Novel Kicks Writing Room: Two Strangers, One Bench

Welcome back to the Novel Kicks Writing Room. 

The focus of today’s exercise is two strangers, one bench.

Two strangers sit down on the same bench. They don’t know each other. They have never met before. Something small happens — a dog runs past, a phone rings, a bus doesn’t arrive — and one of them speaks. A conversation begins.

By the end of the conversation, one of them will have changed their mind about something.

Before you write a single word of dialogue, jot down brief notes on each character. For each one, decide:

How old are they roughly?
What were they doing before they sat down?
What is on their mind today that they haven’t told anyone?

Keep it simple. A sentence or two for each point is enough. These notes are just for you.

Once you’ve done this, decide what small, unremarkable event causes one of them to speak to the other. It shouldn’t be anything dramatic. The best conversations between strangers often start from almost nothing — a comment about the weather, a shared glance at something odd, a polite question. Write down what happens and who speaks first.

Now write the scene in 300–500 words. You can use dialogue, description, internal thought, or any combination. The key rules are:

The conversation must start from something trivial.
It must drift, naturally and without force, toward something that matters to at least one of them.
By the end, one character must see something differently than they did at the start — even if only slightly.
Neither character should explain themselves too neatly. 

Read your scene back and consider:

Which character felt more alive on the page, and why?
Did the conversation go where you expected, or did it surprise you?
What is the single most revealing line of dialogue, and what makes it work?
What has been left unsaid between these two people?

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.