I may be the only one, but I find that I’m able to really feel at ease and be myself when I am around my pets. I also tend to talk to them as if they were real people. Many of my characters have pets of their own, so I thought this might be a bit of a fun exercise to do.  That is my dog in the picture. She is a Boston Terrier named Peewee and I love her with all my heart. (:

This picture was taken by my lovely sister, Katie. (I don’t really have an eye for photography, sadly, orz)

Prose From Pictures: Pets

Write a scene between your character and their pet. It can be any kind of pet (a dog, a cat, a snake, a bird, even a goldfish if you can think of something interesting.) Maybe write a piece that has your character ‘treating’ their pet for the day. (For example, I like to take Peewee on long car rides when I come home from college because I know she really likes them.) If your character doesn’t like animals, maybe write about them pet-sitting for a friend for the day.

Questions To Ask Yourself

• Why did your character choose this particular animal for a pet? How long have they had them? What’s the pet’s personality? 
• Does your character tend to spoil their pet and treat them like a baby? Or do they treat them more like a roommate?
• Is there anything about their pet that maybe gets on your character’s nerves, as much as they love them? (For instance, as much as I love Peewee, I get annoyed by how stubborn she can be sometimes)
• Does your character tend to converse with their pet as if they were a real person? What kinds of things do they ‘talk’ about with their pet? 
• What kind of activities does your character tend to do with their pet?

I think that one of the best ways to get to know your characters is to thrust them into situations and see how they react. I’ve seen these kind of writing prompts around before, where the prompt writer gets inspired by a picture and then spins an idea from it, so I’ve decided to try it for myself! If any of you decide to try and attempt this prompt, feel free to send me the results. I may decide to publish some. If you guys like this idea enough, maybe we can make ‘Prose From Pictures’ a regular thing?

Prose From Pictures: The Umbrella

Your character finds themselves on a crowded street during a downpour. Fortunately for them, they’ve decided to bring their umbrella with them today. Others, however, are not so lucky. Your character, for whatever reason, decides to share his/her umbrella with some poor, soaked person on the street, shielding them from the rain. What happens next?

Questions To Ask Yourself

• What motive did your character have to share their umbrella with this person in the first place? Are they a good Samaritan?  Do they know this person? (maybe they’re a friend, a former lover, someone the character is trying to get to know?) Do they think the person is “just a pretty face”?
• Where does your character go with this person? A restaurant? A bar? Maybe back to their place?
• What’s the conversation like? Is your character or the other person shy? flirty? friendly?
• What if the person your character helps isn’t exactly friendly? What if they’re hostile? Try to pick your character’s pocket? Lead your character to a secluded area in an attempt to rob them?

I hope this is helpful, or at least interesting, to some of you. I’ll be trying it myself, of course (already got a bit of an idea planned.) Feel free to tweak the prompt in whatever way you please, or send me some feedback!