Creative Writing

Due: November 18th

Word Limit: 800 words
Fiction Exercise 2: Voice in Writing
Context: At the heart of the telling of any story is the voice through which a story is told.
Beyond deciding whether to write in the active or passive voice, writers use diction, syntax,
colloquialisms, dialect, rhythm, tone, figurative language, and other techniques to develop a
distinctive style of storytelling. Literary voice is both an important element of an authors
personal writing style, and an integral aspect of how authors bring their characters to life. A
characters voice, for example, can reveal the following about a character: his or her class, race,
geographic region of origin, level of education, cultural background (s), passions, opinions, and
outlook.
Exercise: Though we will continue to cultivate our personal voices as authors, we will focus on
characters voice in this exercise. In particular, you will choose a character (either one youve
created in the past, or one you will make up for the purposes of this exercise), and then choose
either this characters first experience with something, or the last time they experienced
something. To complete your piece, you will tell the story of this characters first/last experience
with something, and you will focus on how you can portray the essence of this character through
his or her voice. You will want to specifically focus on using diction, syntax, colloquialisms,
rhythm, tone, grammar/punctuation, and other techniques to bring out this characters voice.
Follow these steps:
1. Choose or create your character.
2. Make a list of character traits about this character. For example:
a. where is he/she from?
b. how old is he/she?
c. what is his/her socioeconomic background?
d. what kind of expressions does this character use?
e. what kind of life experiences has this character had? (Positive?
Negative? In-between)
f. how do these experiences shape this characters outlook on
himself/herself and on life?
g. what is this character passionate about?
h. is your character reliable as a narrator?
3. Choose a first experience this character has had, or the last time this character
experienced something. Examples:
a. Firsts: first day of school, first kiss, first high school dance, first
loss of a family member or friend, first time he/she learned that his/her life

experiences are different from others, first break-up, first experience of betrayal,
etc.
b. The last time I: last time he/she saw his/her best friend, last
time he/she saw a family member, last time he/she went to a significant childhood
site, last time he/she saw a lover, last time he/she felt a sense of belonging, last
time he/she felt hope, etc.
4. Narrate the first or last time experience you chose through the eyes of your
character. Focus on using specific techniques (such as diction, syntax, colloquialisms,
rhythm, tone, grammar/punctuation) to develop your characters voice and reveal who
he/she is. Rather than reading an interesting first or last time story, I am more interested
in how you show me this character through the way you construct his or her voice.
You may choose to craft a short story around this, or you may just write a scene. Whatever you
decide, your piece must be between 500 and 800 words (no more than 3 pages double-spaced,
please).
**Please note:
You do not have to use first person when writing this piece.
You do not have to submit to me the list of character traits you brainstorm (those
traits are just meant to help you).
The only submission I expect to receive is your 500-800 word piece. However, if
youd like to submit your character trait brainstorm as an addendum to your 500-800
words, you are welcome to do so.