How to Write Characters That Change Over Time: A Quick Writing Exercise
A 0:1:28-long dose of inspiration
Day 28- The Body Talking by Neha Mediratta
We communicate with more than words…let’s explore that today
The Prompt
Write a short story describing your character’s inner reactions/emotions/thoughts to outside events entirely through body description.
Use this ending for your short story. “After he signed the papers, he stood up slower than usual. He almost limped away from the desk and into the corridor.
No, that’s not it.
His head hung to the left a bit, his whole torso’s weight shifted to the right leg for longer than the left one, as if was lugging around a log of wood attached to his left calf. His left knee didn’t bend. His arms, usually swinging, hung limp.”
Steve Maxwell, a fitness instructor, says: “People’s bodies are exactly what their thoughts are.”
Including the body’s reactions to outside situations is a great way to develop depth in characters. It creates a more immediate connection with readers (since they can absorb a lot of implicit information through such descriptions) and makes your writing more effective with just a few details!
How can we show defeat (like in the ending shared above) or anger or love or excitement/fear through body reactions of characters?
Enjoy!
Neha Mediratta
Neha is a generalist currently obsessed with stretching, mind-body-world connection and the spirit’s dwelling place. She writes fiction, non-fiction, takes on editing assignments she enjoys and works with people she admires. She lives by a lake in an overcrowded coastal city with her family and some wildlife. Check out her writing here
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
Day 26- You never know where you might end up. by Brenda
Today’s prompt from Brenda Rech gives you a chance to stretch your imagination
The Prompt
A misunderstood aristocrat wants to unmask an intriguing conspiracy behind a museum exhibit. It takes him to a place he never wanted to go.
Take your character to a different time, a different place. Do they go forwards, backwards or maybe even a bit sideways.
Brenda
Brenda loves writing short fiction and is working on her first novel. 2023 is the third year of her monthly newsletter – Thru the Window.
All her life she wanted to be a veterinarian and took all the right science classes in high school. But, her favorite class was English 300. The teacher was a poet, who loved Shakespeare, and gave funky, fun assignments for creative writing. She struggled through first-year university, her grades in organic chemistry were less than stellar, but her marks in Canadian Lit were awesome. It was suggested that she pursue an English degree and be a teacher. She quit university.
Fast forward. She got married, had two children and ran a successful consulting business with her husband.
Fast forward again. During a monster house move she wrote a blog with photos to send to people who wanted to know how the relocation was going.
Fast forward some more. She joined Story A Day May and has never looked back
Find more info on her website (which is still under construction – so wear a hard hat) https://wordpress.com/home/brendarech.com ,
A better idea is her newsletter. Thru the Window
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
Day 21- If You Plant It, They Will Come by Michele E. Reisinger
Settings are important in today’s prompt
The Prompt
Write a story in which a garden plays a central role, whether as setting, character, source of conflict–or any combination of those three elements.
WHAT kind of garden is it? Flower, vegetable… Unicorn? Is it flourishing or fallow? Sprawling or skimpy? And what kind of nourishment does its harvest require? Is that nourishment easy or difficult to acquire?
WHO owns/plants/cultivates the garden? Are they the same person?
WHY do they garden? Pleasure? Revenge? Magic? Obligation? Or why do they refuse/delay/squirm at the prospect? Are they too old, young, squeamish, busy, distracted, sick?
WHERE is the garden located? In the protagonist’s backyard? In a community plot at the over-55 development? On the space station? Atop a soaring skyscraper? Beside the cottage? Behind the castle? Lost in the multiverse? At great-aunt Lulu’s?
WHEN does the garden exist? In memory, 1236 BCE, a week from now, during the Plague, during the war, during the famine? And when does it bloom? Predictably or never or only when the Blue Moon shines?
HOW does the garden connect to the protagonist’s deepest, darkest fear, want, need, desire? How will they feel/act if the garden fails? Succeeds? Remains unharvested? And how does the garden impact the protagonist’s relationship with other characters? Other creatures?
Need more ideas?
Claim an extant garden–a real one, or one from literature or film–and set your story there. BUT, change at least one significant detail about its composition.
OR, borrow characters or historical figures and place them in your newly invented garden. Bonus points for genre mash-ups.
OR, retell a garden story from a different POV… like the worm’s.
Michele E. Reisinger
Michele is a writer and StoryADay Superstar living in Bucks County, PA, with her family and never enough books. Her short fiction has appeared in Across the Margin, Stories That Need to be Told, Sunspot Literary Journal, Dreamers Creative Writing, and others. Find her online at mereisinger.com.
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
Day 19- Mapping a Crime by Leslie Stack
An intriguing use of technology for today’s prompt from Leslie Stack
The Prompt
We all depend on our GPS devices whether it’s through Google, Apple, or other providers, but do we know how those online maps are created?
For at least Apple and Google, a small car literally drives around each neighborhood with a camera on top taking pictures and videos in real time for use later in their maps.
What if one of these drivers inadvertently takes a picture of a crime being committed unbeknownst to the driver?
This could be in a home, a park, a shopping center, a theatre, or a deserted road. For this prompt you can use the POV of the person committing the crime and finding the evidence on Google or Apple maps or you can use a different POV such as the victim or the officer investigating the crime.
What is the crime and what did the camera see? Enjoy!
Leslie Stack
Leslie Stack is a musician and retired teacher who is finally surrendering to her love of writing. You can usually find her doing research behind dark glasses on a park bench. She lives in a house in Pennsylvania with her husband where the books are plotting to takeover.
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version
Day 18- Follow the Scent! by Robin Stein
Follow the scent and uses your senses in today’s prompt from Robin Stein
The Prompt
The aroma of coffee brewing, the minty scent of your grandfather’s aftershave or the salty smell of the beach.
What are the smells of your childhood? List three that pop into your head.
Start your story with one of them.
Maybe your character has a flashback when she smells something.
Or, the scent can be used as evidence in a crime.
Perhaps an unfamiliar perfume will reveal someone’s infidelity.
Make sure to use all five senses as you follow the scent to reveal your story.
See where your nose takes you!
Robin Stein
Robin Stein muses, meditates and creates in Newtonville, MA. Her work has been displayed on the Martin Poetry Path and in the Story Dispenser at Wellesley Free Library. Her book, My Two Cities: A Story of Immigration and Inspiration, has been featured at many schools. She enjoys crafting crosswords, walking in nature and playing piano. You can read more at robinsteincreative.com.
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Prefer paper crafts? Here’s the cut & paste version