Following this week’s theme of giving characters a basic need, today’s prompt is one of the most basic needs of all: food.
The Prompt
Your Character Needs Food
Tips
- Remember that, to make this story and your character interesting, they must need food above all else at this particular point in their lives.
- Figure out how they got into this state and why they can’t just pop down to the vending machine and satisfy their hunger. Don’t launch into this explanation right at the start of your story.
- Start with the character’s feelings of hunger/weakness and give us some character insights by showing how they deal with this adversity.
- Give hints about why this is more than just normal hunger (perhaps they are stranded somewhere, perhaps they’re trapped in an interminable meeting).
- This prompt easily lends itself to both comedy and horror. I can even see romance coming from this…
- Remember to put obstacles in your character’s way. If possible include other people and movement so that your character is not simply in his/her own head.
- Feel free to experiment with form. Have your stuck-in-a-meeting character texting a friend who is sending him pictures of the sumptuous lunch she’s having right now. Or include items from menus and recipes if your character has reached the hallucinating-about-food stage. Have fun with this.
- This is a great opportunity for sensory descriptive writing: have me licking my lips or clutching at my stomach as I feel and taste what your character feels and longs for.
- Don’t forget to resolve the problem. Will they find food? Will they find a way to deal with the hunger?
Go!