Apathy is one of those
emotions that refuses to be quantified. It's not boredom, or depression,
or bemusement. It's not even disinterest. It's an utter lack of interest.
Nor is it cruelty. It doesn't care enough to be cruel. It doesn't care
enough not to be, for that matter. As Ann Hood said, "An apathetic character
is not boring. He might be baffling, frustrating, pitiful, or pathalogical,
but never boring."
1. Write a two page scene
of a tour through one of the below. Remain apathetic in your narration
while slowly building an emotional response in your reader. The point is
to use apathy to evoke feeling.
IBM headquarters
a college dorm on election
day
an IRS audit
a city hospital's emergency
room
2. Create a character,
in one page, who is indifferent to his surroundings due to his personal
agenda. Don't make him cruel. The point is not to create a monster. What
type of need or ambition would a character have that would cause him to
be apathetic to the plight of others, yet not cruel? Work for believability.
3. Write a one page fairy
tale that stars an apathetic character. Give the character a fanciful name
and place him/her in a fantastic setting and situtation. Have fun with
it. Your character should respond to the events with "I don't care!" Try
and construct a motive for the character's reaction, but don't let it overshadow
the story itself. You can decide if you want there to be a final event
that will change the character and move him/her away from apathy.