On the Run

Start on the run, physically, mentally, spiritually...

What are you or your character running from? Is there something or somewhere you hope to get to? Are you searching for something? Someone?

What happens if you don't make it? What happens if you get caught?



Picture credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katherynlove/3205840536/

It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Conventional writing wisdom says never to start a story with the weather.

How can you use weather effectively in your writing? How can you best avoid the dangerous cliches associated with storms and snow, etc.

Some of the greats use weather in ways that ring of cliche. Do they get away with it? Does the ending of James Joyce's "The Dead," earn the snow it uses?

What about Orwell's "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen"

Does Mary Shelley earn her "It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils." At the beginning of Chapter 6 of Frankenstein? Did you know that this was where she first intended the novel to start?

Weather can be a catalyst for events, such as a flood, a drought, or a freeze.

It can be a backdrop that sets the mood.

Occasionally, (and when it most runs into cliche) weather is used as a metaphor. Be really careful with that one.

PROMPTS:

Write a story or poem in which weather plays a large role. Play around with weather as both an active influence and a more passive one. Have you turned it into a metaphor? Does that work?

Find a scene, story, or poem with a setting that you have written, or one from a work you like. If the passage has one type of weather, what would change if that weather changed? If there is no stated weather, what weather do you think is in the background? What would the effect of different conditions have on the scene.

Sit down for a moment.

Once, someone sat in this chair. They had a reason for being there, a reason they needed or wanted to sit down. They had something to think about and some reason to be where they were. Tell the story of that person and that chair. Start of quickly. Don't worry about background or biography. Just start with that person and this chair. For the first draft, stop when they get up and leave the chair. Later, feel free to go back and add the things that happened before and after. Don't be scared to think outside of the box.

Windows to the Soul?

Who is she? What does she want? How did she get to where she is, both physically and mentally. For this exercise, write something either from her point of view or from the point of view of the person she is staring at. Focus on intention and voice. Keep the piece very limited to that one characters knowledge and thoughts, either first or third person.

Need inspiration? Look into her eyes a bit longer. The picture is called "Familiar Eyes" where I found it on pixdaus.com. What do you see in them?

My nose will grow now...

When is it okay not to tell the truth? Is any non-truth a lie? Write about a lie. It could be from your life or not, it could be real or not. Why is the lie told? Is it told with good intent or to cause harm? Does it accomplish that goal? Who is affected? If no one finds out, can the one who told the lie live with it? What happens if someone finds out the truth?

When an actor or actress is looking for motivations on stage, we are often told to pick the strongest choice, the most extreme situation. That may or may not work for you as a writer. Try both out. An affair and a stolen cookie. A murder and which color drapes look best. See which works most comfortably. Try things in between. Remember, a story should have some sort of conflict.

If elected, I promise...

Here's a fun one: Derail a political campaign. That's right, play God for the other side, or just wreck havoc on a politician's hopes and dreams. Anywhere from the drastic to a simple misunderstanding. Is he the brother of a soviet spy? Was there an affair involved or did the bloggers just go crazy on a political stunt? Is the result a tragic family shattering press conference or will this politico run next time and win?

Two examples to jump start your story:

This presidential candidate, a Washington outsider, is on the path to the parties nomination. He and the other potentials stand for the pledge of allegiance and he puts his left hand over his right side of his chest. The blogs go crazy, searching for other gaffs and problems. Turns out, he was a mirror twin, but his brother died in childbirth. That means his entire body map was switched, so he was putting his hand over his heart. But it was too late. He slipped in the polls and lost the nomination.

This incumbent senator is a rising star, slated for a bright future. In fact, he was asked to speak at the national convention. His picture shines on every TV screen from coast to coast and across the world. The Washington D.C. police department gets a long distance call from Australia from a girl claiming to have been assaulted by this politician. The cold case is pulled out and the DNA is matched. This man heads to a different "big house" but the next month.

Feel free you use either of my examples or parts of them.

As always play around. You might find a character you love. Remember, these exercises might not lead to a great piece, but you may find a character, style, idea, or even line that you want to use again.

Once upon a prompt

Once upon a time, fairy tales didn't always end happily. Love wasn't always returned and the heroine and hero didn't always embrace in a pair of crowns. Read up on the Grimm's Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen's original Little Mermaid. Or skip that and just put your own twist on happily ever after. Maybe the little orphan girl is angry and rude. Maybe Prince Charming falls in love with the step sisters. Maybe Step-Mom isn't that bad after all. Have fun, see what you come up with.


Picture Credit to jeftoon01 at deviantart.com

Children are...

Write about the lives of one or more of these children. Pick a point in their life, after these pictures were taken. It can be twenty five years, two years, three months, even an hour and a half. Write about something that influenced them or will influence, whether they know it or not.

What do these children like? What do they do for fun? What do they want to be when they grow up? What are their hopes and fears? What are their deepest secrets?

Feel free to go with the most obvious or the most unlikely choices. Who knows? This might become a character that grows on you as a writer.

Old House

Who is this man? Where is he? Why is he there?

Bonus: Who took this picture? Why?

What's in a name?

You (or your character) are at a government office to legally change your name. What are you changing it to? Why? You meet someone else there also getting his or her name legally changed, but for a different reason. Why is he or she there?