Writing Exercise: The Shape of the Tribe

Writing Exercise: The Shape of the Tribe

Key Writing Techniques to Develop:

1. Worldbuilding Through Intersubjective Belief – Crafting systems of shared myths, rituals, or symbols that shape how characters see their world and each other.

2. Characterization via Cultural Immersion – Revealing who characters are by how they uphold, challenge, or manipulate the beliefs of their group.

3. Conflict through Collective Identity – Using the tensions between individual and group belief systems to generate emotional and narrative stakes.

Writing Prompt (500 words):

Write a scene in which a character confronts a moment of personal crisis that forces them to either uphold or reject a shared belief held by their community. The belief must not be stated explicitly; instead, it must be revealed through dialogue, behavior, symbols, rituals, or artifacts. The character should feel the presence of the collective—living or dead—in their decision. Avoid abstract exposition. Set the scene in a world where these beliefs shape daily life in subtle, observable ways (e.g., a tattoo passed down, a forbidden path, a chant at sunrise). Let the community’s story shape the stakes.

Concentrate the scene in one specific moment: a conversation before a ceremonial act, the finding of a relic, a confrontation after a betrayal. Ground everything in sensory detail and character motive.

Evaluation Criteria:

Strong responses:

– Embed the group’s belief system organically within the scene (e.g., behaviors, symbols, taboos)

– Present a character whose internal conflict is inseparable from their relationship to that system

– Use concrete sensory detail and action rather than explanation to convey cultural dynamics

– Achieve narrative movement through tension between personal desire and collective myth

Weak responses:

– Rely on exposition or explanation of the belief system

– Flatten the community into a monolith without individual variation

– Fail to create stakes tied to the belief system

– Create scenes where the belief feels incidental rather than shaping

Follow-Up Questions for Workshop/Revision:

– What do readers understand about the community’s shared beliefs, and how?

– What internal conflict does the character face because of the belief, and is it earned?

– Does the story reveal both the power and limits of the collective myth?

– Is the belief system visually or behaviorally embodied in ways unique to this world?

– Could the same scene function without the belief system? If so, what’s missing?

Recommended Reading:

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin – Exemplifies intersubjective reality through a utopian society dependent on a shared myth. The central character’s moral reckoning with this belief system and the community’s complicity mirrors the exercise’s goal.

Strong Response Example (Brief):

A woman in a coastal village is expected to place her dead husband’s boots on the tide altar. She hesitates, recalling the boots were never his—they were his brother’s, drowned years ago. Her fingers trace the saltworn leather as villagers hum the ancestral mourning song. She grips the boots, then sets them ablaze in the fire pit instead. A child gasps. The old priest turns away.

Weak Response Example (Brief):

A man sits thinking about how his village believes in ancestor spirits. He remembers stories his mother told him. He decides he doesn’t believe them anymore. He walks away from the village, ready to start a new life.

AI Disclosure Statement:

This writing prompt was created in collaboration with ChatGPT, an AI model by OpenAI, to support creative practice. ChatGPT assisted with idea generation and drafting; the final text was edited by the author. The illustration was created using Google Gemini.