she tries to keep things as truthful as possible, though she's not above making her role in things sound a little bigger than it was.
• How they talk about others - she avoids gossiping as much as she can, but she's always willing to listen to other people gossiping.
• Whether they speed up or slow down at a yellow light - she definitely speeds up.
• Whether they accept or deny compliments - she's perfected the art of outwardly denying a compliment with inwardly accepting it as her due.
• How frequently they apologize - she tries to only apologize when she actually thinks she did something wrong.
• Whether or not they willing to admit they’ve made a mistake - she avoids it as much as she can.
• How they treat waiters/waitresses/cashiers - not great; she's been known to use the phrase 'little people' unironically
• Whether or not they reciprocate generosity - only if she thinks she can get something out of it.
• How they respond to traffic - she gets irritated very quickly, and assumes she is the only person who has somewhere to go.
• How they treat subordinates - not well. She's a little better once she gets to know them, but they don't often stick around long enough to get to that point.
• Whether or not they willingly give up their seat or open a door for someone - not a chance.
• The “most listened to” songs on their playlist - Beyonce and other female power singers.
• What they would tell you about during a late-night conversation - all the gossip she's picked up from other people.
• What they doodle on their papers - lots of stars.
• Whether or not they let people go in front of them in line at the grocery store - good grief no. She has places to be.
• How they want to be seen by others - someone of importance, someone who is recognizable and important.