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 Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:53 am
This was actually an exercise we did in my Beginning Acting course, but I realized when I stumbled upon it the other day that you could also use it as a writing prompt.
The idea is this: I'm going to post a pretty much ambiguous script--no actions, no lead-in, no setting, nothing but dialogue. You choose a couple of your own characters and "fill in the blanks"--add as much description, dialogue tags, body language, setting, and context as you feel you need to in order to make it a complete scene. You can even mess with the punctuation (to make a statement a question, a question an exclamation, etc.).
You don't have to post the resulting scene if you don't want to. I just thought I'd like to share a prompt with y'alls.
A: Oh.
B: Yes.
A: Why are you doing this?
B: It's the best thing.
A: You can't mean it.
B: No, I'm serious.
A: Please...
B: What?
A: What does this mean?
B: Nothing.
A: Listen...
B: No.
A: So different...
B: Not really.
A: Oh.
B: You're good.
A: Forget it.
B: What?
A: Go on.
B: I will.
One of the examples in the textbook, with context added, was a couple trying out new things in the bedroom. Seriously. Some of the scripts my classmates came up with involved yoga and breaking up a wedding. Mine had to do with a confrontation between two sisters when one decided to paint her ceiling chartreuse. So, really, you can go anywhere from here.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:44 pm
Are we allowed to add dialog? or does it have to be just what's given?
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:44 pm
You're meant to leave the words untouched, nothing added or subtracted, but you can alter punctuation as you see fit.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:23 pm
Tripping over a root in the underbrush, Alisa found herself seated behind the leader of the pack. "Oh." She understood one of the voices she'd heard now, but it wasn't until she saw the silver wolf running in the distance that she recognized the second voice she'd heard.
Kido turned to look at her. "Yes?"
Alisa noticed the tear stains on his cheek. She knew what he'd done. Kiri wasn't going to be coming back. "Why are you doing this?" If he was sending Kiri away, he was going to break up the pack.
Kido shook his head. She was the one person he thought he wouldn't have to explain it to. "It's the best thing."
"You can't mean it." Alisa had also watched the girl grow, just as Kido had. He didn't have to break up the pack to keep her safe and happy. He could have just sent away Teri and her mate.
Kido shook his head as he clenched his fist, a spark forming in his hand. "No, I'm serious." He took a deep breathe, knowing there was likely to be a fight about this. Teri wasn't going to stop him from letting the girl live her own life, nor was she going to stop him from leading his pack. It didn't matter if the girl was Teri's daughter, Teri had come to him to help her raise the child.
Alisa put a hand on Kido's shoulder before he could start back toward the den. "Please!"
"What?" he asked, looking her right in the eyes. If any woman he'd ever met had come close to healing the scars his past had left him with, she was the closest to it.
"What does this mean?" She didn't add any more to the queastion, she knew he'd understand. What does this mean for the thre rest of us? She knew he'd not tell them what to do. If he broke up the pack they would be free to go as they pleased, but she didn't want to leave the pack, not when she'd called it home for so long.
"Nothing." Kido would have to confront Teri and get her to answer the questions he'd never bothered to ask, the ones he should have asked a long time ago.The others weren't part of the fight, and didn't need the same answers he did. They didn't need to follow a hopeless fool any longer.
"Listen..."
"No." Kido shook his head. No matter what she said or wanted, he wouldn't be able to turn back now. He'd told the girl to run, if Teri didn't manage to pull her usual tricks and kill him, he'd run too.
Alisa looked over at the horizon, glimpsing the rising sun. She thought about the last time she'd been able to watch the sunrise with him. "So different..."
He followed her gaze, laughing slightly. The sunrise was a sign of hope and new beginning. "Not really." He knew she'd meant the last time they'd been alone together. It had been a long time, but he still felt the same way he had back then. It was time for a new start, he wasn't going to give up. He turned away, heading back. If he had his way, Alisa would be running off on her own as well, but since she knew what was coming, he wasn't going to stop her from following him.
"Oh!" she turned quickly, but found Kido had already gone far enough that he wouldn't have heard her. She pulled out a memento from the last time he'd gone hunting with her, the knife he'd given her to clean the fur from the meat. She tossed it, digging it into the tree he was about to walk beside.
He looked at the knife and smiled. "You're good." If it were to come to a real fight, Alisa would be the one he'd want fighting at his side. But he also didn't want her to get caught up in it. He paused for a minute, waiting to see if she'd come along.
She took a step toward him, but stopped. "Forget it," she said shaking her head.
"What?" His ears cocked in curiosity. This was something he'd never seen out of her before.
Tears started to form in her eyes. If she was going to follow, she didn't want to do it crying. "Go on," she said, looking at the ground rather than at him.
"I will." Two packmates that he was going to miss, but he wasn't going to let it end this way. He wasn't going to let that woman kill him.
Alisa watched Kido as he ran back to the den. Once he was out of sight, she fell to her knees and cried. Why did it always have to go this way?
((I know you said we didn't have to if we didn't want to, but I wanted to.))
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