Lately I've been binge-watching Fringe, which, as you may know, is a TV show about alternate universes and what happens when you change this event here or that event there. It got me thinking about things that might have happened differently in my own life that would have resulted in a completely different Sione. Like if my mom had had a child before me. Or if she'd named me Emily.
And that got me thinking about why I might be interested in writing stories about those things. One of the main potential benefits would be that I could learn more about myself by writing about what I am not. Or what I *think* I am not.
Which brings us to this week's writing prompt.
Prompt
Create a character whose personality is the exact opposite of yours.
The character can have the same physical description, the same name, the same gender (or not, if you want to change all those things), but the main idea is to create a character sketch that illuminates who you are by highlighting everything you think you are not.
In my case, my character would be vegan and love vegetables, be an athletic adrenaline junkie (skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.), love to camp and go on long backpacking trips, know how to sew her own clothing, prefer to live in a small town than a big city, fall in love easily, etc., etc.
If you're using this as a writing warm-up, start by freewriting your character sketch for at least five minutes. Then, if you're on a roll and think you've got a little more in you, go for another five. Go!
ROW80 Update
"A Round of Words in 80 Days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life." You can find a more complete description of my goals for 2013 Round 4 here.
1. Drafting. Aaaahahahahaaaa! I drafted a poem called "The Ex-Boyfriend's Poetry Reading," so take that, writer's block! Actually, more like I found the poem in rough form in my notebook and I typed it out, making little changes as I did so, and then called it a first draft. But still, I'm desperate so I'm gonna count it.
2. Revising. Double Aaaahahahahaaaa!! I revised a piece called "The Boyish Man." I finally found an ending I like. (For now, at least.) And then I shared the piece with my friend and fellow writer Lorie Bailey (with whom I'll be reading at Rain or Shine in January - woot!), and she made some great suggestions, so I need to revise it again. Darnit. But also good.
3. Blog schedule. Yes, good, excellent. Had a wonderful response to Friday's interview with Greg Gerding from University of Hell Press. Instead of doing a market research piece this Monday, I opted to write a post about why I haven't been writing. I found it helpful to write it, and it seems some other people found it helpful to read it, too, so that feels like a success. And this Friday, the blog will feature an interview with fiction author Nancy Christie, who has a couple of books coming out soon with Pixel Hall Press. And on top of all that, I wrote a guest blog post for Nancy's blog about what I look for in an editor. I think that's going up this Friday, too, if I'm not mistaken. Exciting stuff!
4. Submitting. I got a rejection on Monday for a flash fiction piece I *really* like from a lit mag I *really* like. Sigh. No new submissions lately.
5. Rain or Shine reading series. Nothing to report. It's a friend's birthday this week, so I'm skipping this week's reading to help her celebrate.
6. ROW80 community. I think I remember commenting on three people's check-ins last week. I'm pretty sure I did. Maybe. Anyway, intend to do it (again) this week.
This is a blog hop! Click here to read other ROW80 participants' check-ins.
I want to read that poem!
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks! It's not done yet, though.
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