When I began writing my manuscript, I knew I didn't want any of my characters to be based (too literally) on people I knew in real life.  But it was hard because images of real-life people would always pop into my head whenever I tried to describe someone.

What did I do?

I imagined a stranger, a sister of a friend, an acquaintance.  A person who I had seen, whose voice I'd heard, or who gave me at least a seven-second impression, but who I didn't actually know at all. I asked myself, how would they speak? Dress?  React to these things?  Next thing I knew, I had a character.

Over time, I had to dig deeper to develop their motivations, histories, etc., but this practice helped spark my creativity rather than my memory.

A writing prompt, if you will.

Photo by Pedro Ribeiro Simões

PRACTICE

Take fifteen minutes to write a story based on the photo writing prompt above.  Share your story the comments section!