Character Sketch

Ellie Jane Harper

I thought you would like to see how a character comes together. This is my protagonist from ‘Gap Year’.

• 5’2, petite, slightly tan with light freckles over her nose and cheeks. Long blonde hair that she ends up dying auburn. Light brown eyes. Dress is usually casual (jeans, nice top, sneakers or Crocs)
• Loves her family but knows they are overbearing at times. She has a younger brother (15) who has always been allowed to get away with more than she did. She applied to George Washington University in DC and got in with a full ride. She wanted to be a constitutional lawyer and lobbyist.
• She loves to paint and read. She had always toyed with the idea of writing, but felt she was no good. Keeps a journal every day.
• Broke up with her boyfriend on good terms before she left for her gap year. He went on to college on a basketball scholarship.
• Raised Catholic and has always been respectful to others. She hasn’t always agreed with her religion and has often kept her feelings to herself so as not to upset or embarrass her parents. She is liberal in nature, while her parents are more conservative.
• She loves to learn new things and experience new cultures. She went to Italy in her senior year with her class. She knows Latin, Italian, French and Spanish. She has written a few pieces for the school newspaper, usually political pieces.
• She loves horses, Corgi’s and most animals.
• She has an aunt (Cookie) she was close to as a child, but her parents pulled away from her as they decided she was too liberal to be around their children. She misses her and wishes she knew where she lived.
• She enjoys most music and her claim is that her play list is ‘kind of’ eclectic. She enjoys movies, rom-coms, fantasy and horror.
• Caroline Kennedy is an idol of hers.
• She loves retro.
• She does yoga and swims for exercise.
• She was popular in high school, but not in the most popular crowd since she stayed away from alcohol and drugs. She would occasionally bend the rules but never break them.
• She likes Coke and nachos.
• She doesn’t eat pork because her favorite teacher had a potbellied pig he used to bring to school occasionally.
• She decided to take a gap year to experience freedom before she started her college career. She decided she would do things that she wouldn’t normally do so she had the experiences to take with her.