Here is a writing prompt that can double as therapy.
Have you ever been disappointed with yourself in how you handled a travel issue or reacted in an unexpected situation? Sure, we all have. We all know what it’s like to come up with the perfect solution to a problem after the fact. We all know what it’s like to come up with a witty rebuttal long after the argument is over. Compound that with logistical challenges and language barriers of travel and you have a lot of entries in your travel journal of plans that have gone awry.
Make it happen to another person and end a different way.
Think of your favorite hero or heroine from literature. Now re-write the disappointing entry from your travel journal as if it happened to the character instead of you. Give it a different ending.
What would (fill-in-the-blank) do?
Did you get pick-pocketed? What if Scarlet O’Hera, instead of you, found herself alone without cash in a strange city?
Sleep through dinner? What if it was Oliver Twist hungry after the restaurant is closed?
Were you hit on or ogled in Caracas? How would Bella Swan have reacted?
Did you forget your phone or other piece of essential equipment? What if Lisbeth Salander found herself without this item?
Are you a fiction writer? Try this using a character from your current project. See what insights it gives you into the character.
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Lestat’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. He hated daytime travel and did not appreciate getting bumped from the red-eye out of Chicago to a 2:45 PM flight with a stopover in Vegas.
“Please excuse me, ma’am. Are you waiting for the 9:45 flight to SanFrancisco?”
The woman smoothed her Chanel skirt and glanced up from her iPad.
“Yes, why?”
“Forgive me for disturbing your reading, I just wanted to be sure this was the correct gate.”
Lestat waited. Finally, the Chanel woman looked up from her reading and cast around the concourse quickly.
This might be it, he thought.
The woman rose from her seat and walked toward a charging station for electronic devices. Lestat followed behind her with slow but purposeful strides. He approached her softly and inhaled the fragrance of her anxiety over the dying device. She looked up startled. He embraced her suddenly and pivoted behind the charging booth and bit into her warm throat. She tried to call out but only emitted a sigh of pain struggling like a bird against the cage of Lestat’s arms. Her body drained, he released her. She fell, wrinkling her skirt, behind charging booth.
“Final call for Agnes McGillicuddy” the attendant announced.
Lestat approached the desk with his bumped ticket in hand. “If the lady fails to arrive, I hope you might consider adding me to the flight.”
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Have fun! Share your scene in the comments below.
Read ~ Write ~ Wander
~Angie