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IWW Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: "Wish You Were Here - Postcards"

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop (http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).

Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Posted on: Sunday, July 4, 2010
Reposted on: Sunday, February 19, 2012
Reposted on: Sunday, July 7, 2013
Reposted on: Sunday, October 12, 2014
Revised and reposted on: Sunday, March 24, 2019

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In 400 words or less construct a story in the form of a series of post
cards. Give us only what is on the post cards being sent from one person
to another, letting the post card messages stand on their own, allowing
the reader to decide what effect the messages have on the recipient.
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Mailed postcards and letters are pretty rare these days, but you might
imagine their role in the life of a parent or grandparent. What might you
find in an inherited box of old letters upon their death? The
correspondence might reveal joy or pain, confusion or fear, love or anger;
or they could illuminate choices made and people important in their world.

Create a series of post cards that tells a story, a one-sided correspondence
--son to mother, husband to wife, friend to friend, where we see only one
side of the story and must intuit the other. The messages might be brief, of
the, 'Arrived Rome safely, Love Meg,' or 'Lost passport. Send money,' variety,
or the very detailed kind, overflowing with sentiment and emotion, squeezed
onto every available space on the card. Is the writer trying to hide something,
using the distance to say something difficult, showing off, or maybe ending a
relationship, or starting a business?
Resist the urge to describe the picture on the post card, let your character's
words tell us where he is, why he's there, and what it has to do with his story.

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Your critique should address how well this story, told in small
segments by one person, holds together. What do we read between the
lines about the relationship between the writer and the recipient?
Is there a subliminal message? Does it seem that the writing is hiding
something, hoping for something? Are the postcard messages falsely
cheery or glum? Do you believe what the writer says? Do the messages
make us want to know more?


Web site created by Rhéal Nadeau and the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.