Creative Writing Exercises - Leicestershire County Council

Let Me Tell You my Story
You will need: with a person in it
What to do:
Section C
Longer
Exercises
• Imagine you are the character portrayed in a portrait.
• You could tell your life story, you could tell of the worst thing you ever did, or you could talk
about the moment the picture was painted.
It is also possible to start with a strange opening line, for example for the Mona Lisa the
line could be: ‘I’m actually a man!’ or ‘Turn that damn phone off!’’. Or you could start
with the phrase: ‘Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?’
Portrait Piece
What to do:
• Decide the following, and write it down.
- Who is in the portrait?
- What are they called?
- Is their name real or fake?
- If they don’t have a name or you can’t find a name for them, why not?
- If they have a name, does it suit them?
- Physical description – age, weight, height, attire etc.
- Have they a job? Do they enjoy it?
- Give them some peculiar habit(s).
- Where do they live? How long have they been there?
- Give them friends or family, or not!
- Give them a pet.
- How do they feel about Christmas?
- Do they read their horoscope, and do they believe it?
- Can they dance?
- What sort of music do they like? (Perhaps give them a top 10.)
- Do they have any hobbies?
- If their house was on fire and they could rescue one thing, what would it be?
- Tell us something unusual about them.
- Do they have a secret? Do you know what it is?
• Write a moment for the character you have created. Put them in a specific place at a
specific time. A small incident happens, what is it? What does it tell the reader about the
character? How does this brief glimpse end? Maybe tell the whole story within the space
of just one page.
Exercises given by Helen Johnson, Deborah Tyler-Bennett
and Bead Roberts
105
WORDS
THINGS&
workshops