Writing Prompt Wednesdays welcomes you to the most dreaded time of the year. You’d never know it given the chipper music, bright lights, and festive happenings, but a monster lurks in the workplaces of the average American. It’s name? Annual Performance Reviews. We tend to forget about them until they leap out of the darkness, fastening themselves upon our necks, draining the strength from us and sucking away our will to live. Perfect fodder for a horror story, right?
Or maybe I just see it that way because I read too much Dilbert. @=)
Today we focus on character development via commonly used tools in the workplace.
Da Prompt: Pick a character from one of your stories and write a performance review (either as a peer of the character or the character’s supervisor). The performance review must include the following:
2-3 of the character’s strengths
2-3 of the character’s improvement opportunities. NOTE: This is not where you list character flaws. This is where you list weakness, some of which can come from their strengths, and use constructive criticism to tell the character how they can fix these problems.
My Example: Bruce is a self-starter and proactively takes responsibility for his mistakes, fixing them before others notice. He isn’t a glory-seeker, preferring instead to let his actions speak for his talent. While Bruce has a stellar reputation for rapid problem solving, his troubleshooting methods, blunt words, and abrupt demeanor cause others to see him as an arrogant loner with a disregard for rules. His need for immediate action overrides any consideration for discussion, which in turn jeopardizes team functionality. He willingly admits he’s not a team-player, but seems predisposed to remain a loner rather than learn how to compromise.
These problems may be resolved with a few actions, such as moving his desk closer to Clark’s (and away from Diana’s), replacing his name plate with his legal name (I can’t put his preferred nickname on the paychecks) and revoking his costume privileges. Perhaps if his cape and cowl were confiscated, Bruce Wayne might be more predisposed to create relationships within the workplace.
Da Extra Credit: Use the below 3 words in both sections of the performance review.
Da Words: Cat Wrestling, Janitor, Cookie
Da Wordcount: 500+ (flexible)
Remember, be creative. You choose the workplace / environment! It doesn’t have to be an office building, ya know.
Have fun!
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Writers are frequently asked the question “Where do you get your ideas?” The question is a hard one to answer because we all find our inspiration in different places. Some people need to be given prompts, little snippets of ideas to spark their imaginations.
With that in mind, I am posting Writing Prompt Wednesdays. The goal is to inspire writers with exercises meant to train their skills and fire up the creative juices. There are rules. Most prompts will have associated word counts or style instructions. These are not meant to restrict the writer, but give the writer a chance to explore different ways of writing.
If you are an author in search of that one juicy idea, I hope these posts help. If you have ideas for writing prompts, please let me know.
Da Rules:
1) Anything goes so long as you stick to the spirit of the prompt.
2) I ask that if you do publish something based on one of my prompts, that you post the good news (and the link) in the comments of the prompt that inspired your success. You want other people to help you celebrate, right?
#sfwapro
