Here is the exercise we did if it you’d like to try it with your group.
Prepare a few lines that would be suitable for stories to end on. They can be anything, but a few examples are:
1. It was the last straw. Things would never be the same.
2. I can’t tell a lie.
3. Trust me on this, dogs are always bad news.
You get the idea. Just about anything that has that ‘final’ ring to it.
Make sure there are at least as many lines as there are writers, and number them (the lines, not the writers!).
Have each writer pick a number. The line with that number becomes theirs. Read it out and have the owner write it down. When everyone has their line, set a timer and write for between 5 and 10 mins.
Afterwards let everyone take turns in reading their endings. The results are often surprising and always interesting.
A variation would be to give everyone the same ending line, and then compare the differences. We all have an individual imagination so it’s interesting to see what different things people come up with from the same stimulus.
PS. If you do try this with your group I’d be really interested to hear how it went. Drop me a line – email deb @ writingoutloud.co.uk (remove the spaces), or leave a comment below.
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