A Writing Exercise
Today is a bit of a hectic day, and I, alas, don't have my copy of Wonderbook at the ready, so I thought that I would just present a little writing exercise that I did earlier today. The prompt was "A man (or woman) walks out of a house", with the intent being to pick either a man or a woman as the character. I, however, decided, however, to ignore that choice:
A man or a woman walks out of a house. If a man, he walks to the left; if a woman, she just stops on the porch. If it is a man, his name is short, one of those names that is a loud thud, like Red or Frank, and he is reading the paper. If it is the woman, her name is two sylables and ends in a vowel: Rosie, Jenna. Of course, not every man has that kind of name, and not every woman has this kind, but the person who walked out of the house is one of them.
It would have to be one of them, if they walked out from that house. The man reads the paper as he walks along the sidewalk, and a dog barks as he passes the neighbors yard. He does not smile at the dog, even though it is a nice sounding bark, a wagging tail bark, not a fanged glare bark. The woman stands on the porch and watches the birds in the tree across the yard. She notices, too, the squirrels.
The woman is wearing a hat. It is not a bonnet, though it is blue. She got it when she went on vacation last Spring, something to wear on the beach and keep the sun off her face. The man, if he is the one came out, is wearing striped overalls that he had to buy custom. He ordered them off the internet as a joke, but they are the most comfortable thing he has ever worn. Either one would be wearing sneakers and white socks.
If it is the man, and he walked off, and he did not smile at the neighbors dog, then you would also notice his sneakers are not tied, and that his white socks have fallen down around his ankles. The woman's sock are not like that, and her sneakers are laced up tight, with the knot perfectly horizontal along the tongue.
If it is the woman, you must call her by that right name, but you do not remember it, and you don't remember the other name if she is the man today instead.
I am not certain how well the ending worked out, but the intent was to reveal that they are actually the same person, but I ran out of time to consider how to do it effectively. I did not want to do any real revision before posting, as that felt like cheating. It might be that I will expand this somewhat, make it part of a larger piece or something, but I don't know right now.
Anyway, I still have a lot more writing to get done this evening, including my writer's journal entry. So, I will return when I complete my other work to tell you all about it.
A man or a woman walks out of a house. If a man, he walks to the left; if a woman, she just stops on the porch. If it is a man, his name is short, one of those names that is a loud thud, like Red or Frank, and he is reading the paper. If it is the woman, her name is two sylables and ends in a vowel: Rosie, Jenna. Of course, not every man has that kind of name, and not every woman has this kind, but the person who walked out of the house is one of them.
It would have to be one of them, if they walked out from that house. The man reads the paper as he walks along the sidewalk, and a dog barks as he passes the neighbors yard. He does not smile at the dog, even though it is a nice sounding bark, a wagging tail bark, not a fanged glare bark. The woman stands on the porch and watches the birds in the tree across the yard. She notices, too, the squirrels.
The woman is wearing a hat. It is not a bonnet, though it is blue. She got it when she went on vacation last Spring, something to wear on the beach and keep the sun off her face. The man, if he is the one came out, is wearing striped overalls that he had to buy custom. He ordered them off the internet as a joke, but they are the most comfortable thing he has ever worn. Either one would be wearing sneakers and white socks.
If it is the man, and he walked off, and he did not smile at the neighbors dog, then you would also notice his sneakers are not tied, and that his white socks have fallen down around his ankles. The woman's sock are not like that, and her sneakers are laced up tight, with the knot perfectly horizontal along the tongue.
If it is the woman, you must call her by that right name, but you do not remember it, and you don't remember the other name if she is the man today instead.
I am not certain how well the ending worked out, but the intent was to reveal that they are actually the same person, but I ran out of time to consider how to do it effectively. I did not want to do any real revision before posting, as that felt like cheating. It might be that I will expand this somewhat, make it part of a larger piece or something, but I don't know right now.
Anyway, I still have a lot more writing to get done this evening, including my writer's journal entry. So, I will return when I complete my other work to tell you all about it.
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