NOVEMBER 2025 - Franz Kafka
EXERCISE #007 - "As Gregor Samsa awoke..."
Can you come up with a killer first line? A line to shock, intrigue, or frame an entire story?
Take a piece of your writing or a story you have considered, or are planning to write. Or create a new idea for a story. Try to write an opening line with impact, which will lead the reader straight into the story, and inform them of what might be to come.
EXERCISE # 008 - Juxtaposition
Putting together images or thoughts that are not normally associated will create juxtapositions that remain in the reader's mind. For example, a homeless man wearing a weathered tuxedo.
Make a note of anything strange and unusual, weird and wonderful, that you see, hear, smell, read, taste of touch. In your notes, begin to look for connections. Put together disconnected images that juxtapose. Form similes and metaphors. Look out for new characters and character descriptions.
EXERCISE #009 - Revealing character
In the following descriptions there are strong feelings of a writer noting down the facts of a man (or woman) and his/her life. The writer is present to the reader. The only presence should be the characters in the story, the writer's voice should be implicit.
Take the facts in each Character study and write them into a description of the character that is revealed through the actions and strong narration and/or dialogue.
CHARACTER #1 - A traveling salesman. He is 6 feet 4v inches tall. He has a bad back because he spends so many nights sleeping in cheap hotels with uncomfortable beds. He is divorced and has two young children, a boy and a girl.
CHARACTER #2 - A doctor. She is married and has a one-year old baby boy. Her husband is a stay at home dad. She has just finished a 20 hour shift and is beginning to hallucinate.