Writing Exercise 5: "Mix 'N Match"
This is one of my favorites, because it does double duty. Not just a great exercise, but a great repertoire-builder for the writer. When you're done, you have a whole toolbox of personalities and professions to play with in creating characters and populating stories. It's also a fun exercise; a fun, relaxing time-passer for relaxed or rainy days.
Description: This is a three-part exercise; you can treat each component as a full exercise in itself.
- First, write on 20 index cards an uncommon job or profession. Stretch those imagination muscles! Come up with jobs you never think of, or didn’t realize existed until you thought about it.
- Write on another 20 index cards a very basic, but unique statistical profile of someone—build, sex, hair and eye color, age, country of origin, and quirks or habits. Don’t worry about names or biographical information—just statistics. Again, use your imagination and dig for uncommon elements.
- Shuffle each pack, keeping them separate. Now you have a character development exercise that will last you a long time. Whenever exercising, take a profession at random, and a profile at random, and flesh out that person. Write a creative bio based on these elements. If the match seems unlikely, all the better!
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