30/03/2020: Dialogue writing exercise

Reedsy, the website where I'm getting a lot of my writing prompts from, has some really great free 10-day writing courses that you can sign up to. So far I've really enjoyed the 'Understanding Point of View' one, and I'm currently signed up to 'Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character'. 

Each lesson has a writing task/homework for you, and I don't usually do them but thought I might try it out on this one.

Prompt:
Imagine this scenario: Jenna and Alice receive news about their friend Hannah, putting their holiday plans on hold. Write a brief extract of dialogue between the first two friends. First, write it as an info dump deliberately. Make them share information they both already know about Hannah’s situation.

Then rewrite the same exchange four times:

• Once as an argument. 
• Next, as fact-comparing dialogue. 
• Thirdly, make one character not know the bad news. 
• Lastly, rewrite the plot exposition as narration, not dialogue.

So, here goes:

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1) Info dump:

"As you know, Jenna, Hannah's gotten into a car accident, and since it looks like she's at fault, she needs to pay for the damages to the other guy's car. She doesn't have much money, so she won't have enough for the holiday we're planning. I think we might have to cancel." Alice said, clearly upset.

"Yeah, it's really annoying, Alice. And I don't think there's any way we can go just the two of us. After all, our budget was really tight even when we were splitting the accommodation between the three of us. Unless we go to a cheaper place like a hostel or something..."

"But Jenna, Hannah's really upset right now. We've already had some big fights with her, and if we go without her, she might never want to be friends with us again..." Alice replied.

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2) As an argument:

"I can't believe Hannah's ruining our holiday, God she's so annoying!" Jenna threw herself onto the lounge and crossed her arms tightly.

"Hey, don't be mean!" Alice snapped back. "It wasn't even her fault!"

"Yes it was! She got herself into a car accident, and now she can't pay for the trip - the trip that we've been trying to plan for MONTHS. And because she can't pay, we can't even go! That's so unfair, Alice, can't you see?"

"No, it wasn't her fault! That guy reversed into her, but since it looks like she rear-ended him, that's why she has to pay for the damages. You're being SO insensitive Jenna - imagine how she feels, having to pay for something that's not her fault, and not being able to go on holiday for it, and making us not go?"

"Ugh, well why shouldn't we go? We should just go without her."

"Jenna, don't be like that. You know that it'd be rude to do that to her. And anyway, we'd have to split the accommodation between just the two of us, and we don't have enough money for that - our budget was tight enough splitting between three."

"Yeah, well we could just find a cheaper place to stay. I don't care if Hannah gets upset about it. We've had so many fights, that even if she doesn't want to be friends with us anymore after this, I'll be happy."

"You're horrible, Jenna."

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3) As fact-comparing dialogue:

"Hey, did you hear anything new from Hannah?" Jenna asked Alice.

"Hmm, the last thing she told me was that she has to pay for the other guy's car repairs." Alice replied.

"What? She told me she wasn't at fault!"

"She wasn't! The guy reversed into her, but there were no witnesses so it looks like she rear-ended him, which means she's supposedly at fault."

"Damn, that sucks. Well, I was gonna ask if we could all do a call together to discuss the holiday plans. Do you think she'd be too upset to do that?"

"Well..."

"What?" Jenna's stomach flipped at the look on Alice's face.

"Well... I think she won't have enough money to go on the trip anymore... so we might have to call it off..."

"WHAT? Are you kidding me? We've been planning for months! And we can't just go without her?"

"You know how she'd feel about that, she's already upset enough as is..." Alice looked off into the distance.

"Yeah, and we've been fighting a lot lately... if we do that she probably wouldn't even talk to us anymore!"

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4) One character does not know the bad news:

"Hey Jenna, have you heard about Hannah?"

"No, what happened?" Something about Alice's tone made Jenna think that bad news was coming.

"She got into a car accident."

"What? Is... is she okay? What happened?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Someone reversed into her in a car park, but it looks like she rear-ended him. There's no witnesses so he's blaming her, and she has to pay for the damages." Alice sighed and sat back.

"God... how bad is it?"

"Bad enough that she won't have enough money for the trip," Alice replied.

"What? Are you serious? Shit. And there's no chance of us just going without her, I'm guessing?"

Alice laughed. "You seriously think that's gonna go down well with her? Especially after all those fights we've been having lately?"

"Ughhhh, but this holiday has taken us MONTHS to plan. It'd be selfish of her to tell us not to go just because she can't afford it. I mean, we'd probably have to look for somewhere cheaper to stay, but we could still make it work."

"Jenna, if we go, she probably won't ever talk to us again."

"I'm fine with that!"

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5) Narration, not dialogue:

Jenna and Alice were frantic. They knew Hannah wasn't at fault, but they couldn't help but feel resentment at the fact that her car accident was endangering their trip. They both secretly wanted to continue as planned, knowing that they'd have to find an alternative, and cheaper, accommodation. But at the same time they knew that this would hurt Hannah's feelings, and she might never forgive them for leaving her behind.

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Comment: I think this was a fun little challenge; it helped me think about how I want to actually write dialogue. The first challenge is meant to be the easiest, but it was actually kind of hard to write because it felt horrible. Although, that was the point of this exercise: to show you that info dumps through dialogue are never a good idea - they just don't seem realistic enough. It was interesting coming up with conflict for the second challenge, and I actually found the last challenge really difficult because I felt like you lost a lot of personal details and characterisation by limiting it to pure narration. I'd recommend this exercise to anyone who's not sure what the best way of writing dialogue is for their next plot point.

13/03/2020: When dreams are vivid, and real.

First Prompt: Write about someone who can pause time or relive old memories at will.

Second Prompt: Start with "If you really want to hear about it,"


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"If you really want to hear about it, I dreamt I was with her... again. I lay my head on the pillow and closed my eyes, and suddenly she was right before me. It was our first date. She wore a pink blouse and blue skinny jeans. I could always remember what clothes she wore, so this wasn't new to me. But when I saw her last night, she was wearing a bracelet. I never remembered that. I had been with her for 5 years and I never remember her wearing any bracelets during that time."

"Yeah but... this is just a dream, right?" Mike, my colleague, interrupted me in between mouthfuls on our lunch break. He had asked me how I've been lately, and I told him I hadn't had a good sleep, because of a dream I had. He asked me about it. At first I hesitated; it was too personal. But I really wanted to just tell someone about the bracelet.

Mike continued, "Also, your dreams sound so... vivid! My dreams are always a messy blur; I only ever remember vague notions of what happened. Anyway, that's intense you dreamed about your first date together. How are you feeling?"

I paused.

What Mike didn't know was... I can control my dreams. In fact, they're not actually dreams because I'm not actually sleeping. I'm reliving old memories.

I do tend to only relive my memories at night though, or at least when I'm alone, because to the outsider it really does look like I'm sleeping. My eyes are closed and my body goes limp so I don't move around like I did in those memories.

I can also choose how long I want to relive the memory for. I simply concentrate on the event, tell myself how long I want to relive it for, and it happens.

Recently, I've been choosing to relive 8 hours of each memory overnight, during the time that I'd usually be sleeping.

The problem is that I'm not actually getting any sleep. I'm fully conscious the entire time, so I can get really groggy at work the next day. Mike noticed this and asked me about it today.

"I... I'm fine." I finally replied to him. I couldn't tell him that I felt guilty for never realising she wore a bracelet on our first date, and I was starting to regret ever opening up to him in the first place.

"Hey, listen, mate. You're going through a tough time, and it's not good if you're having all these vivid dreams about her, that's not gonna help at all. But you can talk to me." Mike's mouth hung open as if he was about to say more, but he quickly took another mouthful of his toasted sandwich.

I kept twirling my canned spaghetti around my fork. I haven't been cooking any meals to try and maximise the time I get to relive my moments with her. I haven't had a proper meal for a few weeks already.

Mike carried on, "So, you got any plans this weekend?" God I wish he could just stop talking and let me eat in peace.

"Nope." I replied. But of course, I did have plans: to relive some more memories.

"Well hey, I was gonna go to a local footy match with my mates, wanna come?" Mike smiled at me.

"Oh no, no thank you. I... I just need some time to myself right now." I quickly said, shoving some of that canned spaghetti into my mouth to avoid talking any more.

Besides, I never hung out with Mike. Ever. Not even... before. I knew he was just inviting me out of pity. I didn't want anyone's pity. I just wanted to be with her again.

Mike nodded silently.

I first found out I could relive old memories when I was 22. Not when I reached puberty like those mutants did in those X-Men films.

It was weird, because I was at a stage where I felt like I finally knew who I was growing up to be.

I had started a new job as a software engineer after years of studying and "soul searching". I moved out of home. I had met her, and fallen in love. I discovered I liked playing the guitar. I was starting to understand who I was becoming.

And suddenly, everything I thought I knew about myself went out the window. Suddenly, I had this weird ability to travel back in time. Although I realised I wasn't actually time travelling, because I didn't have my present day mind in my past self.

No, everything stayed the same. I relived memories and with them I relived past feelings, played out the same conversations and actions, and wasn't able to change anything.

I used to hate it because I would realise that often some fond memories, once properly relived, were actually a little skewed. Sometimes I would think about a funny thing that happened in high school, then I would relive it. Only for me to wake up cringing from how I talked as a teenager, how I styled my hair, and how many cues I missed from all the girls that were interested in me.

I rarely relived memories. And if I did, they would only be for things that happened recently, or things that I truly wanted to experience again. When she went overseas for a business trip and I was missing her. When I wanted to taste that delicious (yet expensive) dessert from that fancy fine dining restaurant. When I wanted to go back to Paris without the hefty price tag.

Apart from that, my reality was better than my memories.

"Anyway, let me know if you ever want to hang. As I said, you can talk to me." Mike stood up and placed his empty dishes in the dishwasher.

I looked at my watch and realised my entire lunch hour had passed and I'd only eaten half of the canned spaghetti.

I quickly forked the rest of my meal down into my throat. Slurping the noodles and swallowing without ever chewing.

I cleaned up, and headed back to work.

These next few hours are going to be productive, I told myself.

Well, they had to be. A productive day meant the day went quicker. It was quicker to home time, and quicker for me to relive my moments with her.

I lived for the night. I lived for the memories, and the chance to escape from reality again.

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Word count: 1088

Comment: This was my third submission to the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest. This week's theme was magical realism. I also combined this prompt with another prompt to write in the traditional first person point of view. I realised most of my writing is in first person, so I might try and change it up next time.

This story was quite fun but a bit of a slog to get started. I literally had to force myself to sit down and write, but once I started writing it was easier to keep writing. I guess that's the point of doing these writing prompts - just get something down, even if it's not a masterpiece. I liked the idea of this prompt too, and it made me wonder - if I could relive anything, would I? Or would I choose to just live my life as it is, here and now? An interesting thought.

Also, if you would like to see my Reedsy profile and all my submissions, click here. 

03/03/2020: Nice day for a stroll

Prompt: Write a short story about someone going to the corner store to buy an everyday item.


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I rummaged through my handbag and dug out my old sunglasses. Looking at them closely I could see all the tiny scratches and signs of wear and tear on them. I haven't used them in years, it's a wonder I never threw them out in the first place. I quickly crammed my glasses onto my face, poking the insides of my ears and tangling my hair in the process.

The difference was incredible. I no longer squinted my eyes to shield my pupils from the harsh blinding light of the sun. Everything looked clearer, and somewhat paradoxically, brighter and more vivid.

My first instinct was to gaze up at the sky. The sun was so bright that everything, ground and sky, seemed a bright white but now with these sunglasses on I could see how brilliantly blue the sky was. I took a moment to marvel at the formation of the clouds, and if I looked hard enough I could even see the greyed shadows in parts that were a bit denser than others. My eyes scanned the sky and I noticed small wisps of cloud drifting in between the larger formations. It was a fine, sunny day, and yet if I looked long enough, I could see the clouds moving, the smaller wisps moving ever so slightly faster than the larger clouds. It was as if these wisps were small children chasing after their parents, reaching out their tendrils as if wanting to hold their parents' hands.

I spent a few moments wondering how big those clouds would be. They looked small enough for me to wrap my hands around, but they were thousands of metres away. I wondered how big the sky was, and how much further beyond that you'd have to go to reach the sun, a mere dot that I could blot out with my hand. Remembering that I was heading out to buy some milk, everything suddenly seemed so very small.

I kept walking, this time a bit faster. It was easier to see where I was going without the ground reflecting the bright sunlight.

I felt the sun's warmth on my skin, and smiled at what a beautiful day it was.

I passed by a low-hanging branch, and stopped to admire its leaves. There was nothing particularly unique about these leaves, but they looked so green and bright that if the tree wasn't coming out of the ground itself, I would have thought the leaves were fake.

I reached out with my hands and touched the leaves. I could feel the smooth, glossy surface with my thumb, and the coarse, gritty underside with my index and third fingers. I closed my eyes and I could feel even more: the small specks of dirt or imperfections in the leaf, the individual veins pumping this leaf with all the nutrients it needed to maintain its deep green lustre, the jagged edges that seemed so round and perfect when I first saw the leaf.

I opened my eyes. Now I could see everything I felt: the specks of dirt, the veins, the jagged edges. It's funny how little we see with our eyes.

I looked above once more to the tree and took in a deep, slow breath as I tried to examine each leaf in turn. There were too many, but I noticed how the sunlight almost seemed to shimmer through the gaps in between the leaves, and how some leaves looked darker than others depending on how I tilted my head.

I laughed to myself at how spoilt I was. I felt a giddiness take over me and I looked around me. Everything around me screamed normality: the normal houses, with their typical lawns and ordinary trees. The sky was a standard blue sky, and the sun shone plainly through it.

Yet, this was not normal.

This was not my normal.

For years I had been living in darkness. Relying on my senses of touch, smell, and hearing to grope my way through the world. I spent years learning how things felt. I ended up forgetting what the world even looked like, and I would only get brief reminders through dreams. Or, rather, the small bits of dreams that I was lucky enough to clutch on to, when everything else vanished and was forgotten the moment of waking.

This colour was new to me. I hadn't seen colour since many years before I went blind. And even after the operation that helped me regain my sight, I had to be kept inside with the curtains shut to avoid the sun's light damaging my new retinas.

Finally, I worked up the ability to stare outside my window at our back garden without my eyes hurting too much.

Running out of milk was a convenient excuse for me to step outside.

I kept walking. I smiled at a neighbour pruning a hedge, as he lifted a gloved hand and smiled at me.

"Nice day for a stroll, hey?" He called out to me.

I let out a small laugh, and I felt my eyes strain a bit as tears started filling them up.

"It's a lovely day," I replied.

I walked past a park full of new mothers pushing their prams or playing with their children in the playground. I heard their screams of joy as they tried to run up the slide but ended up tripping over and falling down the slide instead. I saw dogs run after tennis balls, and I couldn't help but notice their wagging tails and lolling tongues. I saw joggers struggling as their sweat-drenched shirts clung to their bodies. I saw birds circling the water fountains.

I saw things I never would have noticed if I were relying on my touch, my smell, and my hearing.

I kept walking towards the shops.

I descended the flight of stairs slowly. There were only a few steps, and I knew how to walk down them if I closed my eyes, but my eyes were not used to the uniformed lines and quick depth changes, so I took it slow.

I arrived at the entrance to the corner store.

The door said "PUSH" so I pushed it open. I walked past the aisles, and saw a sign above aisle two:

"MILK
BREAD
JAMS AND SPREADS"

I walked past the breads, and I walked past the jams and spreads. At the very end of the aisle, I opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a bottle. I held it in my hand, and saw that the label clearly said:

"FULL CREAM MILK
1 LITRE"

I told myself I would never take my eyes for granted, ever again.

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Word count: 1112

Comment: This was my second submission to the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest. It was inspired by the last line of The Office, which was spoken by Pam Beasley: "There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?" In the last year or so I have noticed that I am becoming much more grateful and appreciative of ordinary life, and I wanted to express that in this story. We take a lot for granted and sometimes we just need to pause and acknowledge all the beauty around us.

Also, if you would like to see my Reedsy profile and all my submissions, click here.