Portrait

Try writing about your very first impressions of a person. Try to pay close attention, when you write, to details that are sensory--smell, taste, touch, hearing, and of course sight. Try to include something from each of the five senses in your piece of writing. Also include a feeling, something that comes from the inside (fear, confusion, joy)--but don't use any of those "feeling" words. Include dialogue if you want. What were your initial conversations with this person like? What did you say? What did he or she say? Focus on an possession that you associate with the person you are writing about. It doesn't have to be a house. It can be anything—a poster, a baseball cap, an old piece of ivory. Try to include details about the object itself (details of the five senses--what do you see, smell, hear, touch, taste) and some of the history of the object and the person. Write about yourself from the perspective of your portrait subject. What is his or her opinion of you? What details or observations would they have? What do they see or understand about you that you don’t see yourself.
 * First Impressions of a Person ** 
 * Possession **
 * Mirror Drill **

You and the subject of your portrait find yourself as characters in a one-act play. The house lights go on and the curtain is pulled back. The two of you are on stage alone. What does the dialogue of this play look like? Sound like? Write it!  Think of some kind of process that is related to the person about whom you are writing. Think, for instance, of the process of setting a net, of hunting, of picking berries--any kind of activity that is unique to the person you want to write about. Just describe the process and the person’s role in it. Don't worry if you think the process is boring. The trick is to learn how to write about this kind of detail. Describe in detail one place that is important to the subject of your portrait. Pretend you are describing the subject of your portrait to an illustrator. How would you describe them> Height? Weight? Build? Physical characteristics? Be detailed! Describe the most meaningful experience you have ever had involving the subject of your portrait. You have been hired to interview the subject for a magazine. What questions would you ask? How would they answer? One thing the subject of my portrait would never do is… <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">
 * One-Act Play**
 * A Person’s Process**
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">A Person’s Place **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Average Height, Average Build **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Experience **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Interview **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">She’d Never **