We tell stories every day of our lives; how we tell the story is often determined by who we are telling the story to. Think of the range of people in one’s life – parents, spouse, children, friends, lovers, in-laws, doctors – the list goes on and on. As we tell these people our story, we add or subtract, exaggerate or play down, tolerate or condemn, depending on the identity of the person to whom we are telling our tale.
Using the follow scenario pick two people to whom you would relate the incident and write down what you imagine you would say. This is an exercise you can do alone, but it works better in a group situation.
In a ‘live’ writing workshop I would ask you, at the end of the exercise, to read out your work, but not to say who the characters are: we would all try to guess the relationship between you and the person to whom you are relating the event, by simple analysis of language (and don’t worry, it’s easy!) I guess you could use this with a group or with writing buddies: I’ll elaborate on writing buddies in my next post! Try spending just 5-10 minutes on each person.
You have just stepped away from a cash machine on the busy High Street, having withdrawn £50; a person asks you the time, then knocks you to the ground and grabs your bag/wallet/purse before running away.
Now, pretend you are telling the account of this event to two of the five people listed here:
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your mother or father
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your best friend
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your girlfriend/ wife/ boyfriend/ husband
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a journalist
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a police officer
Think about the language you would use with each person; for instance you might use swear words in your description to a friend, but not when talking to your mother!
©Lynette Shaw McKone 2010
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this is a great excercise, I really enjoyed it, thanks
Comment by wendy ryan — June 16, 2010 @ 9:16 pm |