Fiction Writing Exercise 1
Character: Someone You Don’t Know
This is an exercise in developing an unfamiliar character.
Pick someone you know well.
Write ten true statements about him or her. For example, if I were writing about my former mother-in-law, I might say:
· She’s a brunette, but gray now.
· She runs a bookstore.
· She hates coffee.
· She used to play the piano really well, but she quit.
· She loves winter.
· She only wears natural fibers.
· She can make chili and fruitcake, but that’s about the limit of her kitchen skills.
· She does crosswords in pen.
· Her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice.
· She likes driving in the city, but hates rush hour.
Write down the opposite of each one of these things.
You’ll have ten new items. Sometimes there’s more than one opposite possible. “Her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice” can turn into, “Her favorite book is the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook,” or, “She hates Pride and Prejudice more than any other book,” or even, “His favorite book is Pride and Prejudice.”
This new, second list describes your main character for this exercise.
How would that character deal with one of these?
They are an opposite of someone you know, remember.
· Your character is walking down a busy street and suddenly goes blind. What does this mean to them? What does s/he do next? Who is your character?
· Your character’s sibling tells them in a restaurant that they are going to marry or move in with someone your character really has doubts about, for a reason that your character knows their sibling won’t understand at all.
· Your character pretends to be someone else for a job interview or blind date.
Rules.
• 300+ words, written like a scene, with dialogue, interiority, and external details.
• Two or more characters, so they have someone to interact with.
• At least five of the things on your list turn up in the scene.