In one of my classes we were assigned a writing assignment called Four Voices. We had to pick a situation or a scene and write four section of four different voices. I say voices and not people because the voices could be of people, animals or inanimate objects. As long as these voices are involved, watching, or around the situation they can be part of the piece.
The focus of this assignment was to develop four distinct voices. In all forms of creative writing you want your characters to have a distinct voice, a voice that is their own and no one else. Another part of this assignment was to see how well you can weave the story line together among the four different characters. Have the characters interact with one another in some way. By doing this it becomes a very creative piece and a very enjoyable piece to read. This assignment gave truth to the statement “there’s always two sides to a story.”
This exercise is extremely fun. You have freedom to choose who your characters are and what situation they may find themselves in. For example, I chose the scene from a grocery store check out lane. I wrote from the perspective of the girl cashier. I wrote from the viewpoint of an old lady that is purchasing her groceries in the young cashiers lane. I wrote from the viewpoint of the bag boy that has a crush on the cashier girl. Lastly, I wrote as the People Magazine that sat on a shelf and watched everyone come through the lane.
Give it a try! It really is a funny exercise!
