PEOPLE WATCHING 102

Most of us love people watching; for writers it is essential. Some say good writing is 90% observation and some say it is 90% imagination. Both are true depending on what kind of writer you are or hope to be. For this swap we'll go 50-50 and everyone can join and hone watching and writing skills.

Here's what we'll do: first go someplace where you will be able to see people you don't know - a mall, a park, a supermarket, a sports event, whatever. Find someone who interests you - if you did PEOPLE WATCHING 101, push yourself a little and choose someone different than the first time around. If you wrote about a woman, write about a man or chose someone a very different age of type. You will describe this person as completely as you can in one page. Tell us specifics, make us see the person.

Part two which is different from the 101 version: Assume you meet this person and are sitting down talking and you say, "tell me your life story." Write a page of what that person would tell you. Make it fit the description you've written but it will be entirely invented by you. Tell us where the person was born, how long ago, what his or her family is like, and then all the things people might say about themselves, jobs, interests, likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, anything to make the person complete.

You should have two pages at a minimum - one actual description, the other fictional biography. You can write more if you want but don't write less. You'll make copies and send it to three partners -- or if you get into the exercise, you can write three different ones. It's most fun to do if you choose people who aren't like you.

This is international because it's only a couple of pages of paper. You don't have to wait for the start date to do it.