31 Day Character Development Writing Challenge
(days 11- 31)
DAY 11: When does your celebrity feel their best? Are they the type that does best with time off, hanging out at home with the family or the dog on the couch, or do they find themselves feeling the most at ease while working?
She feels her best when enjoying some time off to work on herself. This is typically during hiatus for her, where she can start off her day feeling like a badass post workout, hang at the beach with her girls, then be lazy for the rest of the day on the couch with Kleo and a bag of chips. Everybody needs time to just chill out, and it’s a time for her to be her best self that doesn’t involve waking up at 5am for hair and makeup as most other times in her life.
DAY 12: Why did your celebrity choose the house that they’re currently living in? Was there something that drew them to the space, or a price point that it fell under, or some special reason that they decided to take the plunge?
Janel loves any excuse to be near the water, so settling over in the Retreats was a natural choice especially in comparison to the home she was just moving out of blocks from the beach. She’s used to a smaller, simpler living. It was a perfect compromise considering other options she’d seen in town.
DAY 13: Describe the contents of your celebrity’s night stand. Is it full of naughty secrets? Do they keep precious family mementos? What about the surface, do they have things thrown about, is it organized?
Her night stand is fairly organized, though she does tend to collect things like water bottles on top. Inside of the drawer is mostly miscellaneous things like packs of tissues and a handy bottle of painkillers. Books occasionally make their way on and off of the table, as now most reading she does isn’t from from a physical book. Always found are always pens, pencils, and highlighters as well as she tends to read her scripts while in bed. Anything else, might need to be cleaned out but it isn’t messy by any means.
DAY 14: Winter can be a bit dark and bleak, and sometimes that leads to down days. How does your celebrity handle those? Is there someone they talk to, something they do to feel better, or do they end up keeping it to themselves and dwelling?
Janel talks to her mom and sister every day, even if for just a few minutes. If she needs to talk to anyone, they are her go-to. However, as someone who is prone to feeling everything hard, if she can’t talk things out with family she immediately turns to locking herself in her music room to write. Writing and the occasional composition is her personal form of therapy. If she didn’t write, she’d end up keeping it in until she blew up, so in order to avoid that music and wine is her go-to to feeling better. Maybe even a good cry.
DAY 15: What kind of lover is your celebrity? Are they the sweet, giving kind or more in it for themselves; openly affectionate in public or more reserved?
Janel falls fast and loves hard. She’s always one to sacrifice for love, or what she thinks is love, even work. Her priority is typically her man, though at the end of the day even without her realizing it, her relationships often suffer because she has difficulty waiting to jump into the next. Affectionate does not begin to describe her. She wants everyone to know who her boo is, constantly posting pictures, without any ability to keep her hands.. or mouth to herself. She is always one to start throwing around “I love you” quicker than most would think appropriate but at the end of the day, she can’t help it when she feels she’s in love.
DAY 16: The world stops on a certain day of the year, and stays that way forever – what day would your celebrity choose to stop the clocks on? (Month and day.)
Any of the last few times she’d been reunited with her entire family, particularly her grandparents. Since her grandfather’s alzheimers diagnosis, it’s been tough on the family not being able to get together often to see him. So, maybe her sister’s wedding being the last time everyone was together.
DAY 17: How does your celebrity handle being sick or hurt? Are they the type of person to obey the doctor’s orders and stay in bed? Or are they the kind that’s up and doing things far before they should?
Being sick and being injured are two completely different stories for Janel. If she is sick, she will refuse to see a doctor and revert back to being a needy child. Sick days require home remedies, soup, and cuddling with either another human or Kleo or her stuffed bear. Maybe even all three. Being injured however, she’ll keep quiet for as long as possible. With a pretty high pain tolerence, it takes quite a lot of pain for her to cry. If she’s in enough pain to shed tears, she knows it’s serious enough to get professionally checked out. And although she does her best to follow doctors orders, she may decide to ignore them if they interfere with work.
DAY 18: Pick three things that your celebrity owns or possesses that are important to them, and explain why they care about them so much. Please exclude animals or people!
Her final wrap gifts from Liars, the ring and jacket, in remembrance of a chapter as a family for the group who survived seven years together creating something they’re truly proud of. She also has priceless jewelry given to her by her grandmother back home which is important for that very reason.
DAY 19: Does your celebrity have a lot of friends, or do they tend to rely on a smaller group of friends?
Janel truthfully has a small circle that are her true friends, but often times calls acquaintances her friends, and her friends her best friends. She has a specific handful who have stuck with her through thick and thin who were truly her best friends and those she has made more recently who are on their way to join that position in her life.
DAY 20: What’s your celebrity’s relationship history like? A lot of hook-ups, many long-term relationships? Have they ever gotten very serious with someone before?
Back to back long term relationships over the past decade, with the occasional fling in between. She is a serial monogamist who does not know how to be single for very long. Most of these men are people she has worked with, at one time or another. However, her two most publicly speculated relationships are both unconfirmed flings that she refuses to speak on as they occurred back to back and interfered with her job. Of all of these relationships, only one has ended close to marriage.
DAY 21: Travel time! Where in the world would your celebrity like to go if they were given the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the entire world? The catch is… it’s a solo trip that they’re taking alone.
Anywhere where she can drink from sun up to sun down while lying out on the beach. It might be nice to visit Turks and Caicos again, as last time she took her sister she had purely jumped at the opportunity as a means to get the hell out of LA and away from the drama overwhelming her life at the time. So, it would be nice to return to what was one of her favorite vacation spots, without having to feel doomed about returning home.
DAY 22: Whether they’re into acting, music, a sport… what has been the project that your celebrity is the most proud of?
Her two biggest projects thus far. Liars established her career as a real actress and taught her about the business. It’s given her career the opportunity to expand in ways she never even considered, all stemming from the show. Luckily, the spin off gives her a chance to continue that journey and testing her limits in acting. Of everything else she’s done over the years, Dancing had the most impact on her personally. The journey challenged her not only physically but emotionally and mentally to a degree she never expected, and it was all worth it for the experience in the end. She grew up a lot in the aftermath as well. Both shows shaped an extensive part of her life from which she grew up, and looking back, is the proudest accomplishments of her career.
DAY 23: And on the opposite side of the spectrum, is there a project that your celebrity has worked on that they absolutely regret, for one reason or another?
She doesn’t regret any projects because they have all taught her about life and led her to where she is now. But let’s be real, Bratz is a little embarrassing to watch back. It was her first major film, and it bombed, and watching back is cringe-worthy. However, it gave her her best friends to this day and taught her lessons she needed before reaching the level she would a few short years later.
DAY 24: How does your celebrity handle the holiday season? Are they the kind that’s very excited and upbeat? Do they tend to get somber around the holidays? Are they religious at all, or more in it for the traditions they create on their own?
Christmas is her favorite time of year. Christmas music makes her happy to the point she’ll be told to shut up several times throughout the month. The holidays always come up far to quick, in her opinion, and leave even quicker. She didn’t grow up particularly religious but her family does celebrate Christmas with early morning presents and brunch. Typically, because her extended family is so far away, it’s a quiet and comfortable day spent relaxing and enjoying family time.
DAY 25: What is your celebrity’s Christmas (or other/no holiday, if they don’t celebrate) routine like? Do they travel out of town, have family over? Wake up early, or take advantage of the holiday and sleep in? What do they do with the day? How has it changed since they were younger and at home?
Most years, her sister flies in and they both spend it with their parents and dogs. By that point, Janel has typically moved back in with her parents for a few days already, staying with them upwards of a week beforehand and a few days after. Christmas day is typically an early morning, breakfast mimosas and presents type of deal. A games of Chinese checkers while laying on the living room floor leads to Janel’s solo tradition of watching RENT or the Sound of Music or any other musical she’s deemed Christmas appropriate while her folks rest. The day is just to relax and enjoy family time, typically ending with some wine and a book in hand to end the night. Back in Hawai'i, it would be a day spent at grandmas with the whole family and Janel was the one singing for the family after presents. Since moving to LA, it’s been her and her parents and sister. That list now includes her brother in law and the family dogs.
DAY 26: When the holidays end, is your celebrity the type that wants to undecorate and move on immediately to get back to normal, or do they keep things up and keep the spirit going longer?
Janel is lazy and will keep things up until her mom comes over to help take everything down. She loves Christmas and wishes it lasted longer, so as long as the decor is socially acceptable is good with her. New Years is often time the cut off for her to bring everything down.
DAY 27: Is your celebrity more of a city-dweller, or a farm person? Do you think that where they grew up had a big impact on that? And how do they do when they’re living in the opposite situation?
She refuses to live downtown, the suburbs are more her scene. Growing up in Honolulu, she enjoyed her time when the family lived a ways away toward the mountains and spent her days on the beach. The house she owns in LA is a relatively small home in quiet neighborhood in North Hollywood. She was previously living in Long Beach, blocks away from a small beach. Now she’s out by the water yet again in town. If she were to go back to living in a place like DTLA she would probably rip her hair out, it’s too much. Living out far in farm country also may not work, she relies too much on food delivery.
DAY 28: Growing up, was there one person that your celebrity looked up to more than any other, whether it be family, friend, or just someone else in their life? How do they feel about that person today?
Her mom, older sister, actresses like Lucy Liu and Ming Na Wen or Lea Salonga, and as she got older her cousin actress Kelly Hu when she began making it big. Each woman had a big impact on her life in different ways, mostly teaching her to believe in herself and that she was capable of anything no matter who she was, where she came from, or how she looked.
DAY 29: Imagine if your celebrity had never come to Bayview… where would they be right this moment? Who would they be with, and what would they be doing?
She would still be in Toronto working, but in her previous relationship heading for the alter. Without Bayview, she’d be caught up in work to distract from everything else happening in life, and balancing that with wedding planning instead and in need of some time off. However, work prospects would still be the same, as she signed on for them over a year ago.
DAY 30: It’s the year 2022, and your celebrity is still living in Bayview. Describe what you think their life is going to be like in five years; are they still in the same house, doing the same work? With the same person and social circle? Or has their life changed astronomically? Do you think the reality of where they are is where they would have wanted to be back in 2017?
Probably in a bigger place in the suburbs, married, maybe have a kid but she’s still got plenty of time. All her time is spent between town and on location filming, her music career has also taken off. The same consistent people around her keeping her grounded. It’s a good life. Life has started to fall together, so the next five years are expected to continue the trend.
DAY 31: If there was one wish that your celebrity could have come true for the upcoming year, what would it be and why?
To finally settle down and be happy, while work continues to be steady. So in other words, to be living comfortably. Other years have not been so nice. It would also be nice to get a little more credit and recognition for her work, which oftentimes goes unnoticed.
