Character Development

My character needs to be passionate about something...this passion needs to be the driving force for the story. But what? Love is overdone, and best left as an accessory to the main plot, so that's out. Career and goals; maybe. But again, what?

Should she be a writer? Seems like more and more novels are featuring a main character that writes... I want to be different. She needs to do something that I have an interest in, so I can draw from my own knowledge and be willing to research further. Animals? Cars? Photography? Travel? Travel would be delightful, but since I've only been throughout the USA that wouldn't be very broad.

Let's leave that alone for a minute and focus on smaller details.

She is going to have a cat. A Cornish Rex, no doubt. Blue, named Lady. And I want her to have a dog, too....a Whippet, I think. I wanted the dog to be a female as well, but everything coming to mind has him as a male. So it shall be a male Whippet named Milenko, also black. And for kicks, she'll have a Betta fish on her desk, blue and red, named Future.

Her name will be Morgan Chance....for now, at least. If I think of something better, it is subject to change.

Morgan's car will be an '04 Acura TSX in Arctic Blue Pearl, 6-speed, of course. She wants a Miata in addition to the TSX but can't quite swing it right now.

I think Morgan's living arrangement will be a smaller, 2-bedroom house by herself. She will have had a roommate previously, but took over the lease entirely when it ran out. She'll be on good terms with the old roomie, named Carrie (who drives a pearl white '03 Altima) and the two will socialize regularly.

I want for Morgan to live on the beach, but she needs to be at that sort of entry-level, working-her-way-through-life stage, so I can't give it all to her yet. We'll say she lives in a neighborhood about 30 minutes drive from the coast, and she'll visit when she's able.

We'll go ahead and put her in Charleston. She'll stroll up and down the battery with Milenko and they'll go play on Folly Beach at least once a week.

Morgan's hobbies will include running, photography, and art...probably painting. She'll possess actual artist talent, unlike myself... She'll enjoy a good cup of coffee, the occasional night out to the club, and browsing the internet.