What Lies Underneath
There's a quote in "Story" by Robert McKee, which says "If the scene's about what the scene's about, you're in trouble". That was in the context of film scripts, but it's interesting to use in novel scenes too. This exercise is all about subtext.
Pick an ordinary scene. Here's a few suggestions:
Two sisters go shopping for a housewarming present.
An IT person fixes an office worker's computer.
A man's brother and his girlfriend get together to plan his surprise birthday party.
Now pick an emotional undercurrent. What's really going on? Is one of the sisters so depressed she's considering suicide? Has the IT person got a big crush on the office worker? Do the brother and the girlfriend actually hate each other?
Write the scene, conveying the subtext to the reader through dialogue and action only. Depending on the intensity of your scene, the subtext might simmer underneath or finally burst through to become the actual subject of conversation.
For an example, see Gaie's story "A Housewarming Gift".
Easter Egg Hunt
Somebody leaves your main character a trail of clues to follow. They could be messages, images or things. Where do they lead? And what's at the end? Chocolate eggs or severed heads?
What's in a Name?
Spam is annoying, but you can make it work for you for a change. Check your spam emails for the sender's name. Some of them are wonderfully exotic or unlikely. What sort of character do they conjure up for you? If spam doesn't work for you, you could try plant name. The Latin names may work best. For example, Bellis Perennis is the common daisy. Once you've got the inspiration for your character, you can always go back and change the name later.
Picture Seeds
Pick one or more of the pictures below as a starting point and write for 15 minutes - a scene, an outline, whatever comes to mind.
RSS Feed