Exercise of the Day 9/15: Evil twin

My fall classes have started so I'm going back to posting more exercises of the day. I started this as a way to record exercises I often use.

This week in one of my HVWC classes we talked about how easy it is to get in a rut with your main character. We often give our protagonists so much baggage: we want them to represent us, or to read as a good/moral/smart person. Minor characters can do fun and unexpected things while our heroes get sort of stiff and stuck. For this I like to suggest an exercise called "Evil Twin."

Evil Twin

Think of the next scene you need to write or revise. Set the timer for fifteen minutes. Instead of writing what your main character would do in this situation, write what their evil twin would do.

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People often find they want to actually use this scene when it's done.

The secret is that your character's evil twin is actually your character. Just the part of themselves that they try to keep hidden.

Try it!


Note: My use of the singular "they" is intentional. Let's all start using it!