Thursday 31 December 2009

The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 7

I've eaten far too much over Christmas, so today I'm thinking about food. Food writers use all sorts of wonderful descriptions of food, and so should we - but writers can use their descriptions in more useful ways. Here's some dialogue from two characters in a restaurant...

A: Have you been here before?
B: No, never. Have you?
A: Once, a couple of years ago. It's changed hands since.

And here are some scenarios...

1. First date
2. Couple on the verge of breaking up
3. Young journalist interviewing mega rich businessman.

Write this scene out. You're only allowed to use the dialogue above, so you need to use the food and description to give the attitudes of your characters. So, the first date couple might be eating fresh, juicy strawberries and drinking fizzy champagne, the couple breaking up are stuck with limp lettuce and over-cooked pasta, and the mega rich business man is ripping apart his steak so the blood runs...Get the idea? Have fun!

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