For writers after some inspiration, give this 5 minute exercise a go.
Look around the room you are in right now and pick an object. Pick anything, it doesn’t really matter, but it works best with something that is always there, like a piece of furniture.
Got your object? – Don’t cheat and read ahead, thinking you’ll choose something once you know what the exercise is. (I suspect I would be guilty of this myself and, the problem is, I would then spend so long agonising over which object to pick that I’d never get writing!)
Here’s the exercise: Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write something, even if it’s just a single sentence, from the point of view of your chosen object, as though it were a person in the room.
Hints and Help
Writing in the first person will make it easier to jump into your object’s point of view.
Write about how your object feels or what it thinks. Is it a well-used, well-loved item? When was the last time it was touched or picked up? Does it feel neglected or is it broken?
Write about what the object ‘saw’ today. Maybe they were watching you doing something? Or did they witness something funny? Tragic? Exciting? Scandalous?
Don’t worry about creating a fully plotted story though. If a complete story emerges, brilliant, but this is not the aim. The aim is to use your imagination to access a viewpoint you might not normally utilise.
Here’s mine:
Object: Wool blanket on the sofa next to me.
“I don’t mind telling you, today’s been really boring. Seems like years since I went outside. Yes, I know, it was only on Sunday for the BBQ dinner. But the point is it feels like ages. I’ve scarcely been glanced at, let alone picked up or wrapped around her. And being piled up on top of you is straining my fibres something chronic. I can practically see the stretch marks. Hideous.”
This was written in five minutes, and I seem to have created a rather vain and attention-seeking character. In an effort to appease my blanket, I have featured them in the picture for this article, and hope that will cheer them up.
In all seriousness, though, in just five minutes I have a character voice, which I could develop and use in a longer piece. When I next need to conjure up a character like this, I have one ready and waiting.
What will you come up with? Let me know what your object is and post your piece, or a link to it, in the comments.
Happy writing.
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