Author: Terry Connelly

Terry Connelly is a retired high school English teacher. She earned her BA and Single Subject Teaching credential from California State University of the East Bay, in Hayward, California. Her short story "The Visitor" was published in the Noyo River Review after winning first place at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference in 2019. Another short story, "Swept Sway" is in the CWC Literary Review. She taught for 18 years at Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California. She was gifted to work with both College Prep students and those with learning disabilities.

Physical Descriptions 

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Your character might be tall, short or somewhere in between. He might be bald or have a log ponytail. She might have eyes as blue as the sky or brown and deep. 

Body size is important as well, but unless it is relevant to the story, we probably don’t need to know shoe size.

Your task is to think of two characters that you might like to use in a story. Create a column for each. Write a name above each.

Then record the physical description for each. Be as detailed as possible. Don’t just think of the obvious. Include shoulders, width of arms, waist and thighs. Length of legs. And, yes, size of shoes.

Your characters should be very different from each other.

When you are finished, write a short scene in which they interact. Even though you have a complete picture of each, don’t overload the reader with description. Instead find a way to slowly add a detail here and there.

Have fun with this one!

Position of Authority

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Our character does not live in a vacuum. Unless he is a child, he must work somewhere, doing something and being accountable to someone.

Therefor it behooves us to give our character a job. She can be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a telemarketer working for minimum wage, or an innovator of a new app. Having a job gives her credibility, and of course, an income.

Often in our stories our characters just “be”. They live somewhere and eat and wear clothes, but we don’t explain where the money comes from.

Your job is to write a scene in which your character is at work. He can be the boss in charge of an office full of accountants or the owner of an auto repair shop. She might work in Human Resources or clean houses to barely scrape by.

Think of your character’s personality and life style. What types of jobs would interest her and how much money would she have to make to live in the manner that you have chosen.

Make a list of possible job titles. Next to each, an approximation of the expected income for that job. You can probably find the information on the internet.

In which of these positions do you see your character? Narrow your list down to your top two. Then, keeping in mind the story you want to tell, which job allows your character to move about and do the things that you want her to do?

Once you have settled on the job, your task is to set things in motion. Write the story in which your character goes to work and interacts with others.

Have fun with this one.

Siblings in Our Stories

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Our characters might have brothers and sisters. If so, we have to define their relationships and how our character feels about the siblings.

For example, in some families, siblings seem to get along marvelously. This has a lot to do with how the parents treated them. If achievements are applauded equally, if discipline is handled fairly, and if comparisons never come up in conversation, then there will be no/little ill will.

In other families, it’s all about competition for parental attention and favor. Sons might be held in higher regard than daughters. Sons might get preferential treatment when it comes to borrowing the car, staying out at night, doing chores around the house. Girls might be subservient, only being able to use the car if the boy doesn’t need it, having restrictions that prohibit socializing at night, and having to clean the entire house, including the boy’s bedroom, before having free time.

Sons might be expected to learn to mow lawns and care for the car, while girls learn to cook, sew and shop.

You have to decide how to handle siblings in your stories.

Your task is to write a scene in which siblings interact with each other and with at least one guardian. This will require some dialogue, some description, some movement/change.

Have fun with this one.

Natural Disasters

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Let’s face it: things happen. Life is not a bowl of chocolates or cherries or cookies. It’s messy, even if we eliminate all the emotional baggage and just focus on the environment.

All over the world weather causes damage. Fires. Floods. Mudslides. Tornadoes and hurricanes. Famine and drought. Fissures and earthquakes. Lightning strikes, ice, hail and snow.

And when these things happen, people’s lives are affected.

Your character, even when living in a fantasy world, experiences a natural disaster or two. This has to be reflected in the story. Not just the event, but also the character’s reactions.

Your task is to write a scene in which some force of nature comes tumbling down in the way of your character’s life. I suggest choosing a phenomenon with which you are most familiar.

For example, in the SF area where I live,  earthquakes are not all that uncommon. But we’ve also recently experienced four years of drought followed by this year’s torrential rains. A reservoir overflowed, the emergency release point on a dam crumbled, and the overflow washed away in a sea of mud. Homes were evacuated, bridges and streets collapsed and water seeped into basements, parks, and parked cars.

If I were to write a story that takes place in the spring or fall, I would need to add in rainfall, hail, sleet and maybe even a little snow on the highest peaks.

Think of the location for your scene. Then make a list of potential disasters that could occur. Choose one. Then write.

Remember to include what your character sees, thinks, feels, tastes and hears. Include emotional reactions. Have some type of damage occur so that your character has to take action.

When finished, reread looking for places where you can strengthen description and response.

Have fun with this one.

 

Children in Our Lives

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We cannot live without children. Sure, some choose a life without them in their homes, which is perfectly okay. However, for the future of our world, children must be born, grow up and become contributing adults.

This is true even in our stories. Many times we ignore children in our writing. We don’t mention them, even in passing, and certainly don’t have them impact the way our protagonist behaves.

But what if we did? How would the presence of children impact our main characters? Alter the pace of the story? Change the plot?

This is for you to discover.

Your task is to write a scene in which there is at least one child. Said child can be a newborn, toddler, elementary school age, high school student, or young twenty-something. The child must not be a shadow figure, someone who floats in and out of the scene without interacting with the adults present.

Rather the child must participate in the action. The child might play with something, break something, throw something. Run in and out of the house/apartment/dwelling. Speak to people, if capable of speech. Be touched in some way. Do things, like spill milk, draw, play an instrument.

Interaction with this child will have meaningful impact on the story. For example, it might give added insight into the protagonist’s personality, or cause the adults to choose going to the park where a body is found, or alter vacations plans from lying on the beach in the Caribbean to going to Disneyland for a family adventure.

Have fun with this one.

The Element of Change

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In our everyday lives, things happen. Life is not static, unless you are dead, so when you write, your characters must be doing things.

There are two types of change: external and internal.

In external change, the character moves, either by choice or by necessity. For example, she walks down the hall to change into something more comfortable, or he opens the refrigerator and takes out hamburger he’s going to turn into a meatloaf. She drives down the street, heading to work, keeping an eye out for random dogs, cats or kids that might step into danger. He climbs up four flights of stairs to get to his apartment, carrying a basket of clean laundry.

External change is important as it allows us to see characters in motion, doing things that ordinary, or not so ordinary people do. At the end of a scene involving external change, we expect the character to be in a new, different place.

Internal change is the stuff of emotions. Something happens and your character reacts by getting angry, crying, withdrawing. For example, the teenager wants to go to a school dance, but the parents say no. The teen stomps off, shouting obscenities and slamming doors. She hides in her room crying and pouting, but as time passes, she realizes that she had forgotten that today was her grandmother’s 90th birthday and the family was going to see her. The teen calms down, returns to the family room, and apologizes.

During the course of this scene we have seen anger, rebellion, meditation, thoughtful remorse and apologetic behavior. The teen is a different person than she was at the beginning.

Internal change is the most powerful form of change, for it allows the reader to feel the emotions that the character is experiencing. We see into the character’s mind and heart, feel along with him, and then root for change, which may or may not be the change we would like to see.

External change is the easiest to write, while internal the more challenging.

Your task is to write a scene in which the character experiences both types of change. Don’t worry about the significance of the change. It doesn’t have to be mind-altering or permanent. It needs to be important and we must feel, at the conclusion, that something of significance has occurred.

Have fun with this one!

Sounds Around Us

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This afternoon I went swimming. As I was changing in the locker room, a couple of women were talking a few bays over. I couldn’t hear what they said, but the rhythm of their speech showed excitement.

When I walked out on the pool deck, there was no sound even though there were two men swimming. They were both doing the breast stroke, the quietest stroke of them all. But then I got in the pool, and despite the cap pulled over my ears, I heard the swoosh, swoosh sound of my hands pulling.

A really fast swimmer got in the middle lane. Now there was a pounding as his mighty kick thrust him forward through the water.

Right now I am sitting by my front window. The dog across the street is barking incessantly, an annoying whoop, whoop that does not change in intensity.

Some kids just came home from school. With the beautiful sunshine all around them, they are full of energy. Their high-pitched voices echo through the courtyard.

And now the ice cream truck comes, its annoying repetitive jingle playing over and over in an endless loop.

Your task is to close your eyes and listen. Write about what you hear, as descriptively as possible. Keep at it for at least an hour. Pay attention to the tiniest details. There is no sound too small, too high pitched, too filled with layers upon layers for you to notice.

Do this on a different day, at a different time. Record what you hear. Don’t worry about sight, taste, smell, feel. Only sound.

Return to your journal on a weekend, at night, one week later, a month later, during a different season. Fill your folder with as many distinct sounds as possible.

Why? When you write your next story, you will have an index of sounds for the varied places that you have visited. These sounds are your library.

Have fun with this one!

Ulterior Motives

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I enjoy the reality show Survivor because the players are constantly working towards goals. From the beginning, they try to form alliances that they feel will benefit them as they play the game. The motive is to create a voting block that will keep them on day after day.

They also have to build shelter and fire in order to survive the elements and to eat. On many days they compete in games that test physical stamina as well as the ability to outwit a mental challenge. The motive to win is huge. Not just for the glory of winning, but to get the prize, which can be in the form of food, means of survival, as well as not being forced to vote someone off of the team.

Ulterior motives are not just the thing of games, but of real life. We perform for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we do things just because we want to, but many times it’s because we yearn for something in return.

For example, a person runs for elected office in order to win, not just to see their name in the news and on the ballot.

The dating game is all about ulterior motives. Two strangers meet, size each other up, talk a bit to establish if there are any common grounds, all with the motive of going out on a date. The eventual outcome could be falling in love and getting married.

Our characters must also have ulterior motives or they are not fully developed. Three-dimensional people make decisions based on perceived outcomes. So must your characters.

Let’s say you’re writing a thriller in which someone dies. Why? What was the purpose of the death? Is your character the murderer or the one who will solve the crime? In order to find out who did it, the detective must be able to analyze the motive for the crime.

Your task is to take something that you’ve written and reread, looking for places where ulterior motive drives the action. If you cannot find any, then you must rewrite.

Start with the first page. Somewhere within those words the reader needs to understand what drives the main character to action. If that information is missing, put it in.

But don’t stop there. Throughout the piece we need to see the motives change as the situation changes. Don’t barrage us with motives, but find a way to keep us informed.

Seeing motive unfold drives the story forward and keeps the reader entranced.

Have fun with this one!

 

 

The Happy Zone

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It isn’t natural to be happy all the time. We prefer being happy, but there are people and issues that bring us down. Hurt or embarrass.

How we react to the hurtful depends upon how we feel about being happy. For example, an ex-boyfriend spreads embarrassing information about your character. What does she do? Does she counter with hurtful information about the ex or does she allow it to pass, put on her happy face and go out into the world?

Some of us are happier than others. We love a good joke, we laugh at ourselves, we smile when we hear an interesting story. We prefer feeling pleasant and will work hard to maintain that equilibrium.

What about your character? Where is her happy zone and how hard does she work to maintain it? What makes him feel good inside and how often does he shrug off miserable thoughts just to return to the zone?

Your task is to write a scene in which your character’s happy zone is threatened. It could be due to a piece of bad news, something happening in the world, or a sad movie. Whatever the cause, in your scene it brings your character down.

Then something happens to return your character to the zone. It could be a phone call, a letter, a promotion, a chat with a neighbor.

So, the pattern is this: happy character is saddened for a bit, then gains equilibrium and ends up happy once again. Easy, right?

Have fun with this one.

The Mentor

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Everyone needs someone to look up to, the mentor who provides guidance in an increasingly difficult world.

For some of us it’s a relative. Maybe Mom, who teaches love, kindness and caring toward others. Maybe it’s Grandpa who shows us how to work with our hands, takes us camping and teaches us how to barbecue. Perhaps it’s an aunt who struggled hard to be an auto mechanic in what has traditionally been seen as a man’s job.

For those of us who lack a strong family member to emulate, our mentors come from the outside world. How many of you fell in love with a teacher? This teacher offered praise and encouragement and made us feel smart and worthy.

Maybe it was at college at school or at work, who came to us offering advice on projects. This individual never made us feel inferior, but rather kindly took us under her wings.

Many kids worship athletes and want to be just like them. I once worked with a student who sought to be an astronaut shortly after the launching of a space probe, and at another time with one who wanted to be a famous skateboarded.

Your character needs a mento9r in his life. Someone to whom she can turn when stuck or feeling out of sorts.

As you develop your list of characters, write down several who could serve as mentors, and in what ways. Match up one from this list with your character’s interests or skills. Then enhance your list, writing down several possible scenes in which the two might interact, as well as the possible outcome of the interaction.

Your job is then to put the story in motion. Your character comes in contact with her mentor. A problem is discussed. A solution found.

Make sure that everything is logical. Dialogue should not sound forced, but rather flow naturally.

When finished, reread and edit. Add in details that flesh out the story.

How did it work for you? Does your character feel more three-dimensional?

Have fun with this one.