First Writing Assignment

An Exercise in Precision, Focus, Decision-making, Details, among other things

Part I

1. List 10 people you’ve known for a long time

2. List 5 people you’ve met recently

3. List 3 people you like and/or admire

4. List 3 people you find annoying, difficult, or worse

5. List any number of those who do something you find interesting

6. List any number of those you consider to be mentors

7. List those you like to be with

8. List those you would like to know better

9. List anyone you recall from long ago

10. Do you have a favorite childhood friend?

11. Do you have a favorite teacher?

12. Is there anyone who was a part of your life only briefly, but left a lasting impression?

Note: some may appear in more than one of your lists.

13. Take some time to think about the people on your lists

14. As you look over your lists, which three people come to the forefront of your thoughts? List

them.

15. Without stopping and without thinking too hard, write about the first one for five minutes.

Repeat for the other two.

16. Take a five minute break.

At any point, you may replace any of these potential subjects for your first paper with someone

else. If you do, apply some or all of the following to your new subject.

17. Read what you wrote. How do these people make you feel? What do they make you

remember? In the next ten minutes, summarize these thoughts.

18. Put them in the order of 1-3, with 1 being the most likely subject for your first paper.

19. Some questions to consider: do you have enough emotional distance to write about this

person? Is the subject too immediate? Too distant?

20. Look again at the order. Do you think you want to write about #1? #2? #3? Or someone

else?

Part II

1. At the top of a clean sheet of paper, write the name of your selection

2. List five personality traits you associate with this person

3. Choose one of these personality traits and write, non-stop, for five minutes

4. Do this person have any quirks?

5. Does this person have any hobbies? Passions?

6. If you’ve known this person for a long time, what are your earliest memories of him or her?

7. If you’ve met this person fairly recently, recall what you can about your first meeting and/or

your first impression of him or her?

8. Are there any places you associate with this person? List as many as you can.

9. Circle the three places you most associate with this person

10. For ten minutes, without stopping, write about this place and how/why you associate this

person with this place

11. Are there any events that you associate with this person? List as many as you can.

12. Is there one event that is most memorable? Take 15 minutes and capture that memory in

writing

13. How has this person impacted your life in positive ways?

14. How has this person impacted your life in negative ways?

15. What key words would you use to describe your impression of this person?

16. Is there anything you’d like to know about this person that you don’t?

17. Does this person have any favorite foods? Books? Films? Sports?

18. Do you associate this person with anyone else?

19. Is there anything about this person that all of the above don’t cover?

20. How does this person make you feel? List as many words as you can.

Part III

1. Look over everything you’ve written. Highlight, circle, underline everything that sparks

something in you and that prompts further thoughts.

2. Write these in a form that makes sense to you on a clean sheet of paper.

3. What are the gems?

4. Choose one and write about it for ten minutes

5. Repeat twice.

Take a break and let your thoughts settle.

Part IV

1. As you think about this person, what one idea nags at your thoughts. This is the beginning of

your focus.

Remember: at any time, you may write about someone else.