IWW Practice Exercise: "Generation Gap"

• Exercise: Generation Gap
• Prepared by: Carter Jefferson
• Posted on: April 1, 2007

Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene involving two characters related to one another by birth or marriage, one more than 75 years old, the other at least 25 years younger.

The characters may be almost anyone: mother and daughter, grandfather and granddaughter, first cousins or siblings, uncle and nephew, even wife and husband. Don't tell us their ages--let them show us.

The setting may be a family residence, a nursing home, a golf course, a kitchen, a prison, anywhere. They may be meeting after a long separation, or they may live together and associate with each other daily. See if you can give us an idea of their previous attitudes toward each other--loving, hostile, or something else--and explore the emotions generated during this meeting.

Do the characters ring true? Does their dialogue seem lifelike? Is the scene properly set? Consider all aspects of the writing.

Previous exercises are archived.

Carter Jefferson, Co-Administrator Practice List