This will be a very different story depending on your viewpoint character-

• the boy

• the shopkeeper

• a bystander who knows the boy comes from a broken home with an alcoholic mother

Write your story

A couple more pictures for you to consider

A Sense Of Place

 Editors and competition judges will tell you that many stories fail because they appear to be set in thin air. A convincing setting or background is essential and will add a considerable dimension to the characters and to the plot.

Look Who’s Here

•  The Savoy
•  The Seagull Café
•  Harry Ramsdens
•  The Taj Mahal
•  The Cyber Café
•  Gianni’s Trattoria
•  The Trout Inn
•  The Greasy Spoon
•  The Bamboo Garden
•  Polly’s Tea Rooms
•  Le Petit Chateau

Five minute exercise

Choose one of the above names and brainstorm all the ideas it conjures up – do the tables have crisp, white linen cloths or gingham check? What kind of china? Are there flowers on the table? What are the smells - not just from the food, what of the perfume of woman dressed for a special evening or from the wet mackintosh of the seaside visitor who has come in out of the rain? What are the sounds - tinkling glass or the scrape of metal chair legs on the scored brown lino?

Who are the patrons? Why are they here?

Ten minute exercise

Using your eating place as your location, write a passage either in the first or third person.

Creating Characters

Character lies at the heart of writing good fiction so it is vital to create convincing characters. If readers have no interest in what happens to the people in the story they will not keep reading. To come to life on the page, the significant characters must be fully rounded. Once readers think, ‘He would never do or say that,’ you have lost them. Equally important are the goals and ambitions which drive your character.  For readers to want to stay with your character long to achieve those goals, you must make them care about that person throughout the story.

Picture a Character

Activity

Find a picture of a character or use one of the above and think yourself into that person – build a background for him or her. Give him a name.

Ask yourself questions such as:–

Does he have a job – a partner? – pets?

What hobbies does he have?

What are his likes – dislikes?

What type of school did he go to?

What makes him angry?

What is his favourite TV programme – type of music – food?

Which newspaper does he read?

Where would he like to go on holiday?

If your character won a £1000 what would he spend it on?

Five minute exercise

What are your character’s major characteristics? Think how he would react when angry, upset or happy.

Make brief notes on how you would describe that person to someone else.

Ten minute exercise

Your character is getting ready to go to a party or a special night out. Describe the scene from the viewpoint of the character – what he or she does and is thinking and feeling – either as a narrator or in the first person. 

Follow up

When you have completed the exercise ask yourself:.

How like the person you have written about are you?

Did you use someone you know?

Have you chosen a picture of a person of the same sex as yourself? How easy is it to write about someone of a different sex – culture – age group – philosophy of life?

If you are going to spend time with your fictional character (i.e. while you write a short story or a whole novel) just how well will you need to get to know them? Do you need to like them? What qualities or aspects of their personality will keep you interested in them?

How easy is it to convey the emotions of the characters through describing how they go about their tasks?

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