# Writing Workshop 5/29/2010: Power of Speculation



## kitreshawn (May 29, 2010)

Alright, I am back again.  And the workshop is back to its normal schedule.

Today's exercise is on speculation in stories.

*The Exercise:*

Your job is to write a scene involving two characters, taking the point of view of one (1st or 3rd person is fine).  Have that character make a guess at what the other is thinking.  Alternately have that character imagine something that is (or has) happening which is probably true.  Words such as 'Probably' and 'Seemed' are good here.

Example:
Mathew glared at his mother.  She probably expected him to take out the trash again even though it was his brother's turn.  It was the same story every day, his brother was always permitted to get away with skipping chores because of football practice.  She probably didn't realize how unfair it was and thought he didn't mind; as if he was too stupid to realize he was little better than his brother's servant anymore.

*The Objective:*

Learn how the imagination of your characters can allow them to interpret the actions, emotions, and dialogue of other characters.  To explore how characters can describe scenes in a story even when they are not present.  To get ideas on how the differences between the truth and imagination can set up conflicts or lead to surprises.

Critique isn't required for this exercise but is encouraged.


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## darkr3x (May 30, 2010)

K, going to do this right from now on! 

Trying to work on grasping Free Indirect Discourse so let me know if that's working.


Raptor jumped down through the skylight. It was a cool night outside but the air inside the werehouse was stagnant. What's with place's ever being the right temperature? Shifting the arm length blades that hung crossways from his hips, he stood up in the moonlight and sniffed. Two guards. Male. This'll be interesting.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty space. Likely they're coming to do rounds. They'll come from the east, that was how the building was laid out after all. The human shifted silver drake headed west and lept behind a pile of boxes just as the doors on the other end of the long room opened. Guessed right, that's another point.


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## Hauke (Jun 1, 2010)

He started a load of laundry while I watched the morning news; he had showered and dressed by this time in the morning, which was unusual when he had days off.  I was still in a bathrobe, drinking coffee.  I could hear him moving through the hallway, but I didnâ€™t have a direct line of sight.  I heard him go out to his back room, his â€œworkshopâ€.

	After a while, I went out to see him.  He was sitting behind several mounds of clutter, browsing what was probably a sports news web site.  â€œDid you want to go somewhere today?â€

	He shrugged.  â€œMaybe later, Iâ€™ll go out.â€

	â€œI meant to a museum, or one of those displays you talked about?â€

	He made a face.  â€œNahâ€¦I donâ€™t feel like it.â€

	I left him alone, and watched more television inside the house.  He came inside after a while, pulling the next load of laundry outside.  I resolved not to forget that this meant that the first load was in the dryer and that I should help him put the clothes away when the time came.

	The news began repeating itself, so I went into the bedroom.  He was on the bed, reading.  I lay down next to him and said â€œWe had our own table because there were seven of us.  Remember last time?  We had to share a table with a couple, because there were only six in our group.â€  There was no response.  

	â€œAfterward, Shannon called all of them a bunch of old womenâ€”they went to look at a dollhouse after we were done eating.â€  There was no response.  He was reading, after all.  I closed my eyes after a long yawn, and rolled onto my stomach.

	I heard him close the book and put it on the nightstand near his side of the bed.  I looked at him; he had his hands folded across his chest with his eyes closed.  I wanted to ask him â€œDid you want to go along after all?â€  I wanted to remind him of a promise he made; it was probably easier to make it when everyone was still having fun.  But I didnâ€™t speak any of that.  I watched him for a while.  â€œTired?â€

	â€œNo,â€ he said.  He got up.  I avoided following him because it was starting to feel like I was chasing him around the house.  But maybe hunting him down was necessary to get things out in the open.  Just because he didnâ€™t want to go out didnâ€™t mean that I couldnâ€™t.

	I followed him into the TV room.  Before I opened my mouth, he said â€œRemember when you said you could loan me some money?  I didnâ€™t want to ask, butâ€¦well, I might need to take you up on that.  I was two days late on a credit card payment and now theyâ€™ve jacked up my rate.â€


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## Hauke (Jun 5, 2010)

darkr3x said:


> Trying to work on grasping Free Indirect Discourse so let me know if that's working.
> 
> 
> Raptor jumped down through the skylight. It was a cool night outside but the air inside the werehouse was stagnant. What's with place's ever being the right temperature? Shifting the arm length blades that hung crossways from his hips, he stood up in the moonlight and sniffed. Two guards. Male. This'll be interesting...



The "What's with place's ever being the right temperature?" part doesn't seem to fit.  Your other experiments with Free Indirect Discourse seem to flow a bit better; it might be because they come right after a sentence about your character, instead of a sentence about the environment?


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## darkr3x (Jun 5, 2010)

Hauke said:


> The "What's with place's ever being the right temperature?" part doesn't seem to fit.  Your other experiments with Free Indirect Discourse seem to flow a bit better; it might be because they come right after a sentence about your character, instead of a sentence about the environment?



Doh Typo, should be 'never'. Good to know that I'm getting the hang of it though.

As for your bit, I really liked it. The Mc's thinking about the other character's reactions is one of the best things about 1st person narration IMO.


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