The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day 1
Source: Pixabay
Task One
In your post, take what you learn about each of the three characters from the dialogue in the extract below and then develop them until you have a paragraph describing the character more fully.
A woman in a restaurant whispers to her friend:
"You know who that is over there, don't you?"
The other woman surreptiously glances at the other table:
"No, who?"
"That's just it, she's had so much work done you don't recognise her. That's Betty Grainger."
"No!"
"Yes, she's had her nose done, cheeks lifted, even a hair transplant."
"Whatever for?"
"She's going into politics."
"Seriously, that's really her?"
Character 1
Character 2
Betty Grainger
Task two
Write a short dialogue, like the one above, no more than 70-100 words, where two characters are talking about a third one. What can you reveal about your characters in your dialogue?
My exercise
"What do you say we just leave him on his doorstep and walk away?"
"That's a good idea. But what about will happen to him?"
"Your wife will find you in the morning when she opens the door." He spoke quietly near the door.
"I don't understand why he got drunk like this."
"Neither do I. He drank more than usual after talked to that lady at the bar.”
They placed the body of his friend on the entrance carpet of the house. Then they walked to the car that was nearby.
In this exercise, I have done it in forty minutes. Possibly, a lot of time for short writing but I had to think about the social and personal life of my characters to make them credible. Besides, I tried to make the readers imagine what will happen the next morning.
Thanks for reading.
Welcome your comments!
Infinite greetings
Hi @marcybetancourt! Welcome to #fastandfurious!
You dialogue is very revealing. I do think, though, good friends might not leave him alone on the doorstep all night. Maybe friends or acquaintances. Otherwise, you've got all the clues in the dialogue. Good going!
Thanks @agmoore. This short dialogue does not indicate what the friends will do. It takes a narrative to develop.
I read fast but write slow. I will try to update myself in Fast and Furious.
I think you are a wonderful writer. If you weren't I probably wouldn't mention this subtle point. It is subtle and only another writer would notice :)
Hello @marcybetancourt, welcome to the Festival.
Have you commented on other people's posts? If so, can you link the comments to this comment on Day One of the Festival.
I haven't commented yet but I have read. I'm a little behind on the Festival but I'll update me.
👍
dialogue reveals companionship, assimilation and shame on the part of friends. I imagine that the drunk is someone innocent who let himself be carried away by the moment and ended up in such a state of inebriation.
That's right! Dialogue is based on friendship and companionship. Thank you for your comment.
Thank you for contributing to engagement in the #fastandfurious Festival, @ricardo993. We are rewarding comments! So I will leave a little tip for you as a thank you.
Great work on these tasks, @marcybetancourt. I could picture the three women. You gave them some complex and interesting characteristics to bring them to life!
I really liked your dialog too. The quandary is evident between the two people. I was immediately intrigued because at first I thought the two people were leaving their baby. Then I feared it was someone who had died from drinking. So I appreciated your full explanation! Small pieces of writing don't provide all of the details. :-)
Hello @jayna. I got scared with your comment of my dialogue. I used the word wife to quickly get age and sex (approximate) of my characters. But I didn't make any annotations or gestures that would improve the dialogue.
Thanks for reading
Hello @marcybetancourt'nice to have you among the participants, welcome and run fast and Furious.
About the task of the day.
The character one coincides with mine, for wearing extra accessories to attract attention, how curious.
About the dialogue, I liked how you use question marks and exclamation points, something that I could not develop when writing in English. 😔 And about the story I thought someone had died, thank goodness they were out partying.
Thanks for reading @soyunasantacruz.
Since I was late I have to be fast and flash, hahaha.
As for the dialogue I think that at the beginning you think someone died but you quickly understand that they were celebrating. There is companionship among friends.
I think my Grainger and yours are similar but yours is a lot more badass! I like that.
By the way, why the third friend drank so much talking to the other woman? Is he unhappy in his marriage?
He has problems in his marriage. He was dating the bar lady and she ended the affair.
the descriptions are not far from reality, very detailed and accurate. As for the dialogue, I liked it a lot as a dialogue, but it would have been better if they knocked on the door and ran to the car.
hahahahaha, that would have been a good ending for the dialogue. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it!
Hahahaha it caused me a lot of laughter how good friends they are, who decided to leave him abandoned to his fate although at home, all to avoid a conflict with his wife. thanks for write.
It was a simple scene of companionship, hahahaha, although as you say ... abandoned but at the door of his home. Thanks for your comment!
Hi @marcybetancourt You've given your 3 characters diverse backgrounds, which is good. I especially like Character #3 for Betty Grainger. I like her because she exhibits a strong personality. You have to if you're going to be in politics. You state that other politicians have attacked her in the newspapers and that little is known about her personal life. That's good; however, once you get into politics, all will be revealed for others to attack. I like her social endeavors. It sounds like she's not afraid to be associated with the hard issues of the day that need addressing. Thank you for sharing your descriptions of the three characters.
For your dialogue. It was good of his friends to not let him drive and bring him home. I was wondering, though, why leave their friend on the doorstop. Why not ring the doorbell and have his wife open the door and get him inside.
Also, when you say:
Who's wife will find him?
Thanks for sharing your character descriptions and dialogue.
Betty Grainger's past will be revealed as she enters politics. That's for sure!
In my dialogue, two friends are talking. There are no concrete actions. The third friend is drunk and passed out.
The two friends place the drunk on his doorstep (home) and his wife will be the one to find him.
In my story the two friends will return so as not to leave him there.
Thanks for your comment and feedback. Greetings!
OK. Thanks for responding. I think I would have knocked on the door to get him inside, no matter if the wife was asleep or not.