From The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The next planet was inhabited by a tippler. This was a very short visit, but it plunged the little prince into deep dejection.
“What are you doing there?” he said to the tippler, whom he found settled down in silence before a collection of empty bottles and also a collection of full bottles.
“I am drinking,” replied the tippler, with a lugubrious air.
“Why are you drinking?” demanded the little prince.
“So that I may forget,” replied the tippler.
“Forget what?” inquired the little prince, who already was sorry for him.
“Forget that I am ashamed,” the tippler confessed, hanging his head.
“Ashamed of what?” insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him.
“Ashamed of drinking,” the tippler brought his speech to and end and shut himself up in silence.
And the little prince went away, puzzled.
“The grown-ups are certainly very, very odd,” he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

From Sleeping Fires, by George Gissing

In this passage, middle-aged Langley seeks permission from eighteen-year-old Louis’s guardian, Lady Revill, to take the boy under his wing and help guide him through the shoals of youthful adventuring. Lady Revill is a former lover of Langley with whom he has only recently reconnected, after a twenty-year separation. She knows of Langley’s true relationship with young Louis, that Langley is his father – a fact of which Langley has not yet been apprised. Here’s the dialogue: (more…)

Story is fundamental to our lives: we tell stories all the time. About ourselves, each other, someone we don’t know, someone we make up. When we describe a book we’ve read or a film we’ve watched, we’re telling a story. In telling stories we are able to be wherever and whoever we wish. Imagination and the ability to narrate are vital aspects of being both human and free.

The One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is a weaving of hundreds of stories that Shahrazad told to her bloodthirsty husband King Shahryar every night. By keeping him hanging on the edge of his seat with suspense, he postponed his usual practice of eliminating his bride the morning after their wedding night just so he could hear the rest of the tale. Here’s the first line of her first story: “There was once an old fisherman who had a wife and three children, who cast his net into the sea every day four times, and no more.” Finish the story in your fashion, but do it quickly, as though your life depended on it.

Write a short story that is twelve sentences. Makes sure you have a beginning, middle, and end.

A story map is a picture of a story. Draw your sequence of events in five bubbles: beginning, beginning-middle, middle, middle-end, end. Think of set-up, climax, conclusion. Surround your story bubbles with smaller ones that depict your characters’ actions and reactions to the events. This is a great tool to help you organize your story. You can also do this using index cards. Use one color for events and a different color for your characters. This allows more flexibility in your play with all the possibilities.

Description evolves best from observation. Observation offers a way of watching your inner experiences reflected back in outer phenomena. Instead of writing “I felt gloomy,” you could write: “The clouds pressed in, prematurely darkening the bleak sky.” By strengthening your powers of observation you’ll be able to transform your plethora of confusing emotions into the balanced equanimity that comes with clear thinking.

Describe what you see out your window in minute detail. Do this at approximately the same time each day. Try to evoke a different mood on different days (gloomy, cheerful, excited…) just from the description itself – don’t mention any personal emotion.Describe what you see out your window in minute detail. Do this at approximately the same time each day. Try to evoke a different mood on different days (gloomy, cheerful, excited…) just from the description itself – don’t mention any personal emotion.

Describe a rainy afternoon without using the word rain or saying anything about how you feel. But as you describe the rainy afternoon create a mood so the reader knows EXACTLY how you are feeling.

Look in the mirror and describe yourself as though you were someone else – in the third person. Do this several times, at different times of the day: you might find you discover seven different people.