Creative Writing Exercise to Build Scenes, Characters, Dialogue and Theme

Creative writing exercises are a good way to develop right brain activity and to stretch the imagination.

Practice in building scenes, characters, dialogue and theme can give a beginning writer experience in these techniques and can also help a veteran writer develop new ways to describe a scene or character or to deepen theme.

Creative Writing: Scene-Building Exercise

Being aware of your environment can help set scenes in a work of fiction.  For a skill-building journal exercise, take a walk and jot down what you see, feel, hear.  Concentrate on the senses.  Pay attention to small details, the falling of leaves, the buzz of insects, the scent of flowers.

Contrast the scene before you now with one of an opposite season.  If it is spring, describe how it will look in the fall.  If it is winter, describe summer.

Creative Writing: Character-Developing Exercise

Jotting down detailed character sketches is good practice for developing fictional characters.  Have you ever known an interesting “character”?  Describe him or her in detail.  What makes them unique?  How do they talk, act, dress?  What makes them different from other people?

Pick out three physical characteristics and describe them—the color of their eyes, the shape of their nose, their physical build.  Now pick out three non-physical characteristics such as their manner of dress, a habit such as tapping a pencil on the desk or scratching an ear, the way they walk. By mixing, matching, adding and deleting characteristics, a writer can create a backlog of unique and interesting characters.

Creative Writing: Dialogue-Building Exercise

Good writing dialogue often springs from an overheard or remembered conversation from long ago.  Being aware of conversations around you makes fictional conversation sound more real.

 

Recall an interesting conversation you have heard at a restaurant, bus stop, or any other place.  Make it more dramatic by turning it into an argument.  Now change the subject of the conversation.

Creative Writing: Theme-Building Exercises

Many writers struggle with theme. Theme is different from plot.  Plot is the action of the story.  Theme is the mental action–what the story is really about, the message the author is trying to convey and leave with the reader.  Most themes test courage or moral integrity.  An example of a common theme is “crime doesn’t pay” or “honesty is the best policy”.

Jot down a list of qualities such as honesty, loyalty, perseverance.  Now think of an instance where this quality might pay off.

Write down a list of old sayings and quotes from Ben Franklin and other sources.  Then think of a story to go along with them.  For instance, “the early bird gets the worm.”  Think of a time where the early bird came out ahead at work--by getting the account or the promotion.   What if the early bird did the right thing and didn’t get their reward?  Would they be bitter, revengeful, or take it in stride?  How the character reacts determines the theme.

Imagine a person caught in an unusual hypothetical situation that calls for a moral choice of some kind.  Stretch the imagination by wondering “what if”.  For example, what if you found out your best friend was embezzling from a company.  Would you tell?  Remain silent?  What if you came across a purse on a park bench with a winning lottery ticket inside  Will you redeem it or look for the owner?  What if you had the opportunity to steal a bag of diamonds and blame it on a known criminal?

Use these examples or make up your own exercises and practice daily to develop the habit of thinking creatively in terms of scene, character, dialogue and theme.

More Writing Tips:  Fiction:From Writing to Publication

 

Planting Clues and Red Herrings in a Mystery Novel

Mysteries are highly structured books. It is to the author’s advantage to know the outcome of the book by making a plot outline and sticking to it. It is much easier to plant clues and red herrings if the author knows ahead of time “whodunit”. If the writer doesn't know the outcome of the book, or changes his mind about the perpetrator of the crime, he will have to go back and plant or change the clues after the book is finished. This can be a very wearisome job. It is much better for a writer to know where the book is going from the start.

How to Plant Mystery Novel Clues

A medium-sized novel needs at least 3-4 real clues. At least two of the clues should be strong ones, and one should be very strong. A typical mystery should also contain about three red herrings. These clues should be distributed fairly evenly throughout the book. Clues should build up so that the strongest clue is toward the middle-end of the book.

The planting of clues requires skill and planning. Clues should never be too obvious. They should lead a subtle path to the villain, but be interspersed by red herrings so the reader will not easily guess the outcome.

How to Plant Red Herrings

Red herrings were used in 15th century England to train hunting dogs. A red herring (a very pungent fish) was drawn along the trail to distract the dog. The dog was trained to follow the original scent of fox or badger instead of the stronger scent of the fish. The term eventually came to be known as something that distracts attention from the real issue.

The red herring’s purpose in a mystery is to distract the reader from what is really going on by introducing false or misleading evidence. For example, a woman’s fingerprints might be found at a murder scene, causing her to be a suspect. A neighbor might have seen a suspicious car drive past. Neither of these events may have anything to do with the actual crime.

Tying Up The Ending

By the end of the book each red herrings should be adequately explained. Why were the woman’s fingerprints at the scene? Perhaps she had visited the murder victim shortly before the murder or had come in after the murder, left fingerprints on the scene, then ran away in fear. The car might have belonged to a neighbor who planned to drop by, then changed her mind, and didn’t know about the murder.

If the author has done his job right, the reader will not be able to guess the villain. But by the end of the book the clever reader should be able to go back and trace the clues that were provided, snap their fingers, and say, “I should have known all along!"

Types of Narrative Hooks in Writing

A narrative hook is a writing technique where the story begins at a crucial point. The hook poses a question in the reader’s mind about how the protagonist got in the mental or physical state he’s in. It poses a question as to what will happen next so the reader will feel compelled to continue the story. The hook can be either a physical event or an emotional one. If a reader picks up a book and can’t put it down, the hook has been successful.

 The Question-Posing Hook

 “Three days before her death, my mother told me-these weren't her last words, but they were pretty close-that my brother was still alive..."

 This first sentence of Harlan Coben's thriller Gone for Good compels a person to read on to find out what happened. Why was the protagonist led to believe his own sibling was dead? Where has the brother been all this time? Has the absentee brother been up to no good? The reader must keep turning pages to find out the secret.

 The Immediate Danger Hook

 “Twelve hundred pounds of charging horseflesh hit the wooden railings chest high and somersaulted into the north stands. Faces frozen with horror moved in desperate slow motion to get out of the path of the crazed beast.”

 The first lines of Cut Throat by Lyndon Stacey hit at imminent danger. A horse has crashed through the gate protecting the crowd and someone is going to get hurt.

 The Emotional Hook

 “With draft beer and a smile, Ned Pearsall raised a toast to his deceased neighbor, whose death greatly pleased him.”

 The first line of Velocity by Dean Koontz plays upon the emotions of the reader by making one wonder what the neighbor had done to make the protagonist feel this way about him.

 Should all Suspense Novels and Thrillers Begin with a Hook?

 The narrative hook starts with a heart-pounding revelation or action, then goes back and describes how the protagonist got in the situation they find themselves in at the beginning of the book as opposed to building up to that crucial event. A novel that does not use a narrative hook usually begins with some insight into the main character or a description of a setting, then gradually works up to scenes of action.

 We live in a fast-paced world. It has become a tradition for suspense books to begin with a quick, page-turning draw-in. Still, if all books started with a hook, they would become tedious. The narrative hook should be used only if it fits in with the story, and over-use should be avoided.

 Beware the Empty Hook

 A hook should promise what it delivers. If an exciting scene is set up at the beginning it should be resolved satisfactorily, not just used as a way to cheat the reader into buying a story that is otherwise dull and uneventful, or one that contains blocks of action that do not come together to make a cohesive whole.

 The hook should be strong enough to draw a reader in, but should not be overly exaggerated or “hokey”. A hook should draw readers in, not drive them away.