The Lotus Eaters Forum EX#17: The Diary of Shakespear..

For this exercise start with a minor, minor character from fiction, either prose or poetry. Write a piece from that character's perspective, in the first person. So it would be best to choose a character from fiction that is not written in first person in the first place. For instance, don't choose a character like the narrator of Poe's Black Cat; he is too large of a character to start with, and the work is written in first person. We want to read the perspective and thoughts of minor characters we hardly know.

For instance, I've written, this morning, on the character of Amphiaraos, a minor character from Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes. There are only 25 lines written on him, which is not a lot. One of the great lines is about his shield. The shield of each man attacking Thebes is important, just like the shield of Achilles was important. It's described as:

"There was no sign upon its circle; he does not just want to seem, but actually to be the best -- a man who ploughs deep furrows through his mind, and reaps the best ideas and thoughts."

My version is Semper Fi, which modernizes the man.