This exercise originated in a book titled I Could Read the Sky by Steve Pyke and Timothy O’Grady, which is definitely worth a read. This book consists of photographs and the moving story of an Irishman in London.
Here are two significant extracts detailing what the protagonist could and could not do at a certain point of his life:
What I could do.
I could mend nets. Thatch a roof. Build stairs. Make a basket from reeds. Splint the leg of a cow. Cut turf. Build a wall. Go three rounds with Joe in the ring Da put up in the barn. I could dance sets. Read the sky. Make a barrel from mackerel. Mend roads. Make a boat. Stuff a saddle. Put a wheel on a cart. Strike a deal. Make a field. Work the swarth turner, the float and the thresher. I could read the sea, shoot straight. Make a shoe. Shear sheep. Remember poems. Set potatoes. Plough and harrow. Read the wind. Tend bees. Bind wyndes. Make a coffin. Take a drink. I could frighten you with stories. I knew the song to sing to a cow when milking. I could play twenty-seven tunes on my accordion.
What I couldn’t do.
Eat a meal lacking potatoes. Trust banks. Wear a watch. Ask a woman to go for a walk. Work with drains or objects smaller than a nail. Drive a motor car. Eat tomatoes. Remember the routes of buses. Wear a collar in comfort. Win at cards. Acknowledge the Queen. Abide loud voices. Perform the manners of greeting and leaving. Save money. Take pleasure in work carried out in a factory. Drink coffee. Look into a wound. Follow cricket. Understand the speech of a man from west Kerry. Wear shoes or boots made form rubber. Best P.J. in an argument. Speak with men wearing collars. Stay afloat in water. Understand their jokes. Face the dentist. Kill a Sunday. Stop remembering.
Consider these sentiments. Listing all the things that we can and cannot do is not only logical and useful for personal reference, it gives us a better understanding of the many traits that make us tick. Once we know what defines us, we can learn to better define the characters we create.
The Workshop
Take ten minutes and write some things you can do. These can be unique skills, everyday responsibilities, personal quirks, whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about logical order. Just get the words down as they come to you. If they arrive as a list, so be it. If they form the shape of a poem or flash non-fiction, that’s great too. Read it all through. How does it feel? Does it represent you?
Now take ten minutes and write some things you can’t do. These can be general difficulties, disappointing admissions, irrational bugbears, whatever comes to mind. Again, let it come out in whatever form it needs to. Read it all through. What does it reveal about you? How did it compare to the writing about what you can do?
If you’re doing this activity with another person, compare notes.
Now take one trait that appears in either list and apply it to a fictional character. Take ten minutes and write from their perspective using your own truth as an opening line to their story.
Do they feel any more realistic for it? Does it empower you?
Carmen Walton – April 2025
Huddersfield Authors Circle 
Leave a comment