This seven-day writing challenge is designed to simply get
you writing. There is no word limit on each exercise but you’ll probably aim to
write 300 – 500 words for each. Make the exercises work for you as you wish.
You can work chronologically through each day, or you can spend more time on
one day if it needs more attention and then catch up with the other exercises
at a later date. Most importantly, just keep writing! Save revisions for after
the end of the challenge. I’d love to know how you get on so leave a comment!
Giving Directions
On an earlier post about dialogue (read it here) I said that
speech ‘is the way in which a character’s inner world escapes fleetingly for
other people to see. Dialogue is different from thought because it is
controlled and censored. Therefore, when you write speech you need to apply
this same filter process. Having said that speech can’t be too rigid. In short,
you need to achieve something more controlled than thought, yet something
natural and realistic.’
Try your hand at dialogue with this exercise: depict a scene
in which one character asks another for directions to somewhere. This is a good
scenario to practice with because we generally know how the conversation will
go, so you can modify depending on character and story. Furthermore, it is a
catalyst for drama in that it is a situation in which one character needs
something from the other, giving you some scope for action. To start with, just
write the dialogue and add prose later.
Come back tomorrow for another exercise. Happy Writing!
Previous exercises: Day One – You are Here
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