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Exercise #1020: Craft
Posted 2/2/24
I was watching “Oh! Heavenly Dog” recently and when the movie got to the part where Benji dials a phone with a pencil in his mouth (I tried to find this clip online but can’t) I realized we write scenes for our stories based on our knowledge and experiences. I have a new neighbor who might be all of twenty years old - this scene would be science fiction to her.
Given how much change our world has undergone, how do you keep your audience interested in your work if they have no frame of reference for the setting?
To play with this, for today’s exercise, write one scene three different ways: as if it took place in the past, as if it were taking place today and as if it were taking place in the future. For the past, you can go back as far as there were people in the world. For the future, let your imagination soar.
Your scene should have two people, some dialog, interaction with some object and at least a brief description of the surroundings. It should be the same scene: same dialog, same action, same people, same object. Only the time in which it happens changes.
Don’t do a lot of research for this; it’s supposed to be fun and/or practice, not hard work. If you can’t think of what to use, email me privately and I’ll give you a couple of options.
Critiquers, along with the usual grammar, spelling, etc, review, consider these questions:
* Could you relate to the piece? Why or why not?
* Was this helpful to you as a writer? Why or why not?
Word limit: 1200 for each scene, 3600 total for SUB
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #1020/yourname
“Oh! Heavenly Dog,” 1980: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081269/
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