The topic: Creating your own character, i.e., shaping your persona

The exercise: Using a two-person scene you’ve already written, write the scene again using the other person as the first person narrator.

Silence as they write.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Then, a chuckle. I glance up from my lesson plan. Bill laughs, running his fingers over his chin and pressing them into his eyes.

“What’s up?” I ask.

He chuckles again.

“I just figured out how my superior officer convinced me to do a really unpleasant job.”

“By considering the scene from the other person’s perspective?”

“Yeah, I just…I just never thought about it. Now…he played me like a keyboard!”

Another chuckle.

“I haven’t seen him in years, but I think it might be time to track him down. Played me like a keyboard!”

Why, hello Discovery Made While Writing. I’m so very glad you joined our little class! Please know that you’re welcome anytime–don’t be such a stranger!