Write a first-person monologue in a voice that is distinctly different from your own personal voice. Make use of carefully chosen patterns of speech and/or verbal tics that pop up multiple times.*
This is the worst part of my job. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a doctor. I loved every little bit of med school and the sleepless, stressful nights of being an intern. But even back then, I hated giving patients my diagnosis. It’s the worst. No matter what it is, the patient isn’t ready to hear it. And when is it ever good news? They’re at the doctor’s office for God’s sakes! Well, sometimes it could be good news. Like now. Some women would want to hear this diagnosis. Be happy about it even! But I know Nancy won’t like this. She won’t like it one bit. She has been talking for a year about having a hysterectomy. No kids for me, Doc! That’s what she says. I don’t want all that bother and responsibility. No thanks! This is the worst. I have to go in that closet of an exam room and tell this kid-hating woman that she’s pregnant. I have to tell Nancy about her pregnancy. Huh.
*My work from an exercise during “The 1-Day MFA: Lessons in Voice, Character, and Dialogue with Sara Kocek,” a workshop designed to condense the most important lessons of an MFA degree into one comprehensive tutorial, put on by the Writers’ League of Texas.