Creating a character

Characters from the Duolingo language app.

* Choose a first name and write it down. (Don't think about your answers for two long; just go with whatever pops into your head.)

* Choose a surname, and write it underneath.

* Write down a physical characteristic about their face - eg piercing blue eyes, lots of wrinkles, soft red mouth.

* They have some sort of habit that they don't notice but other people do - like drumming their fingers, straightening cuffs, twiddling with a ring. What is it?

* What do they do for a living?

* What's their happiest memory from when they were a child?

* What are they afraid of?

* What do they want most of all?

* Brainstorm a few of their characteristics - eg cheerful, impatient, painstaking, anxious, confident.

So now you have a character. Put them into a story - which involves a journey of some kind.

Fairy Tale Twist

 

A new take on an old fairy tale - continue the story!

The Pied Piper of Hamelin hadn't reckoned on Mrs Muskett, Year 3's formidable music teacher...

Or:

Choose another fairy tale, and invent a similar twist.

Lucky find...

Replacing a rotten window frame, you find a slip of paper wedged in the wall. It changes your life. How? (NB - it's not this particular note - this is just to illustrate the post!)

Or:

You are stripping off layers of wallpaper in your house. When you reach bare plaster, you find a drawing/message which shocks you. What is it, why does it shock you, and what happens next?

(Thanks to Writers' Forum for the first of these.)

There are places I remember...

 For this task, begin by thinking of a house, or maybe just a room you remember: or you could choose a workplace or an office - anywhere, really, that means something to you.

Draw a rough sketch plan of the place. Then annotate it: eg This was where my sister and I listened to records; The sitting room where we watched TV together and I first saw... etc.

Then choose one of the memories/notes, and use it a a springboard for a piece of writing: could be a story, could be memoir.

Homework!

Margaret very sensibly suggested when we met that it would be a good idea if I set you something to write about ready for our first meeting of the new 'school' year. So here you go.

First option: choose one of the following pictures, and write a story suggested by it. You could begin by describing the picture, if you like; or you could launch straight into the story. One possibility would be to focus on one character in your chosen picture, and get into their head - ie write about what's going on in their voice, and see where that leads you. Or you could write about what happened before the scene in the picture, or about what happens after it.

Picture by Vermeer

Edvard Munch

The Fitting, by Paula Rego

OR, if none of these takes your fancy, write a piece entitled 'Something that happened on holiday'!

Titles

 These are titles of books that members of the group have read recently. Choose one, and write a story suggested by it.

The Whispers

Marriage of Opposites

Bleak House

When will something good happen?

Coffin Road

Ingenious Pain

The Secret Garden

Behind the scenes at the museum

The Magic Circle

And a pretty picture, just for fun.

Something to cheer us up...

 

We were chatting in the last session about how relentlessly grim the news is at the moment - and Jude made a very heartfelt request for a task that would cheer us up rather than make us more miserable. This seemed eminently sensible - so here we go!

• During the week, look out for positive news stories - local, national or international. Come armed with at least one to share with us all.

• Think about a place that made you feel happy, and write about it. Remember about using all the senses - hearing, smell, taste and touch - or at least a couple besides the visual. Might be useful to find a photograph to remind you, if you have one, but that's not essential.