Tag: feelings

The Home Front

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Your character has to live somewhere, and that place needs to be reflected in the things that your character does.

For example, if the protagonist lives in a homeless camp, then life centers on food, shelter and feeling safe, especially at night. Cleanliness is an issue as well as finding resources to help with clothes, laundry and food.

Let’s say the protagonist is a princess who lives in a castle. That’s a completely different sort of issue. How the princess treats and interacts with employees tells us whether or not she is arrogant and sees them as a subservient class. Since she doesn’t have to worry about basics, what she does do becomes a part of who she is.

If your character is a spy, then she is constantly on the move. She might not have an apartment somewhere, instead living in one hotel after another. What kinds of hotels? Cheap or deluxe? The type controls amenities and safety.

Your job is to decide where your character lives and then write a scene in that environment.  Bring in secondary characters that would be in that site. Have your character interact with them, keeping in mind what you want us to know about how he treats others.

Make the scene substantial enough that the reader gets a feel for your character’s personality. Include dialogue, body posture and looks.

Reread. Does your character’s personality come through? If not, then what changes should you make?

Have fun with this one.

Love Poems

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Throughout all of time, love poems have been a popular form of expression whose sole purpose is to entice the desired partner to fall deeply in love with the writer.

These poems express the writer’s most intense feelings, in a way that bares the heart in raw form.

Poems can be written in free verse, meaning that they don’t have to rhyme, but are more of a stream of consciousness. Or poems can rhyme, following patterns established long ago.

It’s up to the writer.

Your task is imagine that your character is in love and wants to write something that will show how much she loves her chosen one.

Don’t worry about rhyme or meter unless that is something that you want to explore. Instead allow the words to flow freely, running down the page like a stream runs bubbling down the creek.

Have fun with this one.

Parental Interference

On By Terry ConnellyIn Writing promptLeave a comment

As kids, especially as young adults, our parents often embarrass us. They speak when we wish they were silent. They wear dumb hats or clothes so out of style that even thrift stores wouldn’t want them. Or their clothes are faded, ragged or torn. Or spotted with paint or cooking grease.

Our parents want to know who are friends are, where they live, what they like to do, what kinds of music they listen to and what they do for fun, all before we can go hang out with them. Or when a friend knocks at the door, our parents treat them like unwanted guests, giving them a thorough oral examination while you’re trying to gather together your stuff and get out of the house.

On gift-giving opportunities, they present us with things we never asked for, never wanted, and expect us to act grateful. They demand we complete chores that are gross and demeaning, such as doing dishes in the sink where the water gets tainted with food remnants and grease, all because they think doing such things help develop character.

They make us babysit younger brothers and sisters without pay. It’s not too bad if the sibling behaves in public, but when your sister pesters everyone about their favorite Disney character or sings, out of tune, Disney songs, then you’d rather stay home. But if you do, then they insist that your friends come over and hang out with your dorky brother who thinks it’s perfectly fine to jump up from behind the couch and scare your boyfriend.

Your task is to write a scene in which there is either an embarrassing moment with a parent or guardian, or a time when a sibling causes great humiliation.

First, make a list of things parents/guardians do that are embarrassing. Then make a comparable list for siblings. Running parallel to each list, record the scene, the object, the action that causes humiliation.

Draw a line from the person to the point of humiliation that you feel most comfortable writing about.

This becomes your story line.

Write, trying to show the emotions that propel your protagonist forward. Your story can be humorous or serious, depending upon the cause of the humiliation. For example, falling out of a tree can be embarrassing at the moment that it occurs, but if bones are broken, then the final result is quite serious.

After you’re finished, reread, looking for places where you can intensify the emotional impact.

Have fun with this one.

Career Path

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

Everyone has a job to go to, no matter how young or old. Babies have a lot to learn in their early years. School children hopefully learn something new every day and then do work to demonstrate mastery. In high school, students take classes to prepare for college or career.

Some might not consider this learning work, but it is. If you are writing a book for young people, you need to take into account that a portion of their day must be spent encountering new things, being exposed to lessons not yet learned.

Beginning with the teen years, many students have after-school jobs. They might work in an office, sell jewelry at a boutique or do basic maintenance on cars. How do they like their jobs? Do they yearn for something more, and if they do, what is it? Do they wear a uniform at their job? Is it mustard-yellow or sky blue? Does it fit snuggly or bag around the waist?

In college, many students work for professors. They run workshops, correct papers, help prepare students for tests. Some work in the bookstore while others in the cafeteria. Some are lucky enough to not have to work, but join fraternities and sororities that take up much of their time.

When you write about college students, their jobs affect how they look at life, what they are able to do during their free time, and who their friends are.

Most adults work. Yes, there are the disabled and homeless who are unable to find jobs that they can successfully master. There are the emotionally damaged and those with physical challenges who cannot work, but their jobs are healing, getting stronger, overcoming fear and loss.

Even into retirement, adults keep busy. They go to the gym, join organizations and attend meetings, volunteer at schools, teach classes part-time and attend workshops. They work for the Census when the time arises and staff polling places during elections. They help at their church or with scouts or around the house, making improvements and keeping up with yardwork.

Your task is to create a scene in which your character has a job to do. It might not be the job of her dreams, but it is a job. Write about her feelings as she prepares to go to work. Tell what she sees, hears, smells as she brushes her teeth, combs her hair, drinks her coffee.

Describe her commute. Is the train crowded and stuffy? Does she get stuck in traffic that creeps along? What does she do while commuting? Catch up on email? Listen to an audiobook? Read? Talk to a friend?

Once at work, what does he do? Imagine walking in his shoes and doing what he does. Is there any point during the day when he has to complete a task that he hates? What is it? Why does he hate it?

How does she feel when her work is complete and she gets to go home? Is she exhausted? Relieved? Still thinking about unfinished tasks?

Walk us through the day, from beginning to end.

Have fun with this one.

Good luck.