[Write On Wednesday] A Rewrite Game from Marta Pelrine-Bacon
Today’s prompt is a guest post from StoryADay founding participant, Marta Pelrine-Bacon. I’m thrilled to share this complex and fruitful exercise for you this week. And do yourself a favor and check out Marta’s writing and art in the links at the bottom of the page.
The Rewrite Game
art by marta pelrine-baconWrite a scene or a short story. Flash fiction
might be ideal. Write the scene or story in a particular style. Write something
noir, comedic, tragic, or erotica. Write it to be literary or fairytale. Do you
want it to be gritty or appropriate for children? Think about where this story
would be on the bookstore shelves and write it in that style. Go!
Finished? Finish before you continue with this
prompt. Think of this as a game. If you want to instead, take a scene from
someone else’s story you love.
Okay. Good. Now rewrite this scene or story
from the beginning but in a completely different style. Did you write something
noir? Write the same scene as a fairytale or a piece of erotica. Whatever it
is, rewrite it in a different style.
Tried it? Do it again. What can you do this
time? Rewrite it as a farce?
How many ways can you rewrite this scene?
Here’s an example. This flash fiction piece, Devotion, I wrote and Flash
Fiction Magazine published in 2014. It is meant to sound like a
fairytale.
Ella Mariah Kane lived by the sea and waited
for her husband to return. At first the people in town understood and counted
along with her how many days, weeks, passed. Later, they offered condolences
and brought her food.
“But he returns every day,” she told
them, smiling.
People looked around but saw no
boots by the door nor smelled the sweat and fire of a man at home. But they
didn’t ask because this was one of those places where asking felt like staying
too long after dinner.
Ella would’ve told them if they’d
really wanted to know. He was in the sand the sea rolled to shore that crunched
with the broken shells under her feet. He kissed her everyday with the spray of
water hitting the rocks. He whispered to her under the sound of the waves
coming in and drifting out.
No one asked about the father of the
child that appeared too many months later. She was her own woman, after all,
and this wasn’t a place where people pried. But Ella would’ve liked to tell
them about her husband’s undying devotion even from the depths of the sea.
Didn’t they know that’s why she slept on the beach in the dark?
I’m going to try something silly. Note, I’m
going to try. This is a game. You might “win,” you might not.
You know Ella Mariah Kane? She lives on the
beach and waits for her husband. We were nice at first. My mama took her food.
Sent her cards. So many cards. The letter carrier complained.
You won’t believe this, but my mama
and I went by and asked her how things were going. “But he returns every day,”
Ella told us, smiling like a mad lady.
Can you believe it? No boots by the
door. No sweaty man smell. But what were we gonna say? We just nodded and got
out of there.
I watched Ella one night. Yeah,
yeah. I know. But you won’t believe what I saw. I saw her rolling in the sand.
I don’t even wanna say what it was like. She tried to hug the waves. I thought
she was going to drown she stayed down there so long and came up coughing and
spitting up.
Nobody’s gonna ask about the baby.
She’s her own woman, and we don’t pry. We mind our own business most of the
time. Yeah, we watch her sleeping on the beach but we see nothing. We’re taking
bets on what that baby’s gonna be: whale or mermaid? I think it’s going to be a
bucket of salt water. Mama says I don’t know anything. She says it’s going to
look like the letter carrier. She hits me sometimes and says it better not look
like me.
Maybe
I could start it like a noir.
Ella Mariah Kane lived in the
shadows by the sea and waited for her missing husband to return. The people in
town stayed out of her way. Later, someone offered her cigarettes and brought
her the card of a detective.
Or
erotica?
Lithe and lovely Ella Mariah Kane
lived by the deep and pulsing sea and waited for her husband to return. The
people in town wondered how long she could wait. Soon, local man stopped by to
offer condolences and see what she needed.
Or
rhyme?
Everyone knows Miss Ella Kane.
She lives on the beach without a
name.
She misses her husband and everyone
knows.
But she never tells them where she
goes.
Hahahaha! Change the story as you need to. The
only rule is to keep the essence of the story and the characters the same. It’s
fun to try on different styles and see how different a piece can be and what
you’re capable of.
This was inspired by the podcast Start
with This and their episode on playing games. It’s a new podcast by
the fellows who created Welcome to
Night Vale, and it is meant to inspire your creativity.
I write and make art. I’ve had several short
stories published and a novel. You can keep up with me here or see my art here.
My debut novel, The Blue Jar, about
girls in trouble and trying magic is here!
The post [Write On Wednesday] A Rewrite Game from Marta Pelrine-Bacon appeared first on StoryADay.
