"Hope is a state of mind,
not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same
as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises
that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for
something because it is good."
-- Vaclav Havel
1. Try writing three
opposite emotional scenes. Write first a paragraph describing a person's
hope, then a that same character's despair. After writing three of these,
try it with other emotions, such as love/hate, excitement/disappointment,
etc.
2. Think back to your
own childhood and write a scene in which you are the child who hopes for
things that you know will not be. Be specific.
3. Where can a character
figuratively place her dreams (eg. wings on a bird)? Can you come up with
a place? Three? Fifteen? Avoid crossing over into sentimentality.