Character/Emotion/Setting Samena

Teachers Write with Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich!

Character/Emotion/Setting

Often when we think of writing stories, we think primarily of the character and setting — the who and the where/what.  One of the ways to deepen a story and write three-dimensional characters is to be thoughtful about their emotional life and how they express those emotions in different situations. I often use a variation of this exercise as a writing game with small groups; it’s fun to see how differently we may think about demonstrations of thought and feeling!

Your Assignment: Write a scene using the following:

1) Create a character (include their age, race and ethnicity, gender)

2) and now…using that same character, mix and match setting and emotion.

a) Put them in a SHOPPING MALL, and the emotion is FRUSTRATION

b) in a CLASSROOM, and the emotion is JOY

c) at the BEACH, and the emotion is FURY

d) in a New York City subway station, and the emotion is EXHILARATION

e) in a KITCHEN, and the emotion is SURPRISE

f) in a PARK, and the emotion is DISGUST

g) in a CAR, and the emotion is SHAME

h) on a FARM, and the emotion is ENVY

i) at a BASKETBALL GAME, and the emotion is ANXIETY

j) in a SWIMMING POOL, and the emotion is LOVE

For each of these, be thoughtful about the ways that your character’s traits and the setting impact their actions, how the same trait is expressed differently, depending on the situation. Get to know your character even more, and most of all, have fun! And feel free to share a bit of what you wrote in the comments today if you’d like.

Driving down the lane to the farm, Samena rolled down the windows of the car. The pasture was suffused with a mysterious golden light. Now that she had moved away, she longed to pick raspberries or walk the trail to the river. She wanted to feel all those little feelings and emotions that only yourself can pinpoint. The feeling of another summer nears its end. Or the day after Christmas. If only she hadn't been in such a hurry to grow up and move away. She wished to be back, carefree, and trying to skip rocks into the river.