Your character lives in a rut: the same thing practically every day, at about the same time, with the same circle of friends. Then something changes, which is unexpected and not in character.
The others in the story have no idea what’s going on. They don’t know what triggered the change.
There’s a mystery that needs to be solved.
Your task is to write a story in which your character does something so far out of character that no one understands what’s happening.
Hae fun with this one.
Imagine making a phone call one afternoon to a best-friend cousin. Since you were small, you’ve shared everything: food, stories, adventures, dreams. One day, you call him: the next, he calls you. And it’s been this way for over thirty years.
But this day, even though you’ve called at four-thirty, the designated time when both of you are generally free, he doesn’t answer. You are frustrated, but decide to leave a voice message. Except that his box is full.
That’s never, ever happened before.
You can’t just hop in your car and drive to his apartment because you live in California and he lives in West Virginia.
You don’t have numbers for any of his friends: in fact, you’ve never met them since you’ve never had the time to fly there.
Your cousin seems to have disappeared, something completely unheard of.
Your task is to write a story in which a character disappears. Begin by establishing the character’s normal day. What she does, where she goes, who her friends are.
Readers need this so that the fact of the disappearance is shocking.
Have fun with this one.
As we grow, we change many things about ourselves. Some are superficial, such as trying out a new hairstyle, experimenting with makeup, buying a completely new style of clothing.
Other changes are more serious, such as transferring from one college to another in order to switch majors, moving out of the family home, getting engaged, and finding the first full time job.
Your task is to write a story in which your character is faced with her first major life decision, one that will lead to a huge change in their life.
A lot depends upon the age of your protagonist. For example, a senior in high school is choosing between colleges or trade schools. During college, she might change majors once she realizes job employment possibilities are limited.
Adults get married, separated, divorced. Switch jobs in order to climb the professional ladder.
Some changes work out well, but many do not.
Have fun with this one.
We often keep track of time through events in our lives. There are things that came before, the event, and what happens next. Sometimes the event is so significant that it changes lives.
For example, consider a young boy who broke his arm when he fell out of a tree. He was only eight at the time, but will always remember the incident as a changing point in his life, before the fall and after the fall.
Imagine being hospitalized for such a severe asthma attack that you thought you were going to die. While you were in the hospital, you prayed just to be able to draw a breath. When the tightness finally relaxed, you knew that you were going to live. There is before the asthma attack and after the attack.
Sometimes these events cause significant change in our lives. For example, before a serious illness cleaning house might not have been a priority. But when the doctor tells you that dust is a trigger, you hire a housekeeper.
Your characters keep track of time in the same way. There is before the robbery and then the capture, trial and jail. There is before the monsters come and then the destruction and the deaths of hundreds of people. There is before the military coup and then the restrictions put into place after the general took charge.
Your task is to write a story in which something happens that changes your character’s life. It must be large enough to impact life afterwards. Choose something that’s large enough to have an impact, but unless you’re writing an epic novel, keep it small.
Have fun with this one.
Storytellers must keep in mind that events from the past can affect how a person looks at the present. Traumatic experiences, long buried, might appear worse when brought into new light. Angry words, a spanking, being accosted, hurt back then, but can still cause pain today.
Even so, the writer might find a sense of catharsis through the writing, and so telling those stories becomes a valuable experience.
Your task is to write a story in which your main character revisits past occurrences that caused some degree of emotional distress, whether the offenses were committed against her or if they were directed toward others.
You might consider looking at family dynamics. For example, in many families, the older brother who is worshiped by the mother and a younger sister can do no wrong. The middle child, no matter how hard she tried, you could never garner the mother’s attention.
In your story, show what the character did that got him in trouble, as well as those things that he could not control but that shaped who he became.
Include dialogue to touch on emotional issues and to build tension.
Have fun with this one!
It’s often fun to go places we’ve never been and do things we’ve never done, but not always.
Imagine what would happen, how you’d feel, if your plans fell apart and suddenly, without warning, you find yourself in the midst of an unexpected adventure.
What would you do? How would you feel? What things might you say? Who would you contact?
Your task is to either choose a character that you have already written or create a new character. Place the character in scene. At first everything goes smoothly, but then something happens that changes everything. Your character finds himself in a new situation, one not of his choosing.
As you write, remember to include sights, sounds, reactions. Does he go along with the change or fight against it? Does he enjoy the new experience or lament that he is not where he intended to be?
As the story proceeds, what happens? Does the character embark on this journey or fight her way back to the original plans?
You’ve got a lot to think about here.
Have fun with this one.
We are many different people.
At any given time we might be walking around as an employee at a job that we hate/love.
The next moment we might get a troubling phone call about our child, and then we put on our parenting hat.
Or maybe it could be a message from a spouse, telling us that he/she just got promoted/was in a car accident/got good news from the doctor.
We could be an exercise nut on weekends or avoid exercise at all costs.
We might be a meat lover or a vegetarian or maybe a little of both.
We might love to play board/card games or hate any type of game.
We could be a reader of books/newspapers/magazines or only watch television.
We might be addicted to our devices, spending hours reading postings, or we might not own a single portable device, including a cell phone.
Because we change from day to day, hour to hour, we must consider that our characters also change. If she doesn’t, then she won’t be interesting to follow. A flat character does not invite tension, and every good story needs tension to pull the reader along.
Your task is to either create a new character or pull up one that you think might benefit from a little expansion.
Make a list of all the different disguises this character wears. Narrow the list down to two or three that you could comfortably fit into a scene.
Write that scene, keeping in mind that with each step a character makes, the hat changes.
Have fun with this one.
Have Fun with This One 