For this exercise you’re going to take three different characters from three different professions or walks of life. You’ll give them a location for their conversation as well as a topic of conversation and a conflict, and then you’ll write up a page (or more) of dialogue between them regarding your chosen topic. Try to have their professions and attitudes come through in the dialogue without ever having to state them outright, but try to make it natural and not forced. Allow their personalities to show.
You can as always brainstorm your own choice of professions and topics and the like, but if you’d prefer, here’s a set for you.
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Professions/Livelihoods:
- Surveyor
- Seaman
- Shepherd
Topic of conversation: What it means to be “sheltered” and how being sheltered as a child affects one’s adult life. The conflict should arise out of their viewpoints, which should each be unique and should reflect their personalities, experiences, and livelihoods. Keep in mind that although I phrase the above topic as though it were some sort of philosophical conversation, most people don’t start conversations that way. Perhaps the conversation started because one person accused another of having lived a sheltered life.
Location for the conversation: A student center.
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