This month's creative writing prompt focuses on character development, and specifically on creating active characters. It's based on an exercise by Robert Anthony Siegel in Now Write! Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers.
First, find find an object in your house that interests you, however strange or mundane: a feather boa, a meat grinder, and a roll of toilet paper are perfectly good options. Then sit down and write out, in your character's words, why she or he stole the object. You may use the exercise to get to know an existing character or to invent an entirely new character. (When you submit your response, let us know which you did.)
Siegel explains that this exercise forces writers to identify a character's desire and then invent an action that "both derives from that desire and embodies it in a complex and meaningful way." If this sounds too ambitious, just focus on the constraints of the exercise. It may not be until later that you understand fully what the exercise revealed about your character's motivations. See the examples submitted already in the October 2009 prompt portfolio.
For the purposes of this project, the response is to be no longer than 1,000 words. The closing date for submissions for this project is Monday, October 26, 2009. Submissions must follow these guidelines, or they will not be included in the prompt portfolio. If you'd like an immediate response, or would like a response on some other piece of writing, please post it in the forum under "Share Work." Either way, thanks for your participation.
