Today’s Audience Participation writing exercise comes to us from the university of Iowa, where the site used to state that beginning writers will often fall into a trap of characters who appear too close to people the writers knows. While this might seem contradictory to the statement “Write what you know”, it actually is not.
If our characters are too much like an idealized version of ourselves, then we may use a light brush on our canvas of words. We will draw a simple portrait and gloss over the delicate lines of identity. Our object with the conversation is to draw out the reality of our characters.
So In today’s exercise, you will pick a character from a story you are working on, or one that is ready for a second draft. You will write about meeting them in public and the conversation you share. This meeting can take place anywhere, the conversation can be about anything. Let’s throw something against the wall and see what sticks. This is a third person point of view, write as if you are a fly on the wall of your meeting.
For this exercise, I am going to use a character from a story I am working on titled “Hard Truths About Lucky Cigarettes”. The Main Character is named is named John and he was born and raised in Los Angeles. I have spent the last couple nights with John in various rewrites and find we have common traits but let’s see how it all works out.
The Conversation
California might not be the sunshine state but the view from Cafe Euorpe on Santa Monica is a sight to dispute Florida’s claim. John walked out the side door with an iced coffee cooling his hand in the desert heat. The patio is full of L.A. smokers who are forced outside the doors of public places to enjoy their dirty habit in harsh conditions. John eyed a couple of ladies and shot a couple smiles with dead aim. Signs of interest are playful but his object is to lay the bait. “Fools rush in” is a fact of life.
Every table is full and the only free chair is available at a table Wesley claimed. Wesley sits with a half full iced coffee on the table. He grips a pen and his hand manhandles it across the pages. Wild blond hair jets out from all directions of Wesley’s head, as if ideas throb with potent electricity, and a red goatee and thick mutton chops proclaims his Irish heritage. John looks at Wesley size and wonders if he played football, his large body not fat but far from skinny. John could do worse, but as he grips the back of the chair and sees a long legged starlet, he knows he could do better.
“Mind if I take a seat?” John said.
Wesley looks up from his note book to find John at the table. John towers above table and cast a long shadow with his back to the Sun. Wesley takes one look at John and knows he played football, soccer, and all other athletic activities. He had the dashing good looks of a jock and Wesley pegged him for a Agent or Personal trainer. The large blue tooth device stuck to his ear was a dead give away.
“Sure” Wesley said as he thought about what he would do if this guy uses the phone at the table.
John took a seat and got comfortable in his chair. His legs spread wide with his back far against the back of the chair. Wesley took a sip from his coffee and went back to his notebook. He finished what he was writing and placed the pen in the spine of the binder ring.
“Name’s John.” John extends a hand to shake and Wesley raises a fist to dap. A awkward second of shifting hand movements happens as the pair adjust to a common handshake.
“Nice to meet you John, I’m Wesley.”“Are you a writer?”
“Well, I write, I host a site called American NonFiction. However, to call yourself a writer, you really should have a book in print.”“So, you place words on pages?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re passionate about it?”
“I keep a rough idea of a schedule”
“Sounds like a writer to me.”“So, what do you do, John?”
“Well, I’m a personal trainer. I work at a boot camp gym near Beverly Hills.”
“Boot Camp?”
“Yeah, a themed gym. People think of boot camp and they think of lean mean American troops. That’s our pitch. Our trainers are allowed to scream, give orders, all sorts of fun stuff.”
“And customers pay for this?”
“By the truck load. Make no mistake, we get results. We don’t cater and lap them in luxury. If someone wants a body like mine then they do it the way I did.”
“Pretty easy to say, when you don’t have the 8 hour workday on top of a workout schedule.”“Not really my concern and you sound like my roommate, Sid.” John said. He took a breath and shifted into rehearse mode. “Anyone of my clients could go out there, Today, and become a personal trainer. They would have to drop the weight, get some dedication, and figure out the secrets of the trade. But they could. And I encourage them to do so.”
“But they don’t?”
“Not all of them, but there are ones that do. Some of them become quite successful. But my point is yes, it is easy for me to say.” John notices the long legs from the other table, with an open chair. “Hey Wesley, it was nice to meet you man. I have to get going but I will see you around.”Wesley bids him good bye and goes back to his note book.
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