“You know the answer. Practice is not for something else. Practice is the practice of being here with your life and pen now.” (Natalie Goldberg, The True Secret of Writing)
Writing Exercise: Embracing the Present in Character Development
Key Writing Techniques from the Quotation:
1. Immersive Awareness: Grounding the reader in a character’s present moment through sensory details and immediate experience.
2. Authentic Voice: Capturing a character’s unfiltered thoughts and emotions in real time.
3. Dynamic Discovery: Allowing the act of writing itself to reveal unexpected insights about the character.
Writing Prompt
Write a 500-word scene in which your character is engaged in an ordinary, repetitive task (e.g., washing dishes, weeding a garden, folding laundry). As they perform this task, use their physical sensations, stream of consciousness, and interactions with their environment to reflect their emotional state and reveal a conflict, desire, or fear they might not even be fully aware of.
You should:
• Anchor the scene in the now with vivid sensory details.
• Let the character’s internal monologue flow naturally, even if it surprises you.
• Use the physical task as a metaphor or mirror for their inner life.
• Avoid external dialogue unless absolutely necessary.
Evaluation Criteria:
1. Presence and Sensory Detail:
• Strong: The scene vividly captures the character’s physical and sensory experience, making the reader feel “in the moment.”
• Weak: The description feels vague, generic, or disconnected from the task at hand.
2. Emotional Depth and Voice:
• Strong: The character’s thoughts feel authentic and layered, revealing complexity without over-explaining.
• Weak: The character’s inner monologue is flat, overly obvious, or inconsistent with the physical action.
3. Organic Discovery:
• Strong: The scene builds naturally toward an emotional or thematic revelation that feels unforced.
• Weak: The writing feels static, with little growth or discovery for the character or the reader.
Examples:
• Strong Response: A character folding laundry becomes hyper-aware of the soft warmth of the clothes, triggering a memory of their late mother folding the same sheets. This memory leads to a revelation about their unresolved grief and why they’ve been avoiding an upcoming family gathering.
• Weak Response: A character folding laundry monotonously thinks about their ex-partner in a repetitive, surface-level way, offering no deeper insight or sensory connection to the task.
Follow-Up Questions for Workshop/Revision:
1. How effectively does the piece anchor the reader in the character’s present experience?
2. Are the character’s thoughts and emotions expressed in a way that feels fresh and surprising?
3. How does the physical task reflect or contrast with the character’s inner conflict?
4. What moments could be expanded to deepen the emotional or thematic resonance?
Recommended Reading:
• “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver: The narrator’s mundane task of describing a cathedral to a blind man becomes an extraordinary moment of self-discovery and connection.
• “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (excerpt): The protagonist’s immediate physical sensations and the brutal environment reflect his internal and external conflicts in the face of nature’s indifference.
This exercise will encourage writers to embrace the immediacy of their writing and explore their characters deeply in the moment.
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