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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Dissimulation
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: Ruth Douillette
Posted on: Sunday, 10 Dec 2006
Reposted on: Sunday, 6 Sept 2009
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, create a scene in which a character, in
the course of
conversation, says one thing while thinking another.
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People often say one thing while they're thinking another. A person
might be trying
to spare another's feelings, to curry favor, or simply to avoid
conflict.
Consider the woman who gushes over her friend's haircut while she's
thinking how
unflattering it is, or the man who sticks out his hand and heartily
congratulates
someone on her new position in the company, all the while cursing to
himself
because she didn't deserve it. Apologies roll sweetly off lips while
minds take a
wholly different view.
Show us a conversation in which a character makes comments while
thinking
something quite different. Try to make both the spoken dialogue and
unspoken
thoughts fit seamlessly into a short scene that will let us see the
internal conflict the
character faces and makes clear the reason for that conflict.
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, create a scene in which a character, in
the course of
conversation, says one thing while thinking another.
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In your critique, comment on what you learned about the character from
the
words he or
she spoke and the thoughts underlying those remarks. What conflict
within the
character was evident? As always, critique the writing in general.
Mention what is
effective and what could benefit from revision.
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Greg Gunther.
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