Thanks for the call...

So I applied to be an EFY Counselor. It's like a week long camp which focuses on increasing the gospel knowledge, and boosting the testimonies of the youth in my church. That's the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

For those who are more critical of religion, you might compare it to a week long propoganda camp... JK

Anyways, I thought it would be a good experiance so I jumped the various hoops, and tried to get in. Finally they emailed me and we scheduled a phone interview. So I stayed home from work, and... They never called... I sent an email, but it's not looking good for our protaganist (That's me).

Anyways enough about my pathertic life, and I will now share with you my next Writing Exercise. The exercise is called "Hands". We were supposed to envision the hands of someone and take these hands from a resting to action, and eventually back to a resting state, or something weird like that. That isn't quite what I did, becuase I never seem to play by the rules... Except when I am playing board games, where I think the rules are sacred, and I only cheat when no one is looking.

Hands

As I entered the room a small voice cried my name and instantly sticky hands grabbed mine. The small hands, coloured by marker, and peanut butter from lunch guided and pulled me into the next room.

"Look, I got a new game!"

The hands left mine, leaving me to wonder where I could find a napkin to wipe off the remains of a well enjoyed lunch, that was not my own. The boys hand did not remain empty but grabbed the controller, the small and nimble fingers navigating through complicated menus, creating worlds, and performing difficult manoeuvres.

When the young boy found himself stumped by the game, he forced the unfamiliar controller into my hands eagerly asking me to get past a tricky part for him. I died several times in quick succesion, while the boys hands fidgeted in his lap, frustrated by my inability to play.


This is one of my favourite writing exercises I have done. It is based on a collection of experiences with my nephew Carson. For those who care, the game in the story is Little Big Planet for the PS3.

I love the way I did this exercise, and small things that define character, without looking an anyones face and hardly any dialogue. I will try to bring the tools I learned from this into my stories, to give my characters unique mannerisms, and to show compliacted emotions through simply physical actions.

The next writing exercise I post will be one on imagery.