Eyes of A Stranger

1. List 10 Experiences in you life when you felt:
   

   a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

   Angry Anxious Apathy Confusion Contentment Curiosity Loneliness Longing Love (parent-child) Love (romance) Passion

   l. m. n. o. p. q. r. s. t. u. v.

   Resignation Restlessness Revenge Desire Despair Excitement Fear Fondness Forgiveness Sadness Shame

   w. x. y. z. aa. bb. cc. dd. ee. ff. gg.

   Surprise Suspicion Sympathy Tenderness Worry Gratitude Shame Grief Irritation Jealously Sadness

   
   
2. Write the most powerful experience in personal narrative.
   
   
3. Now change it into fiction.
   
   
4. Do five of these exercises and look to see how they could fit together to make a story.
   
   

1. List 10 strong beliefs you hold.
   
   
2. Think of different ways you can explore that belief in a fiction story. For example:
   
   
   1. Think up of a character who holds the exact opposite belief. Make that person compassionate and believable. If you can't come up with it
      
      
   2. Play the "what if …" game. Think up of a scenario that would challenge you on your belief. For example:
      
      What if a person who firmly believed in pro-life was faced with the reality that her daughter would die if she didn't abort the baby? What would the mother do? Stick to her belief in life or try to talk her daughter into saving her own life?
      
      "What if you just can't imagine yourself doing something? Then, instead of trying to think of what it would take to get you to do what your character does, think of something you actually have done that is like what the character does" Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card, 30.]
      
      Think up a situation or an environment that would challenge this belief. What would you do to fight against the injustice? What would your character do? How could you make the fight for justice even harder to achieve?
      
      

1. List the professions your knowledgeable about.
   
   
2. List your hobbies.
   
   
   1. If there was anything you could do, what would it be?
      
      
3. List your fields of interest.
   
   
   1. What do you want to learn about?
      
      
   2. What do you feel guilty for not learning?
      
      
   3. What did you always wonder about? Or what would you like to know on a more deep level?
      
      
4. List the type of books you read.
   
   
   1. What nonfiction subjects are you drawn to?
      
      
   2. What type of stories interested you?
      
      
   3. What genre should you write?-Often it will match what you read.
      
      
   4. Read a new genre to stretch your imagination. One genre I would like to try is . . .
      
      
   5. Writer's block is helped by reading favorite author.
      
      
   6. Reading favorite author can spar ideas.
      
      
   7. What are unique customs that's just particular to the area you grew up in? If moved around a lot what was unique about each different area? Or what was unique to moving a lot that others would not know about?
      
      
   8. What was the attitude of your family of origin with different social or current events?
      
      
   9. Did the regional culture clash with your family or blend? Did your family conformed? Protest? Or simple not pay attention to the social pressures?
      
      
   10. How did your family relate to the major happens in the country? At any point did their attitudes change? If so what were the chief factors for the change?
       
       
   11. What motivated your parents to act like they did and be the way they were?
       
       
   12. What motivated your behaviors as a child?
       
       
5. Personal background (what's familiar to you).
   
   
   1. How many were in your family of origin? How did this affect you?
      
      
   2. Did you live in an apartment, house, or condo? How did this affect you?
      
      
   3. Did you go to private school, public school, or were you home schooled? How did this affect you?
      
      
   4. Raised in a city, town, or suburb?
      
      
   5. Was your family of origin healthy? Dysfunctional? If so in what ways?
      
      
   6. Were you raised in religion? If so what? How did it impact you?
      
      
6. Regional/ localism.
   
   
   1. What aura does the place offer?
      
      
   2. Describe the landscape.
      
      
   3. What would frustrate newcomers?
      
      
   4. What would old timers miss if they had to move away?
      
      
   5. What are the speech patterns people use? What are the quirks?
      
      
   6. What are the major smells?
      
      
   7. Describe the different type of vegetation that grows there.
      
      
   8. Climate.
      
      
   9. Layout of the area.
      
      
   10. What are the unique customs particular to that area.
       
       
7. Places you visited or lived at.
   
   a. How did the places shape you?
   
   b. How did it shape your friends?
   
   
8. Stories that you embellish.
   
   
9. What do you collect? Or what did you collect as a child?
   
   

1. Taking characters "from life" can lead to bad fiction.
   
   You may not know these people half so well as you think you do. After all, you are never inside their memory, inside their soul-you don't really know why they do the things they do. You know why they say they do them; you know your own guesses. But when it comes to writing your character, you have to know a lot more than you'll ever know about your friends or family. So it isn't a matter of copying. You've still got to do a lot of invention before a real-life character-even one you know well-is ready to hold down a job in your fiction. (Characters and Viewpoint, Card, 27)
   
   
2. Taking characters "from life" can lead to personal problems.
   
   
3. You may discard the too familiar because it does not seem exciting enough to you (it may be to other people).
   
   
4. Train yourself to look for the familiar from the eyes of a stranger.
   
   
5. "Never undertake to write about something that interests you only mildly-especially if you are contemplating a book. The subject will certainly not interest the reader if you, yourself, are not excited about it" (Writing for Children and Teenagers, Wyndham, 83).
   
   

1. Writing under strong emotion.
   
   
2. Reflections of experience
   
   
3. Free Write
   
   
4. Lists
   
   
   1. List of everyone you loved or loved you. (Or you hate.)
      
      
   2. Pleasure during the day.
      
      
   3. What's in your refrigerator before you shopping and after.
      
      
   4. Everything on your desk.
      
      
   5. What's in your backpack and/or purses.
      
      
   6. Medicine take.
      
      
   7. How life be different if didn't marry … or didn't educate …
      
      
   8. What would do if won 10 million dollars.
      
      
   9. Everything in wallet/ receipt.
      
      
   10. Good things about where you live.
       
       
   11. Good memories.
       
       
   12. What you enjoy.
       
       
   13. What would I do if I could do … over again.
       
       
   14. Teachers you remember and what you remember about them.
       
       
   15. Expiration dates of objects in kitchen.
       
       
   16. Feelings you can't put into words.
       
       
   17. Fears
       
       
   18. Etc . . .
       
       
5. Dreams (Night dreams)
   
   
6. Unsent Letters
   
   
7. Another author's style: Start typing in a story you like. When inspiration grabs you, take off on your own story. When you're done, delete the part of the story that isn't yours.
   
   
8. Movie, Book and Tabloid Story Titles.
   
   
9. First lines of other works
   
   
10. Quotes
    
    
11. Classified Ads
    
    
12. Journals
    
    
13. Repeated Catch-Phrase
    
    
14. Make lists of issues that will help create a story.
    
    

    a. Things b. Things people do c. Issues in peoples lives d. Collection of want ads e. First lines of songs f. Proverbs g. Movie titles h. Book titles i. Tabloid Titles j. Book summaries k. Collect fairy tales and legends l. Animals m. Relatives n. Sea creatures o. People characteristics p. Medical conditions and symptoms q. Occupations r. Phobias s. City things t. Town things u. Geographical Features v. Weather w. Musical Instruments x. Sports and Games y. Baked Goods z. Candies aa. Desserts bb. Drinks cc. Fast Foods dd. Foods ee. Fruits ff. Ice Cream Flavors gg. Kool-Aid Flavors hh. Meats ii. Packaged Cereals jj. Snacks kk. Pops

    ll. Soups mm. Vegetables nn. Body Parts oo. Crayola Crayons Colors pp. Smells qq. Kinds of Clothes rr. Kinds of Camping Equipment ss. Shapes tt. Sounds uu. Vehicles vv. Face and body features ww. Personality traits xx. Facial expressions yy. Types of Body Language zz. Voice quality aaa. Names bbb. Alternative Sciences ccc. Hair styles and types of beard, mustaches ddd. Plants eee. Landscapes fff. Tools and Hardware ggg. Transportation hhh. Foot ware iii. Furnishings jjj. Decorations and Ornaments kkk. Types of buildings lll. Fashion mmm. Institutions nnn. Governments ooo. Politics ppp. Music qqq. Tastes rrr. Insults sss. Crimes ttt. Violence uuu. Ways of dying vvv. Religions

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