1. Choose any one of the settings below

2. Create a character that normally would not belong to the chosen setting

3. Write a scene for that character in the setting 

Settings

1. A theme park

2. A forty bedroom manor house in the countryside 

3. An uninhabited alien world

4. The White House, Washington

5. A small inner city apartment 

For this exercise you will choose a scenario from the list below and “get inside the character’s head” to write a scene that describes what this character might be thinking.

Scenarios 

1. One of Napoleon's war elephants refuses to move while crossing the Alps 

2. A husband finds out his wife has been cheating on him

3. The King of England feels ill at a state dinner

4. A boy gets caught stealing a teacher's car

5. A person steps through a portal to another world for the first time

6. A lost cat finds shelter in a warm home

For this exercise, you will be assigned a character from the list below or you can make up your own and you will be tasked to provide detail for that character.  

Characters

1. A chef

2. An elderly primary school teacher

3. A ninety five year old grandfather

4. An Ancient Pharaoh

5. A famous movie actor/actress

In this exercise, you will practice writing as an unreliable narrator by choosing a scene from the list below or create your own, in which there is reason to doubt the reliability of the narrator.  Try and hint at the character’s unreliability during the narration of the scene from their point of view. Additionally, take note that often unreliable characters are: 

• Knowing they are not telling the truth

• Hide facts intentionally

• Have a distorted truth following a black out or is diagnosed with a brain condition

Scenes

1. An elderly woman is reporting a crime to the local police

2. A school boy is brought in front of the school head for stealing books from the library

3. A man arrives at the wedding of his ex-wife

Show, Don't Tell! Something we hear so much about.  Practice making your writing more visual and descriptive by showing for example: 

"Sad" could be described as:

• Head held in your hands

• Slow, dragging feet

• Head hanging low

• Shaky or quiet voice 

Practice the following: 

• Afraid

• Shy

• Proud

• Nervous

• Worried 

• Max was an old dog

• The house is a ruin

How did you get on?  Repeat if necessary or practice further with your own writing. 

How well do you truly know your characters?  You spend time in their heads so this exercise is really about ensuring that you are developing strong, fully fleshed out characters. You can carry out an interview with your favourite characters at any stage, however at the beginning of the writing process might prove more effective. 

Questions can be asked on their backgrounds, physical appearance, lifestyle, interests, thoughts and even emotions. 

For this exercise, select one of your characters - can be any! Sit down with them and ask the following questions.  Remember to answer in their voice.  You can add more questions. 

1. Where were you born?

2. What is your favourite colour?

3. What do you do for fun?

4. Who do you share your secrets with? and why? 

5. Would you consider yourself an introvert, extrovert or ambivert? 

6. What would you say is your greatest achievement?

7. How do you think others see you? 

8. What is the biggest challenge you are facing right now? 

9. What have you learned from your recent experiences? 

10. If you could change one thing, what would it be? 

This can be a very challenging task, however it will support your overall understanding of the story in getting it down to a concise few sentences to pitch the story, in addition to helping with writing blurbs which are needed for publication. 

Check that the paragraph contains the three parts of the story and then test it to see if it has the elements of a good story. (See info graphic under Writing Guides)

Activity:

Take the story you are working on or have just completed and condense the point of the story into one paragraph. 

Alternatively, for practice, use a book that you have just read and carry out the same exercise on it.