“Place the cup on the table” sounds straightforward until the table has been removed. Writing a scene as instructions can expose the habits a character takes for granted—and the moment those habits stop working.
This is an original fiction exercise, not a formula for every story. Choose an ordinary task with a clear sequence: setting a place, collecting a coat or opening a shop. Write six brief instructions in the second person. Keep the first version practical enough that somebody could follow it.
For example: unlock the door; hang up your coat; switch on the counter light; put out two cups; check the message book; wait for the kettle. There is no plot yet, only an expectation of how the morning goes.
Break one condition, not all six
Change a single fact: only one cup remains. Rewrite the fourth instruction so the speaker tries to preserve the routine. “Put out the blue cup and leave the other place clear” suggests a relationship without announcing its history.
Continue the instructions until the practical voice can no longer avoid what happened. You might let a command become impossible, turn into a question, or repeat with a small change. Avoid explaining the loss in an introductory paragraph; the sequence should give the reader something to discover.
- Underline every instruction that could belong to any kitchen or shop.
- Add one specific detail where it affects the action.
- Remove details that merely decorate an unchanged instruction.
- Read the sequence aloud and locate the exact point where its purpose shifts.
Finally, rewrite the same incident as ordinary third-person narration. Compare what each form makes easy. The manual may sharpen denial; the conventional scene may better show another person’s response. Keep the form that serves the experience you want to convey, even if that means abandoning the exercise’s original constraint.