The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 7

I've eaten far too much over Christmas, so today I'm thinking about food. Food writers use all sorts of wonderful descriptions of food, and so should we - but writers can use their descriptions in more useful ways. Here's some dialogue from two characters in a restaurant...

A: Have you been here before?

B: No, never. Have you?

A: Once, a couple of years ago. It's changed hands since.

And here are some scenarios...

1. First date

2. Couple on the verge of breaking up

3. Young journalist interviewing mega rich businessman.

Write this scene out. You're only allowed to use the dialogue above, so you need to use the food and description to give the attitudes of your characters. So, the first date couple might be eating fresh, juicy strawberries and drinking fizzy champagne, the couple breaking up are stuck with limp lettuce and over-cooked pasta, and the mega rich business man is ripping apart his steak so the blood runs...Get the idea? Have fun!

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 6

Write the story of your name.

Why are you called what you're called? Do you have a nick name? Have you been called by another name at another time? What does your family call you? Do your parents/children have a special name for you? How does being called this name make you feel? Do you like your name? Would you like to be called something else?

Write the story of your name.

Now, look at a character you've already written. Write the story of their name.

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 5

Choose a character - this could be someone from a WIP or a completely new character. Write down a few basic details eg name, age, sex and some background info such as where they live.

Now, write a scene where your character is getting dressed to go for a job interview, but before you start, think through a few questions...

what is the job?

are they currently employed?

are they qualified for this job?

how do they feel about this job?

are they likely to get this job?

what clothes do they wear normally?

are they choosing different things for this job interview?

When you've thought through the questions, write the scene. Your task is to convey as much information as you can through their choice of clothing and their manner when getting dressed.

It's said that people make up their minds about strangers within three seconds of seeing them. This exercise should make you think about how you present your characters to the reader.

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 4

Anna and Ben have gone for supper at Clare and David's house. They are all old friends and the evening has been filled with talk and laughter, delicious food and quite a bit of wine. They are now at the coffee stage. Anna, Ben and Clare are discussing their summer holiday plans - maybe they'll take a cottage together - but David is quiet.

Suddenly David pushes his chair back and stands up. 'I'm sorry,' he says as the others stare at him. 'I can't do this any more. Anna and I - we're in love. We want to be together.'

Re-write this scene in your own words, and from Anna, Ben, Clare and David's point of view in turn.

Think about the difference changing the POV makes to each piece of writing. For example, David might sit through supper feeling guilty, or obsessively watching Anna. Ben might have guessed something is going on with Anna, but not known with whom.

Another thing to think about is the best place to start the scene. For example, if Clare suspects nothing, then there's not much subtext from her POV to play with if you start very early on. But once David reveals the situation, there's much more going on.

Finally, how would it change if you use 1st rather than 3rd person? Or had an omniscient narrator?

There isn't a right or wrong answer here, but the choice of POV changes the way the scene works. Are you making effective choices?

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 3

Here are the beginnings of ten opening lines to ten stories. Continue with the stories, writing at least a paragraph.

I had started to...

He walked down the...

After yesterday I...

The invitation said...

She polished the...

Tomorrow we will...

As the train passed...

In the morning they...

He was stopped by a...

The party was...

I find that if you're given an opening to play with it stimulates lots of story ideas - I hope it works for you.

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 2

Gather together twenty bits of paper - index cards are perfect for this. Ideally they'd be divided between two different colours, ten of each, but not to worry if you can't manage this.

On each card of the first set write an abstract noun. (Abstract nouns are things you can't touch eg love, happiness, life.)

On each card of the second set write a concrete noun. (Concrete nouns are things you can touch eg chair, table, pen.)

Don't fret too much about choosing 'good' words, it's supposed to be fun. Shuffle each set of cards.

Select a card from the first set and one from the second so you end up with one abstract noun and one concrete noun. Now, put them together as a proverb - you can play around with the words if you like.

Let's suppose you got 'Life' and 'Chair'. Put together you might have....Life is like a rocking chair, if you stop rocking, everything stops. Or...Life is like a chair, it's easier if you have a cushion.

Work through the sets, shuffling every time you get bored. This is a good exercise to get you away from cliches.

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 1

As some people may have next week off and fancy a bit of writing, I thought I'd suggest some writing exercises...

Choose a character - it may be someone from a WIP or a completely new invention. List some of their character traits eg shy, fearless, wild, scary, timid, angry, happy, egotistical, witty....

Now, write a quick scene where the character displays that characteristic. The only rule is you're not allowed to mention the trait (or synonyms), you can only show it.

Happy Christmas, every one!