Invisible friends
The other day, I got this idea for a writing exercise and I've decided to post it here to see if anyone's interested in giving it a try. It goes something like this:
Two writers pair up. They each invent a character and a setting, but they don't tell each other who the character or what the setting is. These characters will be each others' invisible friend, so to speak.
How does that work? Well, the characters will end up in peril. What peril that is, is for each writer to choose (it could be anything; ending up in jail, hiding from a serial killer, surviving a war, etc. But it has to be something where they can take a moment to breathe and think).
When the characters are in that situation, they form a telepathic bond. Why? That's for the writers to figure out after the exercise is done. As is, they start hearing a voice in their head that isn't their own.
Practically, Writer 1 sends a line of dialogue to Writer 2, for example: "I'm so scared."
Writer 1 might have written descriptions around said line, for example: He clutched at the wound in his side and thought to himself, "I'm so scared". However, Writer 2 only gets to see the line of dialogue.
Writer 2 then writes a response, with description and dialogue, but only sends the dialogue part to Writer 1. Each writer gets 10 lines of dialogue each, then the telepathic contact breaks.
Time passes (how much, each writer decides - it doesn't have to be the same amount of time for both characters) and then the next peril comes along. The telepathic contact happens again, for another 20 lines of dialogue (10 each). Then more time passes and there's the final dialogue exchange.
Once the third exchange is over, Writer 1 & 2 trade their full stories and try to puzzle together a reason for the telepathic contact and an ending to the story/ies.
The rules of the telepathic dialogue are:
1) The characters can't tell what sex/gender the other is or emotional state the other is in. They will interpret the "voice" as a mixture of familiar voices, that keep changing.
2) If one writer puts []s around a word in the dialogue they send (ex: "I'm in a [cave]"), that word is a concept the receiver has to interpret and describe in the "hidden" text (i.e. the text the other writer doesn't get to see until the exercise is over.)
Did that make sense? Anyone interested in giving this a try?
Two writers pair up. They each invent a character and a setting, but they don't tell each other who the character or what the setting is. These characters will be each others' invisible friend, so to speak.
How does that work? Well, the characters will end up in peril. What peril that is, is for each writer to choose (it could be anything; ending up in jail, hiding from a serial killer, surviving a war, etc. But it has to be something where they can take a moment to breathe and think).
When the characters are in that situation, they form a telepathic bond. Why? That's for the writers to figure out after the exercise is done. As is, they start hearing a voice in their head that isn't their own.
Practically, Writer 1 sends a line of dialogue to Writer 2, for example: "I'm so scared."
Writer 1 might have written descriptions around said line, for example: He clutched at the wound in his side and thought to himself, "I'm so scared". However, Writer 2 only gets to see the line of dialogue.
Writer 2 then writes a response, with description and dialogue, but only sends the dialogue part to Writer 1. Each writer gets 10 lines of dialogue each, then the telepathic contact breaks.
Time passes (how much, each writer decides - it doesn't have to be the same amount of time for both characters) and then the next peril comes along. The telepathic contact happens again, for another 20 lines of dialogue (10 each). Then more time passes and there's the final dialogue exchange.
Once the third exchange is over, Writer 1 & 2 trade their full stories and try to puzzle together a reason for the telepathic contact and an ending to the story/ies.
The rules of the telepathic dialogue are:
1) The characters can't tell what sex/gender the other is or emotional state the other is in. They will interpret the "voice" as a mixture of familiar voices, that keep changing.
2) If one writer puts []s around a word in the dialogue they send (ex: "I'm in a [cave]"), that word is a concept the receiver has to interpret and describe in the "hidden" text (i.e. the text the other writer doesn't get to see until the exercise is over.)
Did that make sense? Anyone interested in giving this a try?