Pull a card for narrative

By Rose Lindsey

For this month’s Words to Write By, our exercise will lean more towards the narrative over the poetic. That said, there might be room for adaptation into other writing forms, so if a bit of inspiration strikes you, feel free to reform it as you see fit. This will be an extended writing exercise which focuses on character, and is inspired by a number of tabletop roleplaying games. In particular, “Eyes on the Prize” by ira prince is a major source of inspiration. By utilizing a deck of cards, we can build out a series of introspections and scenarios for our characters that will lead us to a richer understanding of who our characters are. 

Firstly, grab a standard deck of playing cards! You may keep the jokers in the deck, but remove any extraneous cards from there. Keep them a hearty shuffle. 

Then, determine the scaffolding of the character you’ll be focusing on for this exercise. A character for whom you already have plans would work best for this practice. A protagonist or antagonist for an upcoming project of yours would be particularly useful. Be sure to define a few key traits about them to start; truthfully, these should be markers of identity that they hold as important: name, age, gender, race, sense of social position, and so on. What do you immediately hold as critical to the character you’re writing? What do you already know about the circumstances that surround them? 

Now, every day for the next ten days, you’ll pull a card from the deck. The card you pull will correlate to a scenario on the list below. Take the time to embellish the scene or character detail, and lean into new possibilities for your character. These writings can simply work as background exploration for your character, or you can find ways to incorporate them into your project in their entirety. 

A: Someone from your character’s younger years has reappeared to them now. What does this person immediately notice is new about them? What do they discover is still the same? 

1: A smell transports your character back to one specific meal they had in the past. Where was this meal? What made the meal stand out to them? 

2: How does your character fare with a standard game of cards? How tense does the game become when a prize is on the line? 

3: Is your character spiritual or religious? If so, detail an experience that really made them believe. If not, detail an experience that broke any possible mysticism for them. 

4: What word does your character use more frequently than they should? Do they catch themselves utilizing it in a common conversation? 

5: Your character has scratched themselves enough to draw blood. How do they react? Do they bother to bandage the wound? Do they accept assistance from anyone else? 

6: It’s deep into the night when your character jolts awake from a nightmare. What is the last image seared into their head as they sit upright? 

7: Does your character believe in romantic love? If so, what was their first demonstration of this? If not, what would convince them that it is real? 

8: Your character overhears part of a conversation that surprises them. What detail is it that fully catches their attention? How do they react to shocking news or discoveries? 

9: Write a poem or short story that would interest your character. Incorporate language or story cliches that your character would be enamored with. 

10: What was the first major goal your character ever set for themself? Did they achieve it? If not, what was the fallout? 

J: Your character is suddenly contacted by a family member. Which family member trusts them enough to reach out? If your character is supposedly without a family, why does someone reach out now? 

Q: What detail of their life does your character accidentally let slip in casual chatter? Is your character keen to share a detail like this? How do they mask their mistake?
K: How does your character feel about their hair? Have they ever had a hairdo that made them feel uniquely themselves?
Joker: What was the best day of your character’s life?