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writercises Original Posting Sept. 7, 2018
Okay, take a deep breath!
Now, pick a number from one to six.
1. Carol Brown
2. Lisa Williams
3. Rachel Taylor
4. Alfred Martin
5. Howard Wilson
6. Philip Davis
That person is a… Pick a number from 1 to 6?
1. Bartender
2. Cabdriver
3. Football player
4. Mechanic
5. Soldier
6. Waitress
Now, repeat that a couple more times. In other words, pick out three names and three occupations. Feel free to mix-and-match a bit. Blow on them a bit, until they feel real to you... i.e. fill in the details? Who are these people?
And then…
Pick a number from 1 to 8. Here's what you chose…
1. Falling in love, continuing love, romantic involvement, and of course, separation and problems along the way.
2. Inheritance, financial problems, changing careers…
3. Trips, vacations, hobbies…
4. School and all the fun and games that go with that
5. Illness, fears, phobias, drug, drinking, gambling
6. A secret from the past
7. Being forced to move, trying to find a new place to live
8. Trying to find someone, keep appointment, fulfill a promise…
Take your three characters, and one of these. Somebody has a goal, roughly fitting into your area. Someone else may want to interfere? And of course, you have a third character who may be playing on either side. So, figure out what's going on and lay it out? Where do things start, how does the protagonist expect to achieve what they want, and what happens in the middle as they try and fail and try and fail… And then! What's the resolution, what's the climax?
There you go. Kind of sketchy, but… See what you can do with it.
Bits and pieces of this are from The Fiction Writer's Silent Partner by Martin Roth. He provides pages and pages of female names and male names, and the most common family names in the order frequency! Here you go:
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown, Miller, Davis, Anderson, Wilson, Thompson, Moore, Taylor, White, Thomas, Martin.
Feel free to use those for the last names of your characters.
And if you're looking for plotting ideas, pages 35 to 57 are loaded with lists. Themes to get you started. Primary goals. Means of involvement. Conflicts. Subplots. Ticking clocks. Obstacles. Suspense. Twists. Crisis. Resolutions!
But, start with three characters and a problem. See what happens!
Write!
Okay, take a deep breath!
Now, pick a number from one to six.
1. Carol Brown
2. Lisa Williams
3. Rachel Taylor
4. Alfred Martin
5. Howard Wilson
6. Philip Davis
That person is a… Pick a number from 1 to 6?
1. Bartender
2. Cabdriver
3. Football player
4. Mechanic
5. Soldier
6. Waitress
Now, repeat that a couple more times. In other words, pick out three names and three occupations. Feel free to mix-and-match a bit. Blow on them a bit, until they feel real to you... i.e. fill in the details? Who are these people?
And then…
Pick a number from 1 to 8. Here's what you chose…
1. Falling in love, continuing love, romantic involvement, and of course, separation and problems along the way.
2. Inheritance, financial problems, changing careers…
3. Trips, vacations, hobbies…
4. School and all the fun and games that go with that
5. Illness, fears, phobias, drug, drinking, gambling
6. A secret from the past
7. Being forced to move, trying to find a new place to live
8. Trying to find someone, keep appointment, fulfill a promise…
Take your three characters, and one of these. Somebody has a goal, roughly fitting into your area. Someone else may want to interfere? And of course, you have a third character who may be playing on either side. So, figure out what's going on and lay it out? Where do things start, how does the protagonist expect to achieve what they want, and what happens in the middle as they try and fail and try and fail… And then! What's the resolution, what's the climax?
There you go. Kind of sketchy, but… See what you can do with it.
Bits and pieces of this are from The Fiction Writer's Silent Partner by Martin Roth. He provides pages and pages of female names and male names, and the most common family names in the order frequency! Here you go:
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown, Miller, Davis, Anderson, Wilson, Thompson, Moore, Taylor, White, Thomas, Martin.
Feel free to use those for the last names of your characters.
And if you're looking for plotting ideas, pages 35 to 57 are loaded with lists. Themes to get you started. Primary goals. Means of involvement. Conflicts. Subplots. Ticking clocks. Obstacles. Suspense. Twists. Crisis. Resolutions!
But, start with three characters and a problem. See what happens!
Write!