From: Drill Time! Subject: EXERCISE: Just By Chance! You will need a die for this...go ahead and find one. (that's one dice--like a mie is one mice? so rye is...no...:-) Roll the die to pick one of each of these First Character 1. soldier 2. subway guard 3. swimmer 4. telephone operator 5. ticket taker 6. waiter Second Character 1. prostitute 2. PR agent 3. reporter 4. riveter 5. seamstress 6. sheriff Place 1. Restaurant 2. A Fish Market 3. The Wrong Restroom 4. An Art Museum 5. A Bus Depot 6. A Mortuary Object One 1. Tuna fish 2. Bowling pin 3. Gardenia 4. A ceramic frog 5. A map of Florida 6. A locked one-year diary Object Two 1. six gold thumbtacks 2. an opened envelope 3. a piece of wire 4. a key 5. a lump of coal 6. a stick of dynamite Adjective One 1. ornamental 2. fitted 3. pliable 4. greedy 5. untidy 6. final Abstract One 1. absolute 2. artistic 3. political 4. mental 5. economic 6. theoretical Okay? Rolled, picked, and ready to do something with your seven bits? Think about these people, in this place, with those objects. That adjective and the abstraction both should play a part. And write! tink (based on #44 on page 128 in "What If: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers" by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter]