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Exercise #406: Craft
Posted 2/4/11
Today's exercise comes, inadvertently, from Pat Hebert.
In a critique of one of Steven’s SUBs, Pat wrote, “The other aspect of your approach that I’ve been thinking about is your comment about writing what you know. I wonder if that lulls us into a comfortable, sympathetic character because it’s what’s familiar and hopefully what we know. If the story needed someone really despicable and we’re writing what we know, would that character ring true? Is it a more effective character if we’re writing outside our own comfort zone when it’s appropriate?”
And you thought I didn’t read the CRITs, didn’t you? :-)
I agree with Pat. How can we write successfully about something we don’t know, or give our character motives and feelings we don’t understand or empathize with?
For this exercise, you can either:
a) Create a scene with a character which is your opposite in some way. If you’re an introvert, show us an extrovert at a party. If you’re a clean freak (and I mean that in the nicest way), show us a slob on a date. Get the idea?
or
b) Teach us how you do it. When your story calls for something you don’t know or can’t relate to, how do you write it? What obstacles do you face?
You may, if you prefer, show us a character dealing with this exercise.
Critiquers, along with the usual technical critique, note how well you think the author met the requirements of this exercise. Did you learn anything? What?
Word limit: 1200
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #406/yourname
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