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26 Part I: Getting Started with Creative Writing Exercises
To see how the outline of a story can start to emerge from loads of possibilities,
many of which you may not have thought about if you hadn’t drawn
your mind map, I now examine an example story idea about a man’s betrayal
through a secret love affair. Here’s the list I came up with for this story:
✓ What two big themes arise as possibilities as a result of a betrayal?
Revenge and forgiveness. Which approach does the main character
choose?
✓ How was the main character betrayed? An affair, a lie, a lack of trust or
love?
✓ With whom? Work colleague, friend/best friend, former lover/former
spouse, relative (cousin, brother/sister), stranger.
✓ How long? Weeks, months, years.
✓ Where did they meet? His place, her place, office, hotel, park, abroad.
✓ Is his relationship out of bounds? Perhaps she’s too young, a student or
work colleague, or his doctor/therapist.
✓ Main character’s feelings? Numb, in denial, sick, anxious, angry, vengeful,
frightened, lost.
✓ Betrayer’s feelings? Guilt, shame, remorse, anger, self-righteousness,
denial, keen to shift the blame.
✓ Feelings of third person in the triangle? Uncertainty, guilt, anxiety,
stress.
✓ Actions? Putting pressure on, backing out, confronting the betrayer or
the betrayed.
✓ Betrayed person’s actions? Screaming, crying, frozen, unable to eat,
shaking, fainting, lashing out, walking away, attempting suicide, seeking
help, telling others, drowning sorrows in drink.
✓ What’s the person upset about? Lies, omissions, being made a fool of,
what other people will think, who else knew.
✓ Past betrayals? Former lovers, friends, father/mother.
✓ Other betrayals? Financial, work-related, other previous affairs.
✓ Similar events in the news? Political betrayal, celebrity divorce.