From: feel that BURN!! Subject: EXERCISE: Mix it up! Comments: To: fingertips UP Pencil and paper ready? Make two lines. Die ready? Roll... 1. A character with false dignity 2. A character with an allergy 3. A character with a phobia 4. An overly suspicious individual 5. A liar 6. A showoff Write down the selection at the beginning of the first line. Got one? Expand them, make them breath, where did they go to school and where are they now? Roll again... 1. Searching for someone 2. Trying to give a surprise party 3. Trying to continue a lobe affair 4. Planning a change in career, job or profession 5. Refusing to admit they are sick 6. Trying to get somewhere on time Write down the selection at the end of the first line. Okay! This is the goal that imbues them, that drives them right into the waiting grip of our second character... ROLL! 1. An occult horror 2. A lover 3. A child 4. A sports partner 5. A doctor 6. A spy! or other criminal! Beginning of the second line, please. who is struggling to... ROLL! 1. To achieve success 2. To commit a crime 3. To escape the past 4. To right a wrong 5. To get back home 6. To find a witness End of the second line. So, A character with a phobia, refusing to admit they are sick, conflicts with a sports partner who is trying to escape the past. Put them in a place, fill out the struggle and the climax a bit, and wrap the whole package in words, words, naught but words... oh, all right, some punctuation here and there, too, I suppose. But the words are the real meat in the pie, don't you think? when the pie was opened, the words began to stink, wasn't that a dirty dish that made the person think? (vee-aye-see-aye-tea-i-owe-in... in the summer pun! get out the books, write up the hooks, pound the keys into a climax... we're on vacation, writing every day!:-) tink