WRITING EXERCISE: The Door You Didn’t Mean to Open: A Prompt for Writing Without a Map
Key Techniques Illustrated
1. Character-First Discovery – Start with a vivid, incomplete character and let them lead.
2. Organic Scene Emergence – Build the world and action moment by moment, resisting pre-planned structure.
3. Emotional Tracking – Let the character’s emotional state shape scene movement and tone in real time.
Writing Prompt (500 words)
Write a scene that begins with a single image: a character standing alone outside a locked door, holding something in their hand they shouldn’t have. No backstory. No explanation. Discover the rest through the act of writing. Who are they? Why are they there? What’s in their hand? Let the emotional logic of the character—curiosity, guilt, defiance, panic—steer what happens next. Do not plot ahead. Do not revise as you go. Follow the character’s instincts, not yours.
At exactly 500 words, stop.
Evaluation Criteria
Strong responses will:
• Reveal a compelling, layered character through behavior, interiority, and choice rather than exposition.
• Maintain narrative momentum through emotional causality, not external plot beats.
• Embrace ambiguity and open-endedness without sacrificing coherence or tonal control.
Weak responses will:
• Revert to exposition or forced backstory to explain motivation.
• Derail into plot summaries or outline-like thinking.
• Flatten the emotional arc with predictable or schematic beats.
Concrete Example of Strong vs. Weak Response
Strong:
A woman in a bridesmaid dress clutches a child’s drawing outside the groom’s hotel room. The dialogue she rehearses in her head never makes it to the page. Instead, her choice—to slip the drawing under the door and walk away—tells the story. We learn everything through her hesitation, her gestures, and what she almost does.
Weak:
A man stands outside an office with a USB stick. Flashback: last week, his boss yelled at him, so now he’s stealing data. He remembers every detail. The scene explains rather than explores, and the character feels like a puppet for a predetermined plot.
Follow-up Questions for Workshopping
• What does the character’s behavior reveal that they themselves don’t say?
• Where did you find yourself pushing the story vs. following it?
• What surprised you about what happened in the scene?
• Does the emotional rhythm feel earned or imposed?
Recommended Reading
“Why Don’t You Dance?” by Raymond Carver – A masterclass in discovery writing, where emotional weight builds without explanation. A man sells his furniture on his lawn. A young couple wanders in. Nothing is explained, yet everything lands.
Use this as a blueprint: begin with character, follow instinct, and let meaning emerge in the gaps.
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