• Create a family or group who is crazy, fun or intriguing in some way; they could be entirely dysfunctional or absolutely perfect or endlessly interesting or any combination of similar adjectives.

First, imagine the members… are they a big group with lots of people (a cult, perhaps) or a small group with only a few members? Who are they? What can they do? What’s their secret?

Once you’ve established and fleshed out this background, create a narrative in the FIRST PERSON and be sure to use your descriptive and comparison/contrast skills to define each member and what or who made them who they are.

You can use and adapt existing people you know, invent a totally new mythology from scratch or use glorified or degraded versions of existing or formerly existing people. Be imaginative!

Make the characters shine and become believable and well-rounded and alive. Make us feel like we know them, strive to understand them, love them, hate them, wish they’d live forever or quite the opposite. Make them who you wish your family or friends could be or take who they are and make them even more ____________________. (Fill in the blank)

Humor is a plus, so feel free to become inspired by the many unforgettable families as those found in popular culture, however, make them your own – don’t just rip off Ben’s family from Captain Fantastic, The Simpsons or The Bluths, etc.