January 20th, 2010 / 7:11 pm
Craft Notes

Writing Prompt: Invitation to a bad, bad party.

I wrote a little piece on my blog, and a friend emailed me to say that he found it a bit disturbing because it felt hostile and tribal to him. Much of this feeling seemed to come from the fact that the narrator is first person plural (talks about “we”) and he felt himself identifying with (“Hey, we! I’m a part of we.”) and then being disturbed by the tone of the piece.

Here’s a writing prompt: write in first person plural. Invite the reader in. Invite the reader to be a part of the story’s “we.” And then force the reader out. Repel the reader. Hard.

Open the door and let them into the party, and then make them regret having enjoyed the punch and cake.

But compel them first.

(And don’t go with the easy push back. It’s not hard to punch a person in the kidney or press on someone’s gag reflex. Find a subtler solution.)

Tags: ,

12 Comments

  1. Catherine Lacey

      I find that I use parties in my fiction a lot. You get everyone in a room together and make them progressively drunker… or maybe it’s someone’s kid’s birthday and there’s all kinds of family drama… Or maybe it’s a surprise party and the guest of honor doesn’t like surprises…. there are so many possibilities.

  2. Catherine Lacey

      I find that I use parties in my fiction a lot. You get everyone in a room together and make them progressively drunker… or maybe it’s someone’s kid’s birthday and there’s all kinds of family drama… Or maybe it’s a surprise party and the guest of honor doesn’t like surprises…. there are so many possibilities.

  3. Catherine Lacey

      I find that I use parties in my fiction a lot. You get everyone in a room together and make them progressively drunker… or maybe it’s someone’s kid’s birthday and there’s all kinds of family drama… Or maybe it’s a surprise party and the guest of honor doesn’t like surprises…. there are so many possibilities.

  4. CB

      “We want you, Matthew Simmons We want you to take yr dick out of yr pants. We want to put it in our mouth-holes. We want to suck on yr balls. We want you to fuck our faces, Matthew Simmons. We want you to shove it down our throats as hard and as fast as you can until you make us gag. We want to give you a rimjob, Matthew Simmons. And then we want you to fuck the shit out of us. All of us. Pound that shit until it’s yours. Then we want to make you come. Is that what you want, Matthew Simmons? What you want us to do?”
      “Yes.”
      “Then let me be the first one to tell you that you are under arrest. Please get yr hands out of yr pocket.”
      “It’s not what you think.”
      “Get down.”
      “No.”
      “Now.”
      “Wait.”

      (Shots fired)

  5. CB

      “We want you, Matthew Simmons We want you to take yr dick out of yr pants. We want to put it in our mouth-holes. We want to suck on yr balls. We want you to fuck our faces, Matthew Simmons. We want you to shove it down our throats as hard and as fast as you can until you make us gag. We want to give you a rimjob, Matthew Simmons. And then we want you to fuck the shit out of us. All of us. Pound that shit until it’s yours. Then we want to make you come. Is that what you want, Matthew Simmons? What you want us to do?”
      “Yes.”
      “Then let me be the first one to tell you that you are under arrest. Please get yr hands out of yr pocket.”
      “It’s not what you think.”
      “Get down.”
      “No.”
      “Now.”
      “Wait.”

      (Shots fired)

  6. CB

      “We want you, Matthew Simmons We want you to take yr dick out of yr pants. We want to put it in our mouth-holes. We want to suck on yr balls. We want you to fuck our faces, Matthew Simmons. We want you to shove it down our throats as hard and as fast as you can until you make us gag. We want to give you a rimjob, Matthew Simmons. And then we want you to fuck the shit out of us. All of us. Pound that shit until it’s yours. Then we want to make you come. Is that what you want, Matthew Simmons? What you want us to do?”
      “Yes.”
      “Then let me be the first one to tell you that you are under arrest. Please get yr hands out of yr pocket.”
      “It’s not what you think.”
      “Get down.”
      “No.”
      “Now.”
      “Wait.”

      (Shots fired)

  7. Merzmensch

      I’d write it in my blog, but I’m afraid about offending my blog readers.
      On the other hand if I’d write a short story in this way and publish it, I wouldn’t be afraid about offending my unknown readers.

      And this circumstance is ones I’m most afraid of.

  8. Merzmensch

      I’d write it in my blog, but I’m afraid about offending my blog readers.
      On the other hand if I’d write a short story in this way and publish it, I wouldn’t be afraid about offending my unknown readers.

      And this circumstance is ones I’m most afraid of.

  9. Merzmensch

      I’d write it in my blog, but I’m afraid about offending my blog readers.
      On the other hand if I’d write a short story in this way and publish it, I wouldn’t be afraid about offending my unknown readers.

      And this circumstance is ones I’m most afraid of.

  10. Mark

      I thought this was pretty good and followed the writing prompt to a T.

  11. Mark

      I thought this was pretty good and followed the writing prompt to a T.

  12. Mark

      I thought this was pretty good and followed the writing prompt to a T.