Week 3!
Hello and welcome to week 3 of CU This Tuesday Writing Group! Using Monday’s Wordle as my guide, the prompt this week is UNDER. My random number generator came up with the number 3, which means I wrote in third-person POV. I’m using these prompts as a way to figure out what the hell to write my next novel about (today was not a promising day, I’ll warn you), but here are some ideas on how you can use this prompt:
Write about a post-apocalyptic society that lives underground.
Write from the perspective of a character who is stuck in their underwater room on a cruise ship that’s docked due to a pandemic.
Write from the perspective of an ambitious young person trying to work their way to the top under an impossible boss.
Write from the perspective of a character who is under someone’s spell, so to speak: maybe obsessed with a celebrity, an ex, maybe they’re stalking someone?
The aftermath of an earthquake - write from the perspective of someone stuck under debris.
Writing prompt: Under, in third person
As mentioned, I’m using these prompts to try to get into an idea for a new novel as I finish up the novel I’m currently working on. Today, I was trying out a new idea but I have to say, I was not feeling it! I don’t know if it’s the idea’s fault or my fault. I’m feeling a bit burnt out lately, not myself. But I guess that’s part of this, isn’t it? We need to show up and just write something even when we’re not feeling it. I hate what I came up with, but here it is:
Clem lay still under the talk show host. She went through the sequence of the night in her head. Each element, in and of itself, was innocuous. He bought her a drink, they flirted, he took her to his place. Was there a moment when things began to feel wrong? There was not one thing she could point to. Everything he had done was excusable, explainable.
He had rolled over, onto his back, snoring like a clogged wood chipper. How could he smirk like that even in his sleep? Did some people really walk the earth believing the grass was there only to cushion their steps?
Clem put her tutu back on, the corset, the chunky belt. Returned to being Baby Madonna—in body, at least. Clem decided she would feel ok about this night. She decided she’d wanted all of it to happen. Even the choking, all of it. The difference between pleasure and pain was mindset. If she had a different brain—Astrid’s brain—she would be happy right now. She would be snuffling like a field mouse in his armpit.
There was the murk in her mind, the stew that simmered between what she wanted and who she was. That is why, she told herself, you’ll never be great.
Afterthoughts
UGH!!! I’m going to be honest, I feel pretty disheartened today. I keep thinking of characters and scenarios that sound promising but then once I get them on the page, they don’t quite work, I don’t quite like them. This new idea did not sit well with me. Maybe I’ll go back to my original idea, the one I wrote into in weeks 1 and 2. I hope you came up with something good, something helpful for whatever you’re working on. And regardless, good for us for showing up today. I’ll CU Next Tuesday!