“Try it: Start reading the obituaries every morning. Take inspiration from the people who muddled through life before you—they all started out as amateurs, and they got where they were going by making do with what they were given, and having the guts to put themselves out there. Follow their example.” (Austin Kleon, Show Your Work!)
Writing Exercise: Honoring Life Through Fiction
Techniques Illustrated by the Quotation:
1. Empathy in Characterization – Obituaries offer glimpses into lives that were meaningful to someone. Fiction can deepen this by imagining the thoughts, struggles, and joys of an ordinary person with complexity and care.
2. Subtle Revelation of a Character’s Past – Instead of summarizing a life, a well-crafted scene allows a character’s history to emerge naturally through action, dialogue, and reflection.
3. Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary – Everyone starts as an amateur, as the quotation suggests, and stories can highlight the quiet perseverance, dignity, and humor in everyday lives.
500-Word Writing Prompt:
Find an obituary for someone unknown to you—an everyday person rather than a public figure. Read it slowly, paying attention to small details: professions, hobbies, places lived, relationships. Choose one evocative detail (e.g., “she made the best peach cobbler,” “he never missed a sunrise”) and use it to build a moment in this person’s life that reflects their inner world.
Write a 500-word scene in which the character, at some point in their life, faces a personal crossroad or quiet revelation. This should not be their deathbed moment but rather a scene where they are fully alive—making a choice, reflecting on a memory, or sharing an experience with someone they love.
What the Scene Should Include:
• A setting grounded in sensory detail that brings the moment to life.
• A character’s emotions, thoughts, and interactions that suggest a fuller life beyond the scene.
• A specific action or decision, no matter how small, that reveals the character’s depth.
Evaluation Criteria for a Strong Response:
• Emotional Authenticity – The character’s thoughts and actions feel genuine, not sentimental or overly dramatic.
• Rich, Specific Detail – The writing avoids clichés and instead uses concrete details to make the character’s world feel real.
• A Moment That Stands Alone Yet Suggests a Larger Life – The scene doesn’t summarize but immerses us in one compelling experience that hints at the character’s journey.
• Empathy and Nuance – The character is treated with respect, showing their complexity rather than reducing them to a single trait or achievement.
Strong vs. Weak Example:
Strong: A retired nurse stands in her backyard at dusk, carefully pruning her rosebushes as she once tended to her patients. She recalls a young girl who used to bring her drawings during her hospital rounds, wondering where she might be now. The obituary detail—her lifelong love of gardening—becomes a quiet metaphor for her enduring care for others.
Weak: A chronological summary of the nurse’s life, listing her career, family, and hobbies with no specific moment or emotional depth. Instead of immersing the reader in an experience, it reads like a biographical outline.
Follow-Up Questions for Workshopping/Revising:
• Does this moment reveal something meaningful about the character’s life without directly stating it?
• Are there concrete sensory details that make the scene immersive?
• Does the character feel like a fully realized person rather than just an idea?
• How does this scene reflect the spirit of the person’s life, even in small ways?
Recommended Reading:
“The Comet” by W.E.B. Du Bois – While speculative in nature, this story beautifully captures the interiority and quiet dignity of an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation, reflecting on his place in the world with empathy and depth.
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