|
|
|
IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Lost
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: June 19, 2011
Posted on: February 1, 2015
Posted on: January 20, 2019
Posted on: July 24, 2022
-------------------------
In 400 words or less write a scene where a character
becomes lost under pressure to reach a destination.
Open with the journey underway, then show the character
getting lost or realizing that he is lost. Let us see
his efforts to find his way and let us share his emotions.
-------------------------
What is the character's goal? What will happen if he
cannot reach it? Is there a time limit? Does he simply
get lost, or is he led astray? Is he on his way to his
wedding? Charged with delivering something important?
Lost on the way to the airport or in the airport itself?
Is he driving at high speed on the Autobahn or creeping
along through a fog on back-country roads, hacking through
dense jungle or walking through a very tough neighborhood?
Is he alone? Is he going around in circles in some
labyrinthine office complex like a rat in a maze? Does he
know from the moment we see him that he is lost, or does it
only slowly dawn on him?
-------------------------
Critique: In your analysis look at whether the author draws
us into the character's predicament. Does the author use
scene and senses to pull us into the character's emotional
state? In what specific ways does the author create the
tension?
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
| | |