Creative Writing Exercises

Creative Writing Exercises

 Character introduction/description
 One of the creative writing exercises we did in class was a character description, after choosing a random name and age we were tasked with coming up with a character introduction for this character about two paragraphs long using proper screenplay formatting. What I came up with is here;

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

BORISZ, 100, lies in a hospital bed, old and wrinkled. His family is gathered around him, waiting patiently for him to say something. BORISZ is visibly tired and worn, wearing hospital clothing, his body is limp. His family is clearly restless and are starting to consider the possibility BORISZ has nothing to say, he wasn't known for talking a lot after all.

The lines on BORISZ' face tell of his long and prosperous life, containing within it experiences that his kin huddled around him could only dream of. As BORISZ begins to open his mouth everyone leans in hanging on each and every of his movements. Expecting a wise and insightful comment his family was surprised by his request to a nurse for another glass of water, a typical display of the clever wit possessed by BORISZ.

I tried to give this character desription a more comedic spin and I think this worked well, I also effectively and properly utilised screenplay formatting. One problem with this character introduction is that it became more of an action line as it went on when it really should of focused more on describing the character of Borisz. This exercise has been good practise for writing character introductions and will hopefully improve the qaulity of my screenplay.

 Adaption of hitchhiker story

 In this creative writing exercise we were given a simple story about a group of people who help out a hitchhiking young girl only to find out later that a young girl fitting her description died on the same road they found her previously. It is a simple but effective narrative and as part of the classwork we were assigned to wrie the first page or two of an adaption of the story into an extended screenplay format. My result is here;

Fade in:

INT. CAR Travelling along a country road - Day

FATHER and DAUGHTER sit quietly in the front of a family car. The words exchanged in the latest of a few disputes from along the journey still hang loosely in the quiet, stuffy air of the motor vehicle. The father has his vision fixed on the road ahead however his thoughts are elsewhere, still going over the possible comebacks he could of used in the argument if only possessed the sharp wit of his daughter. The daughter's thoughts too are elsewhere however her stream of consciousness drifted away from the subject of the argument a while back, her thoughts are quickly pulled back to the present as she notices something in her peripheral.

DAUGHTER

That girl looks like she needs some help. Maybe we should give her a lift?

The FATHER remains silent as his grudge creates a boundary blocking him from communicating with his DAUGHTER, however it doesn't last long.

FATHER

You know that we don't have time to stop we still have a way to go and I want to get to Grandma's house before it gets dark.

DAUGHTER

But what if it was me? What if I needed help, you know hitchhiking is dangerous, especially for girls my age.

The FATHER'S cynicism is overcome by his strong paternal senses, not to speak of the typically strong and rational argumentation of the DAUGHTER.

FATHER

OK.

The car slows to a halt parallel to the young HITCHHIKER, a similar age as the DAUGHTER, the two could easily be mistaken in a crowd. The hitchhiker gives a gracious smile that hides a reckless lack of sensibility that would usually turn young girls away from getting into a vehicle with strangers.

The FATHER steps out of the car to greet the HITCHHIKER and to open the back door for her.

FATHER

So where do you want dropping off?

HITCHHIKER

Oh, not much further down the road from here. I will point it out to you when we get there.

FATHER

OK that sounds good.

A moment of silence as the FATHER awkwardly tries to find an ice breaking conversation starter.

FATHER

So what were you doing out here by yourself?

There is no response. The FATHER checks his rear view mirror to see the HITCHHIKER gleefully staring out the window watching the trees and other cars zoom past. The father naively assumes the hitchhiker is merely intimidated or wasn't paying attention to what he said however the DAUGHTER finds this to be weird.

I am happy with the outcome of this exercise,  I used the screenplay format correctly but my main problem with this outcome is the lack of proper character introductions that would desrcibe the characters of the daughter, father and hitchhiker more effectively but I think the action lines still do this well to an extent.