Some Other Character, Part Two

In class last night, we did a writing meditation. Each person in the group recalled a face he or she had seen--not a relative or friend's face, preferably a remembered face of someone the writer didn't know anything or much about. Then we did the body: remember what you can about the person's dress, gesture, shape and movement. Once we wrote about the body, I asked everyone to describe the person doing a simple action: sitting down, picking something up, turning around, anything that person might do when she or he thinks no one is watching. I described this fully in my entry called Some Other Character, written Sunday, August 17, 2008.

Following the in-class writing, I told them that this would be the character they used for a take-home assignment. The assignment has enough logistic problems to solve to keep the conscious mind focused on solving them; meanwhile, the unconscious mind has the freedom to pour into the mix its own dream.

Here is the assignment: Your character is in a strange town for some reason you don’t discuss—though it may or may not become clear. He/she is not you. While staying overnight somewhere, something drives him/her out: desire, sound, image, thought, idea. The character thinks as she/he walks, drives, bicycles, until he/she sees something unusual, meets unusual person, has unusual experience. This event is the climax of the story. The story may then conclude in a way you feel appropriate: stop there or take character back to where he/she started--or anything in between. Along the way, the character hears an animal sound. Twice, mention one color and one body part; give two descriptions of atmosphere, sky, celestial bodies…

I will post one or two of the outcomes when they are turned in.