Tag: feelings

Heartbreak

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

All does not go well in every relationship. People date, determine that they like each other, maybe even think it’s love, and then the other person pulls away.

We have all experienced heartbreak at some point in our lives, and so should our characters.

Consider one of your favorite characters, regardless of age. Now put that individual in a romantic relationship.

If the character is young, it could be the devastating loss of a parent due to indifferent. If a teen, the loss of that first love.

How would you write that scene?

Your task is to choose a character that is either one you are currently working with or create a new one. Consider the possible romantic relationships that could ensue.

Narrow the possibilities down to one and write. You must take into account all the emotional turmoil that tears the person apart for it to be considered true heartbreak.

Once you have written the scene, reread and see if the emotions come through. If not, then edit making sure that the scene has emotional viability.

Have fun with this one!

The Self-fulfilling Prophecy

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Did you ever think about doing something then told yourself that you’d never be able to succeed? When it came time to give it a try, how did it go? Did you surprise yourself and accomplish it or did you fail?

Sometimes whether or not we master something depends upon our inner voice. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy.

We tell ourselves we will fail, and so we do. Then we nod, confirming that we were right.

Or we are determined to succeed at all costs, convince ourselves that we can do it, and when we do, we inflate with pride.

Our characters are affected by this same inner voice. The character wants something so badly that it is a burning desire. But…what does the character’s inner voice say? Does it tell the character that you can’t do it so don’t bother? And so the character lives with the feeling of failure, of unfulfilled desire, for many years.

What if the voice says to do it, you will succeed, so the character gives it a shot? If the character successfully completes the task, how does that affect how the character feels? What if the character does not?

These are things you must consider when telling the story. There is a desire. The character must want something or there is no story. What voice drives the character toward achieving that goal?

Your task is to write a scene in which your protagonist wants something. His self-fulfilling prophecy speaks to him. It either tells him he can do it or it says you’re an idiot. You decide.

Remember that the voice will affect the character’s motivation to test whether or not she can learn to salsa, graduate from chef school, become a CEO or run a scientific laboratory.

Have fun with this one.

Socioeconomic Status

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

            How much money someone has affects the things that he does, thinks, and says. It impacts future dreams and the things that she hopes to accomplish.

For example, a person who grows up in a wealthy family has everything that she could ever possibly want. Nice clothes, a comfortable bed, good food and all the electronics that one could possibly want. He may attend a private school with other entitled children so never knows what it’s like to have class disrupted by unruly students or may have never witnessed a lunchtime brawl.

This character grows into an adult with distinct advantages in terms of status, education and outlook. He has experienced nothing but the best and desires to maintain that status.

Then consider the low income child who grows up in a tiny studio apartment with eight family members. Who is often hungry and wears ragged hand-me-down shoes and clothes. Who falls ill frequently or has to accompany non-English speaking relatives to appointments to act as translator and so misses great amounts of school.

Perhaps she moves around a lot, from one shelter to another, and so schools change weekly. Most shelters are in low income neighborhoods so she does not have access to modern technology in terms of computer labs, WiFi and calculators. School lunches are adequate, probably free, but not delicious. She knows of students who come to school high on drugs, who sell their bodies and who are bellicose.

Think about how these differing early lives affect how your character behaves in your story.

Your task is to decide into which socioeconomic group your character belongs. Then make a bullet-point list of the structures in this person’s life, beginning with the home environment. Consider size of the home, family living there, quality of food and clothes, and what possessions the character owns. Include on your list the things the character sees in his daily life, as he walks down the street, rides in a car or bus, goes into a store, eats at a soup kitchen or restaurant.

Once you have completed your list, write a short scene in which these elements come into play.

This is not an easy task.

Have fun with this one.

A Lost Object

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Think how many times you’ve lost something. Can you recall how you felt? Frustrated? Angry? Disappointed?

When you lose something, it tears you up inside. One time I’d purchased a nice watch as a gift for one of my sons. When it came time to wrap it up, I couldn’t find it. I searched through all of my normal places, but couldn’t locate it. In tears, I finally went outside and dug through the garbage! That’s where it was. It must have been carried out with the trash. Yes, I was relieved, but also incredibly disappointed in myself.

Call to mind one of your characters. Picture this individual. Think about how this person speaks, walks, behaves, treats others. Now imagine this person losing something. Will he behave in character or become a totally different person? Will she tear the house apart, looking high and low, or simply give up?

Your task is to make a list of objects important enough that your character will diligently search to find. Try to come up with at least five different ones. Then narrow the list to one, by choosing that which would drive her nuts if she can’t find it!

Write the story of the search. Remember to include feelings, for this is what is most crucial to the story. We need to understand how he is feeling, not just how he is acting.

This might be a challenge for you. It is easy to write about a character going through her day, but much harder to describe her feelings.

Have fun with this one!

Using Your Family Tree

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Last week your task was to create a family tree for one of your characters. If you didn’t complete the task, now might be a good time to read last week’s post.

Your task this week is to use that tree to write a multigenerational story in which your protagonist interacts with at least one member of the extended family.

A fun story might be a conversation between a grandparent and grandchild. Think of the questions the younger person might ask and the responses the older would give. This might lead to fantastic stories of what grandpa did during the war or why grandma chose to go to nursing school.

Your story does not have to be long, but it should contain hefty amounts of dialogue so we get a feel as to how each character speaks, thinks and listens. There should be enough depth that we understand the relationship between the two as well as the different experiences each has had.

Have fun with this one.

Catastrophic Illness

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

We don’t like to think about it, talk about it or write about it, but it happens. People fall ill, break bones and develop life-threatening conditions. It’s a fact of life and it affects people of all ages.

When we create our characters’ profiles, we need to consider whether or not those individuals will fall ill with something more severe than the flu. If you’re going for high drama, then perhaps illness works its way into your story.

Your task is to think of a character that you would like as a protagonist. Picture the individual in your mind, or to make things more concrete, go online and seek images of people who look like the character you have in mind. Save that image and consult it frequently.

Next create a list of five possible conditions that might befall that person. Don’t be gentle. Think huge and potentially life-altering.

Research those conditions and add bullets under each until you’ve created a fairly accurate picture of the illness.

Put together the image you’ve saved and one of the conditions, the one you feel most confident writing about.

Design the setting and a plot point, then write. You must keep in mind how this diagnosis affects the character’s mental and emotional state as well as how the character functions in the world. Your story need not end in death: in fact, it would be better if it did not.

Instead focus on the positives. How does someone with that condition work? Play? Interact socially and in a business manner? What kinds of things is the character able to do for relaxation? What would happen if your character had to travel by car, plane or train?

Tackle several of these issues in your story. Give us a character that we can care about, not a simpering whippet who cowers in a corner. Your readers will want to cheer on your character as he manipulates the world despite his condition.

Have fun with this one.

Career Advancement

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Everyone who has a job, whether young or old, dreams of getting ahead. We want to move up the ladder, taking on more and more responsibility, being recognized for our work ethic, and earning more money in return.

Your characters need to do the same.

Imagine that your protagonist is a teen working as a dishwasher in a local café. As she scrubs dishes, she dreams of being a waitress or a chef or simply being the one who plates the food, but she has dreams. Now imagine how she’ll react when the boss gives her that desired raise!

Let’s say your character is a newly hired accountant in a busy firm. She looks around her and sees that not all accountants are equal. Some handle the tiny accountants that she does, while others manage the details for multimillion dollar firms. She’s got the credentials to do the job, but not the experience. How does she make herself more valuable? What does she do so the boss recognizes her skills?

Your task is to create a character that’s hired to do an entry-level job. It might not be glamorous, but it’s a foot in the door to greater things.

Think about how he feels before the interview, during the interview and after he is hired. Make a list of different words you can use to describe those emotions.

Put your character to work. Write about the day-to-day tedium of working the same job. What does your character do to make her life more interesting? How does she make herself stand out from others? Write about this.

What dreams does he have for advancement and how does he go about stepping forward? Does he simply approach the boss and plead his case? Does he work extra hard, often with a flourish, keeping his eyes ever alert?

What happens when she does talk with the boss? Does the boss initiate the conversation or does she? What words of encouragement are said? How does she respond?

Your task is to write this scene.

Have fun with this one.

 

Secondary Characters

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

 

Before the story begins, not only does our protagonist know what she wants, has known what she wants and has struggled with getting what she wants, but her friends and family have also struggled with their desires.

The overlap is what concerns the reader. Secondary characters are not just in the story in order to allow for dialogue, but to impact what happens to the protagonist, in both positive and negative ways.

Consider the so-called best friend who feeds the protagonist gossip about the boyfriend that causes a breakup so that now the friend can date the boy. The friend has an agenda that negatively impacts the protagonist, causing pain and anguish and forcing her to do something that she didn’t want to do. Now it may turn out that the breakup was a positive step, especially if the boyfriend is hyper-controlling or abusive, but in the immediate, the pain of separation is real.

Your task is to think of secondary characters that could populate your story. Make a list of who these people could be and their relationship to the protagonist. For example, a young person might be influenced by a teacher, an adult by a boss, a sick person by a nurse and a contractor by an engineer.

Make another list of issues that each secondary character brings to the story. For example, the teacher might be emotionally drained due to the illness of her husband, the boss might be up for a promotion if a project is well-received, the nurse might be struggling with paying the rent and the engineer might have lost important designs. The more issues you come up with, the better your options become.

From both of your lists, choose one character and one overriding issue. Your next step is to list ways in which this issue will affect your protagonist.

Your background work is now done. When you write interactions between your protagonist and your secondary character, do not fill space with the issues. Instead, consider the feelings of the secondary character facing the issue, and how those feelings affect the ways in which that character talks to your protagonist.

Write a scene rich with dialogue. The protagonist wants something because all protagonists must want something or there is no story. She meets her friend. They talk. The protagonist is hoping to hear words of reassurance or advice, but the secondary character is consumed by her own desires.

Imagine how fulfilling the conversation will be and what each character gets out of talking to the other.

This will not be an easy task.

Have fun with this one.

The Island

On By Terry ConnellyIn Writing promptLeave a comment

This is not one of those prompts in which you are asked to contemplate how one man is an island unto himself. Or how loneliness feels like being stranded on an island.

Unless, of course, that is what you choose to write about!

Instead I want you to think about an island you have visited. Close your eyes and picture what it looked like. The shape, size, construction of the beach. Were the shores sandy or rocky or a little of both? Were there smooth descents to the sea or sharp cliffs?

Did the waves lap like in a bathtub or crash like thunder?

Were people swimming or surfing or playing catch with dogs? Or only sitting serenely on the beach and watching?

Who was there with you? Family or friends or both? Where did you stay? If in a beach house, what did it look like? How far from the beach was it? What could you see from the windows?

If in a motel, ask yourself the same questions.

What was the town like? Was it tiny with only a few touristy shops or a huge metropolitan setting?

Make lists. Endless lists of things you saw, smelled, touched, tasted.

Think of at least one character that could populate your scene. It would be best to have two, but no more than three.

Think of the story you will tell. Will it be a romance or a horror story? Will your character meet the love of his life or be killed by a demented person?

Once you have setting and story in mind, write. Put your character in the scene and make things happen, one event after another. Keep the momentum rolling so that there is an even pace.

When you are finished, reread and edit.

Have fun with this one!

Family Drama

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Family stories are easy to write, whether there is love or hate driving  the relationships.

Think of someone that you care deeply about. What stories could you tell about that relationship? Choose one instance that is more than just giving hugs, something with some depth to it. Using bullet points, create a list of things that happened, things that were said, things that were done, how people felt and reacted. When you are finished, walk away.

After an hour, come back to your list. Using what you’ve got, could you turn the incident into a compelling story? If not, what could you tweak in order to make it more interesting?

Your next task is to choose a relationship that it testy. Pick one that is long-standing, as that will give you more meat with which to work. As before, use bullet points to create your list, the longer, the better. Focus on the triggers, those defining elements that caused an uproar, the juicier the element, the more tantalizing the story will become.

Walk away, as before. When you return and look at your lists, which lead to the more complex story? Which story would be more compelling to a reader?

Your task is to take a character from one of your stories and create lists for that individual. Make sure that you’ve got both positive and negative relationships.

Reread a scene that you’ve written that maybe isn’t working as well as you’d like. Think about your lists. What could you insert into the scene that would add intrigue and depth?

Rewrite adding in just one element.

When you reread this time, has the story been improved? Did the character’s actions and reactions make sense? If not, then edit! Keep working at it until you’ve got the story that holds interest and adds information about your character.

Have fun with this one.