Writers in Isolation

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...

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...