Eng 223  Greg Martin

Generative Craft Exercise #2:  Writing the Family

Part I:  The Biographer--The Imagined Life

Imagine the life of a family member or someone very important in your life (who was, or is still, like family to you):

       (a) before you knew them

       (b) in some part of their life that is mostly unfamiliar to you. A sibling who now lives in another town.  A parent in their life at work.  Your child at school or with friends when you're not there.  A friend who has moved away, or you have lost contact with.

        Freewrite as many things that you can think about this person.  Try to imagine deeply  their life as it exists apart from you. 

Part II:  The Biographer--The Life as Observed

Contrast the imagined life above with this person's life you know about first-hand, from close observation

Part III:  What does all this have to do with you?

Where is there, in some way, conflict or tension in these two versions?  Is the conflict for you the same as it is for the other person?  Where is the story?  (In other words, where in this profile, is some defining event, something that happened between you that shaped or changed your relationship?)

Part IV

Combine somehow the two separate profiles you've created into some meaningful whole.  Try to resist a simple Part I , Part II form.  Experiment with the structure, with the time management.  This person isn't really two separate people, and your essay should somehow reflect that. 

Length:  No less than two double-spaced pages, no more than three double-spaced pages.

Make two copies of your exercise.  One to give to me, one to share with another person in class. 

Good Luck!