writercises | EXERCISE: And your problem is... (Reply)

Original posting 12 January 2013

Okay. We haven't done one of these in a while, so...

Pick a number from one to five. Got it? No, eight is not one to five. Now, got it?

All right. You have chosen:

1. During lunch, a valued client make some offensive racist remarks. Do you make an issue of it?

2. You are having an affair and don't feel like going to work. Do you phone in sick?

3. You are an adoption worker. A native child has been living happily with a white family for three years. Now his relatives want to take him back to the reservation. Do you let them? (You may want to ignore the question of whether an adoption worker actually has a choice in the matter -- or you may want to make your story about that!)

4. Your name sounds foreign and is difficult to pronounce. Your clients and superiors are always stumbling over it. Do you change it?

5. Your company is bidding on a contract. Your price is good but you will take a week longer than your competitors. The customer asks. Do you tell him the truth?

Simple, right? Start out by sketching in the details. Who are these people? Who are "you?" Where is this taking place. Now, sketch the scene where you really face the problem, and... Make a decision. Take action of some kind, and then follow it through. What happens when you face down that racist customer? Phone in sick because you want to spend time on your affair? Make someone unhappy with an adoption? Get that court order changing your name to Smythe? Look the customer in the eye and ...

Right. Tell us the story of someone facing this little dilemma, and what they choose to do. And what happens next.

As usual, feel free to adjust the issue, plot, characters, and scenery to suit. Although I'm not sure that complaining about glittery vampires really counts as a racist remark...

Write!