Writers in Isolation

This is an exercise in writing dialogue, and also in thinking about the way someone may say one thing while meaning or thinking about something else. Stage 1. Invent a character. Start by thinking about something they really want. Then place your character in an everyday setting (e.g. a kitchen) and consider which five things there are likely to interest them most. Why would these be of interest? Write this down. Now think of something that the character tries to keep secret. It need not be anything particularly important. This secret affects the way the character performs an everyday activity. Describe the character performing that activity. Stage 2. Imagine the character leaving a message on a friend’s ansaphone. The character is just leaving an ordinary message but, at the back of their mind, can’t help thinking about the thing they want and the secret they are keeping. Without revealing either, what do they say? Write it down in the character’s voice. Stage 3. Your charac...

This is an exercise is which you can take one of your own memories, alter it, and give it to  a character you have invented. Stage 1. Choose an event or occasion you remember. Don’t choose anything that’s very personal or emotional. It could be a pleasant walk or a surprising incident or conversation. Write down all you can remember.  Write down how the memory affected all five senses (touch, smell, taste, hearing, sight). If you can’t remember how it affected a particular sense, imagine how it might have been. Stage 2. Choose a character who lives in a home similar to the place where you are. Make this character different from you in three key aspects. These might be chosen from (for example) gender, age, life experience, relationships. Apart from this you can draw on aspects of your own experience, Imagine this character standing in a room similar into the one where you are now and looking out of a window. What does this character notice? How does the character react...

I’ve been reminded that, in times of crisis, a popular British response is to have a good moan. It’s also been suggested by experts that grumbling is healthy. This writing exercise provides an opportunity to practise skills in moaning and grumbling. Stage 1. Think of something slightly irritating or mildly annoying. This shouldn’t be about a person but about a thing. Perhaps you don’t like the colour of postboxes or you are annoyed by the absence of herons from your neighbourhood. Make it something you wouldn’t usually consider complaining about. Stage 2. Now you have the subject of your complaint, think of someone you might complain to. This could be a real person (someone you don’t know personally) or it could be an invented person (e.g. King of the Birds). Decide how you can blame this person. Stage 3. Write a letter of complaint about the cause of annoyance to the person you have decided to hold responsible. Go into elaborate detail. Explain exactly how this minor ...

This exercise involves using flashback - a helpful technique whether you are writing a poem, a story, a script, a memoir or something else. Stage 1. Think of an anniversary you or a character might choose to celebrate. It should be the anniversary of an event that happened and that you were aware of when you (or the imagined character) were five years old or older. The event could be something personal, like the anniversary of a friendship or relationship, or the anniversary of a public event, like the first moon landing or a team winning the football league. Choose a joyous event. Stage 2. Imagine how that anniversary might be celebrated today in a home or work setting. Describe how you or your character would prepare for the celebration. Would special food be necessary or particular clothes? Stage 3. Now move into your memory or that of your character. Can you remember or imagine any previous celebrations of that event. If you can, choose one previous celebration and write d...

This exercise could actually be carried out while on hold to one of the help lines and essential services struggling to cope with a hugely increased number of calls. Stage 1. If you have had to make an important call lately, some of these lines may be familiar to you. All are recorded messages: “Your call is important to us”, “All of our operators are busy”, “Please continue to hold”, “We apologise for the delay” and “You are in a queue.” You may also have experienced a repeating musical track. Note down your reactions or imagined reactions to each of these statements and the music when you first hear them, when you hear them half an hour later, and then when you hear them two hours later. What might you do while waiting for a human response? Stage 2. Turn some of your responses into a monologue (a speech for one person) responding to the recorded messages and music. Read it aloud and edit it. You will probably want to include the recorded messages in your monologue....

This exercise may interest fashion addicts (although I’m not one). Stage 1. Answer the following questions: What is your favourite outfit?  Where and when do you wear it? How do you behave when wearing it? What impression do you think it makes on other people? Suppose you could keep only one item from that outfit, which would it be and why? If you could buy any item of clothing at once - but no more for the next year - what would you choose and why? Stage 2. Think of a real or imagined character. What are they wearing when you think about them? Write it down. If you were buying a single clothes item for this character, what would it be and why? Describe their reaction on receiving this item. Stage 3. Now imagine you have to wear the outfit your character is wearing (altered so that it fits you). How do you feel in this new outfit? Think about the physical sensations of wearing the outfit before considering any emotional reaction. Imagine walking around in this ou...

There are lots of stories in which one thing changes into something or someone else. This writing exercise is a way to have a go at writing a transformation scene. Stage 1. Think of a character - someone who lives only in your imagination. Think of that character only as they are seen by the people they encounter in a public role. You might choose a teacher, a politician, a sports person, a scientist, a performer — it doesn’t matter and they don’t have to be famous. Now imagine that character is being interviewed for the kind of magazine that publishes only complimentary articles about people. Write one or two introductory paragraphs and snippets from the interview. Stage 2. Now imagine that character alone, after giving the interview. What does your character think about their public self? What doubts and uncertainties does your character conceal? Write them down. Stage 3. What does your character want? This might be well known or secret - or a combination of both. Write a...

This writing exercise is invented so that you can have fun with the sounds of words. Stage 1. Make a list of at least ten words whose sounds you like. Just think about the sounds. Don’t think about the meaning at all. If you have a dictionary to hand, open it at random on any page and read aloud all the words on that page. Write down any whose sound you like. If you don’t have a dictionary choose the fourth letter of your name and spend a few minutes thinking of words beginning with that letter. Write down the ones whose sounds you like. Stage 2. Write down five colours. What would each of them sound like if they had a sound attached. Describe each as if it were a sound. Think of something you like wearing. If it got up and walked across the room, what would it sound like? Give one sound to each of the months of the year. What might darkness sound like? What might light sound like?  What sounds do you associate with the arrival of Spring? Stage 3. Gather all the notes...

This exercise is about thinking about how to show character and emotion through action, without saying what the character’s emotions are. Stage 1. Think of a regular household chore. It should be one that involves a certain amount of physical activity (for example, washing clothes by hand rather than switching on a washing machine). Write down the activity, breaking it into a series of steps. Stage 2. Think of a character who is experiencing stress or uncomfortable emotions. Think about how they show those emotions physically. How does it affect the way they sit, stand, walk, etc? Describe the character getting up and walking across a room in a way that shows how they feel - but don’t mention the stress or emotion. Stage 3. Now take the character through the household chore you have imagined, stage by stage. Continue to show the emotions through action and movement without mentioning the character’s state of mind. As the character goes through the stages of the task, let the c...

This writing exercise is about thinking of other people’s lives without stereotyping them. It’s only a first step and isn’t a quick solution to the world’s or writers’ difficulties. Stage 1. Listen to the talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that you can find here . It lasts just under 20 minutes. Stage 2. Think about an important event in your life and make notes on key elements.  Stage 3. Now think of someone whose role in work you tend to take for granted. Write down the skills that role requires. Imagine someone with feelings as deep as yours doing that job. Imagine three or four skills or interests they might have - and these should be skills and interests that you value too. Imagine the family that they love and the friends they care about. Stage 4. Write a story, script or poem in which the person you have just imagined experience an important event similar to the one you chose in stage 2. When you have finished, you may find you want to do more research to fin...

This exercise is about letter-writing. It’s also a way of thinking about writing as a means of communication. You may find you want to send or email what you write. Stage 1. Think about someone you know and like who you would like to write to. This could take the form of a letter, an email or even a recording.  What is it you like about this person? What interests do you have in common? What different interests does that person have? Do you have some shared memories or experiences? Focus on things that worked out well. Stage 2. Look around the place where you are. Find two or three objects that might interest or delight the other person. Even a simple object would do. Start by describing one of the objects. As you do, let your thoughts expand to ideas, memories and possibilities that the object suggests. Write freely without editing. Let your thoughts lead you in any direction. Do the same for the other object or objects. Stage 3. Look back over what you have writte...

This exercise is one that children might enjoy as well as adults. You could make pictures instead of writing or produce a short graphic novel. This would also work as a story for children, a story for adults or a poem. See how it works for you and adapt the exercise if you like. Stage 1. Choose (or imagine) an animal or bird or fish or insect. Find out as much about it as you can. This might involve observation if the animal is your pet, searching the internet for information or imagining where and how the animal lives. Stage 2. Now you know about your animal, answer these questions about one individual animal: What does your animal want? (You can use your imagination) Where would your animal most like to be? What does your animal think and feel about the world around it? What does your animal think and feel about human beings? Stage 3. Now imagine your animal is on a street or path. Imagine its journey to find what it wants and the place where it wants to be. What obstacl...

This writing exercise is about building a character from a few objects. It’s also about being a sort of detective - like Sherlock Holmes. Stage 1. Think of five objects that you could hold in the cupped palms of both hands. They should be: - something that can be eaten or drunk - something that can be worn - something that can be played with - something that can be treasured  - something that can be heard Spend time describing each object, using as many of the five senses as possible. Stage 2. Now imagine a bag which will hold all the objects together. What is it like? Imagine an unlikely place where you might find this bag. Stage 3. Become a detective. Using the bag and the objects as clues, work out what sort of person owns this bag. Describe the bag’s owner in detail. Stage 4. How did the bag come to be in the place where it is? How is it reunited with its owner. There’s a story to tell - so tell it, in any form you like. When you have written the story, rea...

This is an exercise that may be enjoyable if you are unable to go out or travel as you wish. However, when you have written it, you will be asked to edit it so that it might appeal to someone else. Stage 1.  Think of a place where you have been happy (or imagine a place where you might be happy). Now start responding to the following questions as if you were in that place and the only human there: What does the air feel like? What is beneath your feet? What do your hands, arms, neck and face feel? If you open your mouth and close it again, will there be a different taste on your tongue? What scents and smells reach you? Do they bring back particular thoughts and memories? What can you hear? Are the sounds loud or soft? Are they near or far away? You may be the only human in this place but are there any animals or insects? Write down three things you can see - one may be big but the others should be small things or little details. Stage 2.  You now have a strong se...

This writing exercise is about imagining the development of a relationship between two characters. One of the characters will be similar to you in ways that you choose. Stage 1. Think of (or invent) someone you met once or twice years ago. This should be someone you liked and who might have become a friend had you known one another. Start writing down what you can remember (or invent) about that person. Think about how they moved and the sort of things they said. What was their approach to life?  Now imagine that person is writing a postcard to you after a gap of many years. What is the picture on the postcard? What does the person write? If you can, see if you can show something of their character in the way they write. Stage 2. Imagine a character with many of your own characteristics but three significant differences. Write down what those differences are. Write down three aspects of your character that are important and one that you want to exaggerate. Name the new chara...

This writing exercise comes in three stages and may lead on to a longer piece of writing. You can write in any form you like (poem, story, script etc.) Stage 1: Think of a small object that you particularly value. Imagine holding it in your hands with your eyes closed. What do you notice about it? Think about how it feels. Does it have a particular smell - or even a taste or sound associated with it. Write down all the words you can think of that express this. Finally - and only after you have explored all the other senses, consider what the object looks like and any special associations it has for you (e.g. a memory, a gift, the place where you first saw it). Stage 2: Think of a place you don’t know very well or where you feel just slightly uneasy. Imagine being there and turning round in a circle, taking in every detail. Once again start with sensations other than sight - how do your feet feel? what is the air like? what can you smell? what can you taste in your mouth? Write do...

I’m proposing to offer writing ideas and exercises for anyone who might enjoy them.  It seems to me that some people experiencing isolation or an unexpectedly empty social calendar might like to write creatively, whether they are experienced writers or complete beginners.  Although I’m an experienced tutor of creative writing, I’m not doing this in order to offer classes or to compel fierce critique. I want this to be something which any writer, at any level of experience, can enjoy. It’s not going to be a course either. Dip in whenever you feel like it. You’re welcome to post writing in the comments but please try to introduce your writing in some way. And if you respond to someone else’s work, remember to value what comes from experiences different from your own - this isn’t a seminar or an editorial meeting. I hope you enjoy this.