Describe a view from a window – bedroom, barroom, bus, wherever – as seen by a character who has just received some very good or very bad news. Have some specific news in mind but don’t even hint at it in the writing. The reader should be able to deduce if not the exact nature of the news, the tenor of it, whether it’s good or bad, simply by the way you describe the view. The object is to give the reader a sense of a characters internal life by relying on meaningful imagery alone.

Try to avoid using clichés and commonly used imagery such as dark clouds for sadness or sunny skies for happiness. Emotions are complicated and learning to show them to a reader rather than explain them is a challenge for any writer, experienced or not.

According to Michael Knight, the author of the article from which this is derived:

“In a good story, the character’s response, that original and particular and individual reaction, is the way he feels. It’s the only possible way to make clear something that’s more intricate than adjectives and adverbs.”

“If you want your readers to have an emotional response to a piece of fiction, you must allow them to experience that emotion, along with your characters, rather than explaining it.”

If you chose to participate, submit your work to the group and then come back here and link it below. This will make it easier for the hosts and others in the group to quickly find, and connect the story to the exercise that initiated it.

Street signs

Round Up

Exercise One

Crystalline

Hi

Response to Exercise 1

Exercise 1

Hello, newbie here. I might have posted the link incorrectly.