Character Talk- Mina and Nan

So today I think I'm going to dive into some Characters from UnEnchanted.  MINA & NAN

In Fairest, I decided to test the relationship of our favorite best friends, Nan and Mina.

In High School there's always a period of time where someone is maturing, and has a complete character change that they later regret. A moment of selfishness, brattiness the "Oh poor me syndrome etc. Somewhat of a mid-high school life crises. Come on, we've all had one. Where we let how other people viewed us or treated us changed how we felt about ourselves and how we treated others. For some of us that made us into victims other times bullies. Or peer pressure sets in and you find yourself acting ways you wouldn't normally act. And don't forget the fight with a best friend that you weren't sure if you could ever repair.


MINAI started writing the series with Mina being 15 turning 16. And as I remember what it was like being in high school and at the age of almost being able to drive and the pressure to fit in and be noticed. So Mina is unsure, clumsy, and every bit the misfit. She starts to gain gain confidence and even begins dating Brody, but really how can hotness drop out of nowhere and all of a sudden take notice of a very quiet girl. So of course, she is reluctant to start dating him, for it all seems to good to be true. Well, when you read the ending. It was. Whether that was the story manipulating Brody into like her or not, we won't ever really know.

I decided to test Mina, give her flaws, see how she would react if her rock and best friend wasn't by her side and turned on her. At first she spiraled, became sullen, selfish and ungrateful. But then when it mattered most, she still cared enough to fight for her best friend. I think sometimes when characters hit bottom, and they can't sink any lower and then fight their way to change themselves and overcome, makes them a better person in the end. It is a growing moment. It also makes the characters real. It proves they have flaws and have moments of weakness and selfishness.

I'm not interested in making infallible characters. If you want that, then read a Superman comic. But then again his personality does roll over to the dark side when exposed to a variation of the rock Kryptonite. I want characters that have moments of selfishness.

NANNan is 16 a little more worldly, but not by much. She has a car and drives, knows more about what's popular and trendy, but not when it comes to boys. She is clueless.  With her parents never really being home, she fills her time with finding and connecting with people over twitter, and her phone. Her best friend Mina, is someone she knows will never leave her, because they find they what they lack in the other.  A lot of Nan's outgoing nature is a charade; she is a girl who wants hates being alone. She covers her insecurities by being silly, chatty, and goofy. She can usually be found hanging around the Grimes most weekends and taunting Charlie, who she secretly wishes was her own brother.  Mina's small single parent family is more of a family to Nan, than her own.

Nan's parents try and spoil her and she rebels in subtle ways to try and get them to notice her. A rich girl at heart, Nan does slip up and sometimes let materialistic things get in the way of friendship. Even when it comes to her first boyfriend. But once again, that is a familiar scenario to most people. As soon as your friend gets a boyfriend, you become a third wheel.

Some people think that I made the characters catty, mopey and unlikable but I believe I made them exactly like any Teenager during a certain time in their life. We all know someone that has gone through these issues or maybe we did ourselves. But I plan on having Mina and Nan grow and mature throughout the series. Have obstacles to overcome that will in the future define who they will be later in life. When I look back at where I was when I was 15. I laugh at how immature I was and all of the stupid things I said and I did.

So I look forward to more fights, arguments and growth between Mina and her best friend Nan.