Writing Exercises for Family Entertainment: 5 of 6

[image error]This is the fifth in a series of articles to explore the theory that learning to write can be a form of family entertainment.

If you have been performing these exercises, by now you hopefully agree writing itself be fun and learning to write can provide an opportunity for family entertainment.

The goal of these exercises is to give you the opportunity to improve your writing skills while simultaneously having fun with your family. Clear and compelling writing is a key attribute in today's working world and it can also be an advantage in our personal lives for advocacy of our causes or even to reach out to loved ones. So take the time to evaluate if your family might enjoy the simple exercises outlined in these columns to improve your writing skills while you have fun with your family.

In the first exercise, the family described the act of cooking dinner. Each family member first described the cook, then used at least three action verbs to tell us how the cook actually made the dinner, and concluded with a description of the result—with the caveat that it was not intended as a way for teenagers to critique their parents' or sibling's cooking.

For the second exercise, we called on the artistic skills of family members. Each member of the family took turns writing and then reading a paragraph describing a room that none of the other family members had ever seen. They then spent ten minutes drawing that room.

For the third exercise, each family member wrote a paragraph describing something that each of them sees every day, and asked the other family members to identify it, with the objective to identify it as quickly as possible. In the fourth exercise, we assumed the family was on a trip and asked each member to write a paragraph describing something new that they were all seeing together for the first time.

Now it is time to focus on people—on character development. When we meet someone for the first time, we base our judgment of that person on a variety of observations. When we write, we want to portray the person to the reader so that the reader comprehends the character we intend. For this exercise, the end game is a little different. Our goal is to make the description as comprehensive as possible. Therefore, what we'll ask of our family members is to respond with two questions about something we could have added as part of our description of the person.

The person can be real or fictional, although it is usually easier to have someone in mind when writing about a person. Consider the following as you write your paragraph describing your person:

• Age: Toddler, school age, pre-teen teen-ager, adult, old, middle aged

• Size: Height, weight, thin, fat, round, giant, child-size

• Hair: color, short, long, curly, straight, thick, combed, unkempt, clean, dirty, greasy, bald

• Face: round, protruding eyes, thick lips, Roman nose

• Smell: sweaty, perfume, stale tobacco, sour, garlic,

• Clothing: stylish, haphazard, clean, dirty, sloppy, shiny, holes in shoes

• Movement: fast, stuttered, smooth, wide-stride, little steps, cautious

• Health: healthy, tan, covered by rash or bug bites, pale, shaking

• Speaking pattern: slow and careful, staccato, fast pattern, accented

When you have finished your paragraph describing your character, read it to your family and ask them what else you could add to help describe your person. There is no winner or loser with this exercise. You are simply trying to create a clear picture of a character.

We have now written about a person, an event, and places. But the world is not static. We communicate by talking to one another. The way to engage and involve the reader in a story is with dialogue. In the next exercise, we will practice writing dialogue.





Joyce T. Strand

Author of the Jillian Hillcrest Mystery Series

Joycestrand.com