Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Why did the Chicken cross the road?



I don’t really know or care about WHY she crossed the road right now. That’s plot. That’s motivation. That's a different conversation.

What I really want to know is HOW the chicken crossed the road.  Does she march with pomp and circumstance, holding a baton and humming ‘76 Trombones’? Or does she sneak on her belly, stealth like in dark colored parachute pants?

Showing how your character does a simple task tells us more about the character than if you tell us she’s a band leader or a ninja.

Writing prompt: Write a paragraph of how your character crosses the road without telling us who she is. Demonstrate an aspect of her personality by how she moves.

1 comment:

jan godown annino said...

Professor Kristine - Thank you for teaching us at Nerdy Chicks Write Summer School today. I think
the prompt about asking kids for stinky smells is
quite wonderful. It's a mighty fine post on detail.