Short storty female characterI am writing?

[Anonymous]

I am writing a short story about a 5 foot 3 inches successful 39 year old US businesswoman that is held for ransom by people she knows. I want to make her obese rather than skinny as she works long hours and physically out of shape due to working long hours and exercising little. I want her to be happy with her body and her weight more so an issue for others.

I was initially writing that she was aged 54 and weighed 300 pounds but I think 300 pounds is too much for a wploman her age that doesn't exercise and perhaps around 200 pounds is more accurate.

What do you think?

[DreamCrescent]

you said 39 or 54? you lost me


but 300 is morbidly obese. no “successful” short woman would weigh that much, out of shape or not.
200 is still too much. At 5’3” her BMI is considered obese before 150lbs


i’d recommend consulting a female BMI chart. Women’s weights are DRASTICALLY different than men’s and I’m suspecting your point of reference is a guy’s weight


I would recommend make her voluptuous due to her job and lifestyle but avoid making her morbidly obese to keep her likable and relatable. Hard to relate to someone that size that you’re talking about and it would be difficult to see her as successful, regardless the backstory you give her. Getting that big would take EXTREME issues


good luck with your story :)


As a point of reference, take it or leave it, I’m 38 and 5’, successful career a boss at my job. though not business, i’m in science. when the going got tough, the heaviest i got was 135lbs. And that wasn’t even working long hours or being at a desk all day; it was divorce that got the best of me


200 hundred is too much if you want readers

[Laura_Marx]

unless your readers are in the 200-300lbs range themselves, they probably won't really know the difference between a 200lb character and a 300lb character. in addition, in most modes of narrative discourse, you probably won't have an occasion to state her exact weight in pounds. especially in a short story! so the decision is not so important. if it comes up, you can decide what would be better from a narrative perspective at the time. that's how i'd think about it.

also it's not really unrealistic for a 39 year old to be 300lbs at 5'3. there are such people, and they are worth writing about.

[OfDeath]

For a 5’3 woman to be 300 lbs, she would have to be disgustingly overweight to the point of having difficulty walking and standing up.

[jojouzumaki]

That’s not a story it’s a description of the character. what’s the story?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, keep trying.

[In_Trance]

What is a storty?