Okay, so today I’m gonna ramble about this little project I did called “older sister younger brother.” It’s not as scandalous as it sounds, relax. It was just a fun exercise in… well, I’ll get to it.
It all started with me messing around with character design. I was doodling, just letting my mind wander, and I ended up sketching this older girl, super confident, maybe a bit bossy. Then, almost instinctively, I drew a younger boy next to her, kind of shy and clingy. The immediate dynamic was just…there.
So, I thought, “What if I fleshed these two out? Gave them a story?” I wasn’t planning on writing a novel or anything, just exploring their relationship through a series of short scenes. Like snapshots, you know?
The Process: From Doodles to… Something
- Brainstorming: First, I jotted down a bunch of ideas. What’s their age gap? What are their personalities really like? What kind of situations would highlight their dynamic? I wanted them to feel real, not just archetypes. The older sister, let’s call her “A,” is maybe 16, super responsible because their parents work a lot. The younger brother, “B,” is like 8, still figuring things out and totally relies on A.
- Scene Selection: Next, I picked a few key moments. The first day of school for B, where A has to hold his hand even though he’s “too cool” for it. A power outage where B is terrified and A tries to act brave even though she’s also freaking out. A fight over a toy that ends with both of them crying. Just real, everyday stuff.
- Writing the Scenes: This is where it got interesting. I didn’t want to write dialogue-heavy scenes. I wanted to focus on their actions, their body language, the little gestures that showed their connection. For example, in the power outage scene, I described A grabbing B’s favorite stuffed animal and holding it out to him, even though she needed to hold onto something herself. Stuff like that.
- Iteration, Iteration, Iteration: I rewrote these scenes a bunch of times. I wanted to nail the tone, make sure it felt authentic. I even showed them to a friend with younger siblings and asked for feedback. Brutal honesty is your friend here.
The Challenges (and How I Bumbled Through Them)
The biggest challenge was avoiding clichés. The older sister/younger brother dynamic is pretty common, so I wanted to make it fresh. I tried to avoid the typical “annoying little brother” trope and instead focused on the genuine love and dependence they had for each other. Even when they’re fighting, you can tell they care.
Another challenge was writing from both perspectives. I tried to get into the heads of both A and B, understand their motivations. It helped to think back to my own childhood and remember what it was like being both the older and younger sibling (I’m in the middle, actually, so I drew on both experiences!).
The Result (and What I Learned)
In the end, “older sister younger brother” became a series of short, interconnected scenes that told a story about love, responsibility, and the messy, beautiful bond between siblings. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but it was a really valuable exercise.
I learned a lot about character development, scene setting, and the power of subtle storytelling. Plus, it was just plain fun. Sometimes you just gotta let your imagination run wild and see what happens.
So, yeah, that’s my “older sister younger brother” project. Maybe I’ll revisit it someday and expand on it, but for now, it’s a nice little snapshot of a moment in time.
