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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Believe Me (Version 2)
TheReposted on 6 March 2016
se 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: 8 January 2012
Reposted on: 18 August 2013
Reposted on: 24 August 2014
Reposted on: 13 September 2015
Reposted on: 06 March 2016
Reposted on: 21 July 2019
Reposted on: 25 July 2021
Reposted on: 4 September 2022
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In 400 words or less, have a seemingly believable narrator tell us a
story. Present this narrator as truthful, but gradually, as the story
unwinds, show your readers that the speaker is lying. This SUB could
be just a scene, not a complete story. You could leave the reader
hanging, not knowing whether the narration is true or false, or you
could clearly show that the narrator has been playing with the facts
and perhaps our minds.
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Your narrator might be an absent-minded professor, an excitable teen
with a taste for drama, or someone trying to cover a mistake. Anger,
fear, pride, jealousy, or shame are only some of the many emotions
that might lead the narrator to heighten or play down the facts of the
story.
How will the reader recognize that the narrator's story is not to be
trusted? Perhaps it does not match facts hinted at in dialogue with
other characters, or shown in the setting of the scene, or described
in the logistics of the plot. Perhaps the narrator's body language or
actions give the lie to what he is telling us.
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When critiquing, tell the writer whether the narrator struck you as
untrustworthy and identify the specific details that tipped you off.
If the character/scene didn't work for you, tell why. Were the clues
too subtle? Was the author trying to squeeze too much into 400 words?
Would you read on? And, as always, point out any editorial issues –
grammar, spelling, etc.
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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