Friday Catalyst: The Shape of What Follows You Writing Exercise 

Friday Catalyst: The Shape of What Follows You Writing Exercise 

Key techniques to practice

1. Rendering absence as presence: writing the invisible as though it is tangible, making the unseen exert weight in the story.

2. Characterization through duality: showing a character’s light and dark sides not through direct explanation but through behavior, gesture, or omission.

3. Rhythmic pursuit-and-retreat in scene construction: structuring moments so that what is withheld becomes as potent as what is revealed.

Writing Prompt (500 words)

Write a scene in which a character’s presence is defined not by what they do but by what they refuse, avoid, or withdraw from. Begin with two characters in close proximity—domestic, professional, or intimate—where one character’s retreat alters the balance of the moment. The retreat does not need to be literal movement; it might be an evaded question, a silence at the wrong time, or a deliberate withholding of touch. Let the scene unfold with a push-pull rhythm: approach, withdrawal, pursuit, silence. The tension should come from what cannot be pinned down. The second character must feel this absence as strongly as if it were a tangible object in the room. By the end of the scene, the withheld thing should shape the atmosphere more than anything that was actually said or done.

Evaluation Criteria

Successful responses will avoid direct exposition of the shadow side. Instead, they will let silence, gesture, or omission reveal it. The retreat should shift power dynamics between characters in ways that feel authentic and surprising. Language should capture sensory immediacy—what the room feels like after a word is bitten back, what a hand does not touch. Weak responses will explain the shadow explicitly, flattening its mystery, or reduce absence to cliché (a character “feeling empty inside” without concrete embodiment).

Follow-up Workshop Questions

What does the absence make visible about each character?

Where does the rhythm of pursuit and retreat stall or break down?

How does the language carry the weight of silence or withholding?

What might happen if the withdrawal were extended another page, or if the withheld element were abruptly given?

Recommended Reading

Excerpt from “Friend of My Youth” by Alice Munro. It demonstrates how presence and absence, gesture and silence, can carry as much weight as action or dialogue.

Concrete Example of Strong vs. Weak Response

Strong: A woman asks her partner if he remembers the dream she told him about the night before. He stirs his coffee, watching the spoon circle, and never looks up. She presses, and he deflects with a question about whether they’re out of milk. The silence grows. The reader understands the refusal has more gravity than any direct answer.

Weak: A man avoids answering a question about his past because “he was hiding something dark inside, something that haunted him.” The retreat is named instead of dramatized, leaving nothing for the reader to feel.

This exercise can be drafted within two hours: 30 minutes brainstorming dynamics of pursuit and withdrawal, 60 minutes writing the scene, 30 minutes revising with emphasis on silence, gesture, and what remains unspoken.

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.