thethinker42
02-08-2010, 04:14 AM
Okay, I swear, I'm not going to clog the board up with challenges, but this one came to me last night, and I think it might help some folks.
Here's the deal: Several people have commented in the Bordello or contacted me privately and expressed concern about the challenge of writing outside of their POV comfort zone. Women writing M/M, for example. It can certainly be intimidating to step into the POV of a different gender/sexuality, but it can be done.
One of the repeated concerns has been (as an example) "Is this how a guy would think/react in this situation?"
So. Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it...
You're going to write three 250-500 word scenes. More or less, it's up to you, but it doesn't have to be anything terribly long.
Your scenes will be FIRST PERSON from the POV of one each of the following characters (pick three):
1. Yourself
2. Heterosexual male, mid-30s, married, with 2 teenagers at home, works as a photographer
3. Bisexual female, early 20s, single, miserably employed by a retail store while she works her way through art school.
4. Homosexual male, late 30s, single, shortly after a bitter breakup
5. Heterosexual female, mid-30s, happily in a relationship, owns her own moderately successful business
6. Someone who is, in every possible way you can think of, the opposite of you.
The scenario: Your character walks into a room and sees a particular woman. The details of the woman, the room, etc., are up to you, but they must remain the same for each scene. In other words, you're walking through the same scenario, seeing the same woman, in the same room, but through different sets of eyes.
Purpose: To get into different people's heads and "see" things through their eyes. Step out of your comfort zone, and you might just find it more comfortable than you think. We're all more alike than different, so this isn't an exercise in "men don't think that way/women don't think that way". It's just to get you comfortable with walking in someone else's shoes.
There is no deadline, there is no limit to the number of times you can do this. You don't even have to submit them if you don't want to, just do it for some practice. If you do wish to submit, the thread in SYW is here (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4613440#post4613440).
Here's the deal: Several people have commented in the Bordello or contacted me privately and expressed concern about the challenge of writing outside of their POV comfort zone. Women writing M/M, for example. It can certainly be intimidating to step into the POV of a different gender/sexuality, but it can be done.
One of the repeated concerns has been (as an example) "Is this how a guy would think/react in this situation?"
So. Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it...
You're going to write three 250-500 word scenes. More or less, it's up to you, but it doesn't have to be anything terribly long.
Your scenes will be FIRST PERSON from the POV of one each of the following characters (pick three):
1. Yourself
2. Heterosexual male, mid-30s, married, with 2 teenagers at home, works as a photographer
3. Bisexual female, early 20s, single, miserably employed by a retail store while she works her way through art school.
4. Homosexual male, late 30s, single, shortly after a bitter breakup
5. Heterosexual female, mid-30s, happily in a relationship, owns her own moderately successful business
6. Someone who is, in every possible way you can think of, the opposite of you.
The scenario: Your character walks into a room and sees a particular woman. The details of the woman, the room, etc., are up to you, but they must remain the same for each scene. In other words, you're walking through the same scenario, seeing the same woman, in the same room, but through different sets of eyes.
Purpose: To get into different people's heads and "see" things through their eyes. Step out of your comfort zone, and you might just find it more comfortable than you think. We're all more alike than different, so this isn't an exercise in "men don't think that way/women don't think that way". It's just to get you comfortable with walking in someone else's shoes.
There is no deadline, there is no limit to the number of times you can do this. You don't even have to submit them if you don't want to, just do it for some practice. If you do wish to submit, the thread in SYW is here (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4613440#post4613440).