Three-second writing exercise

[mount_oregano]

Here’s a little exercise to explore a character, possibly someone from a piece you’re working on.

Premise:

Your character is driving a car, waiting for the stoplight to change at a busy crossroads.

Your character looks in the rear-view mirror and sees a car speeding up the road behind them that will crash into them in three seconds.

What would this person think and do in those three seconds? Remember that stress slows down time, so there might be a whole lot of time.

The intent of this exercise is to get as deep into this person’s point of view as possible. How can you immerse the reader in this character’s feelings and reactions? Remember to be direct and to live out the story in the character’s head and body with all the emotional intensity and emotional range that you can.

What result did you get from this exercise? If you want, you can try it again with other characters from the same piece and see how they would differ.

How would you react?