McClanahan's WORD PAINTING.
1) Choose a story-- one of your own or someone else's--and rewrite the
opening paragraphs in a different point of view. Change first person to
third, omniscient to objective, objective to first person, etc. Then
experiment with other subtle changes. If the story opens with a
character's name, remove the name and substitute "he" or "she"; and it
the characters are known only as "he" or "she" insert names. Notice how
even slight changes in POV affect the story.
2) Using your own natural voice, write the most detailed, sensory and
articulate description of a place or object you can manage. Then write
the description of the place or object in the words of a first-person
narrator who is less articulate than you--a young child, an Alzheimer's
patient, a Valley girl, and uneducated peasant. What differences do you
see between the two descriptions? Did you have to give up any of your
own descriptive details to allow your narrator to have his say?
3) Write a physcial description in which a first-person main character
describes himself so the reader can visualize him. You might want to
use a photograph, video or other graphic representation as your vehicle
for relating physical attributes. Your character could also describe
himself by relating what others say about him.
4) Write a description of a first-person narrator that reveals her
experience of living inside his body and moving physically through the
world. Rather than describing how the character looks on the outside,
use sensory details to show the reader how it feels to live inside her
skin.
5) Using third-person peripheral narration, describe a place, person or
event your narrator knows little about. Position the narrator on the
outside, looking in. How does he view his subject? What language does
he use to describe something he doesn't really understand? To get you
started, think of a subject you know little about. Describe it to the
reader in your own words, with all the limitations and challenges that
partial ignorance requires.
6) Write a description of an object, person or scene that combines
objective reporting with internalized thought. Alternate between the
two kinds of description, marking your transitions with phrases like
"she thought" or "it seemed to him that . . ." Then remove the
transitional markers so your description alternates freely between
objectively reported statements and highly personal stream of
consciousness.
7) Describe a scene of event from a third-person objective viewpoint.
Report only what can be known through the five senses; this can include
characters' concrete actions or dialogue. You may move in time and
space as long as you report only what can be witnessed externally. Do
not give your opinion about the event or enter any characters' thoughts.
8) Using the omniscient POV, describe something no character in your
story could possibly know. You might travel behind the scenes,
describing a place your characters could never visit. You might time
travel into the distant past or future and describe what you see. You
might even enter the consciousness of an animal, a force of nature or an
inanimate object. What does the dog in your story dream of? What is
the ocean's memory of your character? What secret is a young girl in
India already storing up to keep from her future husband?
Have fun with it!
