Take a look at some everyday object--an ironing board, radio, tennis shoe--and start writing. Associate spontaneously from the object, drawing whatever connections you wish and moving on to any other subject you care to. What does this object remind you of? How would such an object appear to a visitor from outer space? In what way does it embody your worst fears or fantasies?
Don't be staid, boring, or predictable. Try some "leaping" comparisons, such as the ones Pablo Neruda draws in his odes. (He compares his socks to wildly disparate things, such as sharks and firemen, for instance.) Invent some figures of speech. End up someplace other than where you started.
Have
fun. Don't edit yourself. Just write.
The Thing Itself
As
an alternative to "The Luminous Object" above, try writing about an object
without venturing beyond that item as your subject. Describe it with
as much specific, intense, concrete detail as possible, using all of your
senses. Don't explain, ruminate, or deviate . Simply make the
object vivid and present through language, respecting its thingness.
Pulling Over for a Siren
Compose a vignette in which you describe a lake, a tree, or a living room from the perspective of one of the following people:
a)
Someone who has just committed a violent crime.
b)
Someone who has just been told he or she has one year to live.
c)
Someone who has just been unfaithful to his or her lover.
Describe the lake or tree or room almost exclusively in concrete language; do not allow the narrator to talk about how he or she feels, or what he or she thinks about the scene.
And:
DO NOT MENTION THE BAD NEWS, THE CRIME, OR THE INFIDELITY.
Slamdancing through Winter
Fold a piece of paper lengthwise. On the left side, make a list of any ten nouns. Consider names of animals, places, household items, and people, as well as words signifying emotions or concepts. (I find abstract nouns--hope, grief, luck--most interesting for this exercise.)
Now turn the page over to the right side. Write down fifteen specific verbs associated with some occupation: carpenter, cook, dancer, doctor. Or try fifteen verbs having to do with the weather, an animal, or a river.
Open the page, and experiment now with interesting sentences by making unlikely noun-verb connections. (You may need to change the tense or number of some of the verbs.) Feel free to extend the sentences if you wish, or to recombine some words.
DO
NOT construct obvious or necessarily rational combinations; try for strange
and surprising ones. Finally, you might compose these unusual sentences
into a surreal poem or short prose work, or use them to prompt something
new.
What a Character
(I suspect most fiction writers discover their characters as they write their stories, and that their characters may even remain somewhat mysterious to their authors, but the following, more calculated approach might be of some help regardless, or if you feel stuck.)
To improve a figure in one of your stories, or to help you get started on a story, write an elaborate character sketch in which you answer the following questions. Your answers should be well-developed, believable, and consistent.
Where is this character from, and when was he or she born? What is the economic
and religious background of the character's relatives? How large is the
family, and does this person have brothers and sisters? What is some of
the family's history, significant events, problems?
What is this character's build? The color and style of his or her hair?
What clothes does he or she wear on formal and on casual occasions? How
would you describe the character's voice? What are some of his or her
physical habits--blushing, frowning, tugging on hair, resting chin on fist,
wiggling foot when seated, etc. How does this person walk?
What are some of this character's favorite activities? What does he or
she do for excitement, for relaxation, for money? Who are this person's
friends? How does this person relate to authority figures? To strangers?
How gregarious is this person? Any special skills? Any special flaws
or failings?
What is the character's name?
What are this person's greatest fears? Greatest hopes? What does
he or she daydream about? How well does the character understand him or
herself? What are this character's primary childhood memories? What
contradictions exist in this person's actions, self-image, world-view?
What does this person value most in life, and least?
What are some of the most important events in the character's life? Which
ones especially contributed to how this person thinks and acts? What significant
choices has the person made?
What is the most frightening dream this person ever had? Describe it in
detail.
What other information can you add about this character? Feel free to
mention here general attributes as well as particularities.
What a Character (Part II)
Keeping in mind Part I above, choose one of the tasks below and write out a detailed response.
Consider some recent national or international news. Describe in detail
how your character would respond to the event.
Describe this character through the eyes of another character, either real or
imaginary: your mother, your best friend, the character's husband, the character's
boss, etc.
Imagine situations that would reveal something essential about your character,
that would put him or her to a test, or that would dramatize his or her most
interesting attributes. Make a list of possible situations, with some
exposition following each. (List at least three.)
Write a detailed paragraph describing, through an objective third person narrator,
an uneventful, relatively dull day in the life of your character, starting with
the moment of waking.
Repeat the "dull day" idea above, but this time use the first-person point of
view.
Write a diary entry, last will and testament, and job resume for the character
(first-person point-of-view, of course).
Describe your character twenty years from now.
Swamp Buggy Spectacular
Get
together with one or more people and decide who will begin writing.
That person should sketch out the exposition for a short story, then pass
it on to the next person, who should then continue to develop the piece.
(Try to develop believable, interesting characters, and to provide some
good complications and hooks in the plot.) Pass the story around
several times, or until someone determines that the story is finished.
The group can then discuss the results, and/or each person can revise the
story as desired.
The Most Amazing Thing Was The Cheese
Write a story
whose first line is: "The most amazing thing was the cheese."