Assignment #4 - Before I Knew You
Welcome back...to Tuesday Morning Writing Exercises on Wordsicle.
Today's exercise involves a particular character that you already know well. Decide who that is.
Maybe its the protagonist of your current work in progress. Maybe its a new character that is just starting to form in your mind. Maybe its a minor character that doesn't feel completely real yet. Or maybe its someone very real - someone you ride the bus with or take a class from, if you don't have a fictional character to work with. Choose your character.
Now imagine that person in detail...all the obvious things you know about him or her. His habits, good or bad. What she looks like....Get comfortable in what you already know about him.
Now, think back...to the very first time you 'met' this character...think of the first moment that they became real to you. Pinpoint the first time that this character entered your story.
What was he or she doing, as s/he was introduced? How will your reader's currently 'meet' him or her?
Perhaps Tommy first appears in a scene in which he's fishing at the edge of a pier...a storm is brewing, but he's oblivious...Or perhaps we first meet Lenia as she emerges from a cave, unaware that her life is about to change forever...(If your character is a real person, pinpoint the first time you became fully aware of this person. How did you meet him or her in real life?)
Now for the assignment:
Clear your mind of everything but that initial scene - the introduction of your character. See and feel everything in detail. The room or the barn or the car she's in...the time of day...the temperature. Everything. And when you are completely in the moment...GO BACK FURTHER. Go back...
Imagine what this particular character was doing FIVE YEARS BEFORE YOU 'MET' THEM...Make it up, right now. Imagine him or her -- and what s/he was like before you knew anything about them. Five years before they entered your story. Five years younger...
Imagine the specific day, five years prior...what were they doing, feeling, eating, planning, plotting, wishing for? Was he naive? Hardened? In pain? Excited? Depressed? Studious? Rich? Give him or her a specific history...
In 500 words or less - describe a specific day in the life of your character, as it happened, five years before they entered your story. Don't try to tie the events of that earlier day into your current story (or reality). Just imagine who the character was then, and write precisely and with detail, what they were doing, what they were feeling, etc.
Don't send your first draft. Polish your 500 words of text...then post your writing in the comments trail...
Start now...
Today's exercise involves a particular character that you already know well. Decide who that is.
Maybe its the protagonist of your current work in progress. Maybe its a new character that is just starting to form in your mind. Maybe its a minor character that doesn't feel completely real yet. Or maybe its someone very real - someone you ride the bus with or take a class from, if you don't have a fictional character to work with. Choose your character.
Now imagine that person in detail...all the obvious things you know about him or her. His habits, good or bad. What she looks like....Get comfortable in what you already know about him.
Now, think back...to the very first time you 'met' this character...think of the first moment that they became real to you. Pinpoint the first time that this character entered your story.
What was he or she doing, as s/he was introduced? How will your reader's currently 'meet' him or her?
Perhaps Tommy first appears in a scene in which he's fishing at the edge of a pier...a storm is brewing, but he's oblivious...Or perhaps we first meet Lenia as she emerges from a cave, unaware that her life is about to change forever...(If your character is a real person, pinpoint the first time you became fully aware of this person. How did you meet him or her in real life?)
Now for the assignment:
Clear your mind of everything but that initial scene - the introduction of your character. See and feel everything in detail. The room or the barn or the car she's in...the time of day...the temperature. Everything. And when you are completely in the moment...GO BACK FURTHER. Go back...
Imagine what this particular character was doing FIVE YEARS BEFORE YOU 'MET' THEM...Make it up, right now. Imagine him or her -- and what s/he was like before you knew anything about them. Five years before they entered your story. Five years younger...
Imagine the specific day, five years prior...what were they doing, feeling, eating, planning, plotting, wishing for? Was he naive? Hardened? In pain? Excited? Depressed? Studious? Rich? Give him or her a specific history...
In 500 words or less - describe a specific day in the life of your character, as it happened, five years before they entered your story. Don't try to tie the events of that earlier day into your current story (or reality). Just imagine who the character was then, and write precisely and with detail, what they were doing, what they were feeling, etc.
Don't send your first draft. Polish your 500 words of text...then post your writing in the comments trail...
Start now...
Labels: character, writing exercises
posted by Daphne Major at
9:57 PM
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