“He stepped into the gloom to look at the machinery pounding, grinding away, the sound of it bringing back the steps he remembered of the process: the shredder tearing the stalks apart, the crusher squeezing out the sweet juice they called guarapo—surprised he remembered that—the husks going into the furnace to make steam, while the juice flowed into the centrifuge to be refined, lime added to produce granulation, the liquid molasses drained off. . . . A man’s voice in English said, “You have business here?”” (Elmore Leonard, Cuba Libre)
Drawing from Elmore Leonard’s approach to storytelling, here’s a writing prompt to start today’s practice:
Start your story in the middle of a transaction gone wrong – it could be a legitimate business deal, a personal exchange, or anything in between. But here’s the constraint: you can’t describe what anyone is thinking or feeling directly. Instead, you must reveal their emotional states purely through dialogue and physical actions. Your characters should talk like real people, which means they rarely say exactly what they mean.
Some parameters:
– Length: 1,500 words
– Setting: A public place during business hours
– Must include at least three characters
– No flashbacks
– No weather descriptions
– Begin with dialogue
– Must include something valuable changing hands
The goal is to create tension through subtext and action rather than internal monologue or exposition. Let the story emerge through what happens and what’s said, not what’s explained. This exercise helps develop the skills of writing spare, propulsive narratives where the conflict is immediate and the stakes are clear without ever having to state them explicitly.
Focus particularly on writing dialogue that contains multiple layers – what’s being said on the surface, what’s really being communicated underneath, and what each character is trying to achieve. In real life, people rarely directly confront issues – they talk around them, use implications, and try to maintain face while pursuing their goals.
Remember: every memorable story hinges on the unsaid things vibrating beneath the surface – so trust your characters, trust your readers, and most importantly, trust your own instincts about what makes a scene crackle with tension.
Regards,
RAR
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