What Do You Have to Do?

Write about a character who rises very, very early one morning and gets up.  The alarm is blaring.  This character would not typically be getting up at this early hour.  Who is it?  And why does he/she have to get up today, this day in particular?  What is it he/she is doing?  Is he/she doing this thing alone?  Is he/she really looking forward to it, is it something that's been planned for a long time?  Or is it something he/she is dreading?  What preparations does he/she have to make right after getting up, and what is going through their minds?

Write your piece as an anticipation story.  What your character is doing and thinking after they get up, and end the piece as they walk out the door (or don't walk out the door) as they face what it is they have to do.

Again, maybe it's a great thing, maybe it's dreadful.  Going to the beach?  For a hike?  Court date?  Funeral?  Don't be easy on yourself with it.

The Lady Is an Inspiration

I have to say, one of my television guilty pleasures is watching Judge Judy.  Her show is real life.  Those people while seemingly crazy or obsessed show you all the real drama going on in the world all around us every single day.  They've just taken their grudges, arguments, fights, disagreements, on TV.

Watch it!  Watch many, many episodes.  Tape a case and watch that case over and over again.  Study the characters.  Study the argument, how they present it, what each of them says.  Two sides of the same argument.  Think about point of view.  Now take that case, use it as your inspiration, and choose your protagonist... it doesn't even have to be one of the two main parties, may be it's one of their mutual friends, a mother or father of one of them, a witness to what went down, a neighbor across the street from the scene of the argument who saw through a curtain, then saw them on Judge Judy, OMG that's the people from across the street!  Write the entire course of events from that person's point of view.  Then come up with the back story.  Write about what led up to it, what happened between the event and how they ended up with an actual lawsuit, how they ended up on Judge Judy.  Work on it until it's a free-standing short story.

Enjoy...