writerslessons

An assembly of writing minds

&
 

Nov 04 2008

Exercise: Between the Two

Published by aggeloi at 1:44 pm under Prompts Edit This

Today’s exercise is a prompt with a twist. I will give you a beginning sentence to open with, but I’m also going to give you a sentence for ending the scene. This will somewhat limit the directions you can take the story, though there are still many options open to you. Flexibility is a key quality for writers, and it’s helpful to know how to work under restrictions.

Opening sentence:

The house was one of the oldest I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, and the shutters rattling in the wind that evening didn’t help the creepiness factor.

Closing sentence:

“So what do we do now?” he asked, looking up at me as his grip on the knife tightened.

We have some pretty fun elements in this exercise, and I leave the direction to you. A scary story or a murder mystery might be a no-brainer with those sentences, but don’t feel limited to those styles. Feel free to take it however you please. As I stated before, the closing sentence is just for the ending of the scene. I strongly encourage you to carry the story out beyond that sentence.

Happy writing!

Possibly-related Articles:                                        (auto-generated)

One Response to “Exercise: Between the Two”

  1. Rebekahon 05 Nov 2008 at 3:46 pm edit this

    What a fun idea! One of these days I’ll have to try it and let ya know how it goes ;)

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.
Not A Member? Register for Free!

Some Today.com contributors may have received a fee or a promotional product or service from a manufacturer for promotional consideration, while others receive no consideration at all. Each contributor is responsible for disclosing any such promotional consideration.