martinimade

I meant to post about this yesterday but the lingering illness made thinking so hard, y'all. But it's slightly easier today.*

Until Lisa/Figs comes back, I thought it could be fun to post little writing exercises on Wednesday. You can play along if you wish. Or not. You are adults and can make your own decisions.**

Feel free to post your results in the comments. Or not. Again.

EXERCISE THE FIRST: Who/Where/What.***

Who: Number from 1 - 10. Beside each number, write a name. Then an age, ethnicity, gender. What is he/she wearing? What can the audience first see?

Where: Number from 1 -10: Beside each number, write a place. Then a time of day, indoor or outdoor? What is in the space that is unexpected? 

What:**** Number from 1 -10: Beside each number, write a couple of words. These are the words you'll keep in mind as you write part two, which I'll talk about next week. 

The important part at this stage is to generate lists, not to worry about how those lists intersect.

For example --

Who

1. Josie, 12, caucasian, female. She's wearing a headband with a big flower on it, pink shirt, capri pants and jelly shoes. She's chewing gum.

2. Bo, 50, really white, male. Flannel shirt, jeans, gimme cap, boots. He's carrying the Financial Times.

Where

1. Kitchen, 2 a.m., one overhead light.  No stove; only a hot plate and a coffee maker. Spotless, you could do surgery on the floor.

2. Ballroom, 9 a.m., bright sunshine through windows. Empty but for a short stool.

What

1. Touching home.

2. Quarterback sneak.

3. Loose arms.

4. 15-Love.

5. Breakthrough.

Questions? 

Now go.

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* For relative values of easier. For the record, I'm feeling less bad. And will try to keep my whining to a minimum. 

** I say this a lot to my college students. Sometimes, they need the reminder.

*** This one is borrowed from Jean-Claude van Itallie, whose The Playwright's Workbook is awesome.

**** "What" is slightly more difficult to describe. Bear with me.