The Writer’s Playground Series – Symbolic Object

Thank you for joining us in The Writer’s Playground series!

Here we run through writing games to spark imagination and sharpen your craft.

Today’s Exercise is

Symbolic Object

  • Objective: To practice imbuing an ordinary object with thematic weight.
  • How to Play: The facilitator provides a universal theme (e.g., “Freedom,” “Betrayal,” “Isolation”). Each writer then chooses a random object from the “Prop Bag” list. They have 15 minutes to write a scene in which their object is used to symbolize the given theme, without ever explicitly stating the theme.
  • Best for: Mastering subtext, symbolism, and thematic development.

You can use the Theme list from the Logline Challenge and objects from The Prop Bag for this game.

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