>>> Item number 33772 from WRITERS LOG9407C --- (56 records) ----- <<< Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: EXERCISE: Now You See It... Hup, one, two, three...Detail, HALT! Part of the "trick" to finding camouflaged whatevers hiding is to carefully go over each and every visible piece in order, refusing to "skip" or let your eyes and brain fit the pieces into a whole. That's how you realize that could be a shadow from the tree, but it's also just exactly the right size and shape to be a... So... 1. Pick one of the following settings: farm building (e.g. barn) country field downtown street shopping mall high school library etc. [fine it down... make it a specific location you know quite well.] 2. Make a list of all the bits and pieces a person would see. Do it systematically--start at one side and go across to the other side, or at one address and go down the block. Make it a fairly big list--at least 20 items, okay? 3. Now consider a character walking into this setting. Give them a particular situation or emotional bent (e.g. they've just learned their child was killed. they've just gotten married! they've just missed with their first attempt at assassination. they've just graduated! whatever...) [a list of "life crises" you might consider: losing job, death, marriage, illness, accident, leaving home, graduation, retirement, changing jobs, changing homes. incidentally, these are considered the ten "most stressful" situations according to the book on stress reduction I got them out of. I assume they mean death of a significant person, not yourself, as death seems likely to be relatively free of stress.] 4. Go through your list and pick out the details the character would see. Write it down, using the words they would use given their situation. Don't tell us what has happened to them, but through their selection of details and method of describing what they are seeing, hearing, smelling, etc., make us feel the way they do. Weather, vegetation, flashing lights--you're welcome to change details of the scene to bring out the character. WRITE! tink