Challenge One: Stories Start With People
I don't even like people. Why on earth would I want to write about them?:
Like any artistic misanthrope, we all have the fantastic curse of knowing we write about that which we despise. After all, the woman behind you at the Wal Mart checkout who is talking loudly on her cell phone has a story a tell. It may be the most boring, trivial, stupid story ever but it's a story, and that's what where here to do.
We just try to tell the less boring kind.
Challenge One:
Step One (Optional): I'm Glad I Didn't Throw Out that Copy of Vogue:
Find a magazine. It can be any kind that has photos in it. At random, find a photograph of a person who interests you. Do not read any accompanying articles or interviews or text that may shed light on the picture. Just look at the picture, and allow yourself to answer the following questions based on what comes from the physical impressions you receive.
Step Two: Getting To Know Your Character*:
Copy and paste the following into a word pad program and answer the questions!
Character's name:
Character's sex and/or identifying gender:
Age:
Occupation:
Hometown:
What did your character want to be when they were young? Or, if they are still young, what do they want to be when they grow up?
What is your character's favourite food? Is there anything they don't eat?
Describe your character's favourite outfit:
What kind of music does your character listen to? What TV shows do they watch? How about movies?
Tell me about your character's home life. Their parents, siblings, extended family and pets, if applicable.
What does your character eat for breakfast?
Write a few sentences on your characters love life, or lack thereof. What was their last relationship like? Was it successful or did it leave them feeling dissatisfied?
Does your character have any thoughts on religion or politics? Do they share them readily or keep them to in?
Does your character love their job or hate it?
List your character's five greatest emotional strengths:
Now list their five weaknesses or insecurities:
What kind of hobbies does your character have? What relaxes them or helps them wind down?
In no more than 3 sentences, describe an average day in the life of your character:
Your character finds a genie bottle and is granted one wish. What do they wish for?
*Suggestions:
- Because my background is in dramatic short stories, these exercises are not really going to cater towards genre stories or world building. However, if you are interested in writing fantasy or sci-fi specifically, some of this can certainly be used as a starting point. I just won't have a lot of world-building exercises so that will need to be done on the side.
- Don't try to make your character interesting. Honestly. An orphan who has lived on the streets, has a pet possum named Marco and has frequent song and dance numbers with sewer rats can be just as interesting as a middle-ages teacher from Iowa who knits and hates cooking dinner for her four teenagers. Don't worry too much about making your character interesting yet - just make them a person. We'll work on their story later.
Go on, writers! Start your engines!
Like any artistic misanthrope, we all have the fantastic curse of knowing we write about that which we despise. After all, the woman behind you at the Wal Mart checkout who is talking loudly on her cell phone has a story a tell. It may be the most boring, trivial, stupid story ever but it's a story, and that's what where here to do.
We just try to tell the less boring kind.
Challenge One:
Step One (Optional): I'm Glad I Didn't Throw Out that Copy of Vogue:
Find a magazine. It can be any kind that has photos in it. At random, find a photograph of a person who interests you. Do not read any accompanying articles or interviews or text that may shed light on the picture. Just look at the picture, and allow yourself to answer the following questions based on what comes from the physical impressions you receive.
Step Two: Getting To Know Your Character*:
Copy and paste the following into a word pad program and answer the questions!
Character's name:
Character's sex and/or identifying gender:
Age:
Occupation:
Hometown:
What did your character want to be when they were young? Or, if they are still young, what do they want to be when they grow up?
What is your character's favourite food? Is there anything they don't eat?
Describe your character's favourite outfit:
What kind of music does your character listen to? What TV shows do they watch? How about movies?
Tell me about your character's home life. Their parents, siblings, extended family and pets, if applicable.
What does your character eat for breakfast?
Write a few sentences on your characters love life, or lack thereof. What was their last relationship like? Was it successful or did it leave them feeling dissatisfied?
Does your character have any thoughts on religion or politics? Do they share them readily or keep them to in?
Does your character love their job or hate it?
List your character's five greatest emotional strengths:
Now list their five weaknesses or insecurities:
What kind of hobbies does your character have? What relaxes them or helps them wind down?
In no more than 3 sentences, describe an average day in the life of your character:
Your character finds a genie bottle and is granted one wish. What do they wish for?
*Suggestions:
- Because my background is in dramatic short stories, these exercises are not really going to cater towards genre stories or world building. However, if you are interested in writing fantasy or sci-fi specifically, some of this can certainly be used as a starting point. I just won't have a lot of world-building exercises so that will need to be done on the side.
- Don't try to make your character interesting. Honestly. An orphan who has lived on the streets, has a pet possum named Marco and has frequent song and dance numbers with sewer rats can be just as interesting as a middle-ages teacher from Iowa who knits and hates cooking dinner for her four teenagers. Don't worry too much about making your character interesting yet - just make them a person. We'll work on their story later.
Go on, writers! Start your engines!