TO AN OBJECT

Focusing on an object usually indicates either its significance to the plot, or its relationship to one of the characters. The condition of an object may provide clues to a person’s lifestyle or may be used as a metaphor for their mood.

Techniques for tuning into ourselves and into a character can also be used for tuning into an object. Also, ask who found it or made it, when and where. Invent a history for its finder/maker and imagine its journey from the point of origin to the point at which it arrived in your story.

Another very useful technique is to speak as the object, in the first person. ‘I am a grubby white telephone – much used, pawed, put down, buttons pressed, never really seen by anyone . . .’ and so on.

This will tell you things about your character or yourself, and may also start you off on a completely new story.