HALLIE EPHRON: These days I find myself doing a lot of teaching and
preparing to teach fiction writing in virtual classrooms. As I was coming up
with writing prompts, a memory bubbled up:
Me sitting in the window of a Chock Full of Nuts coffee shop (that’s how long ago it was) in NYC watching a man walking along the sidewalk reading a newspaper (that’s how long ago, and there was even a newsstand right on that corner).
It’s a crowded corner of the world. As I watched, people
walking the other way threaded their way around him. He seemed oblivious. So
oblivious that he walked smack into a pole.
We’re taught in fiction writing that characters are what they DO. To “show don’t tell.” In the real world on 116th Street and Broadway decades ago, here’s what that man did: he punched the pole.
This was a man, I thought, filled with pent-up rage. Who breaks his dinner plate over his wife’s head if the ziti is burned. Who kicks the dog.
As a writer creating writing prompts, I ask writers to re-imagine that moment. What might that man have done instead of punching the pole, and what would that “show” about him?
- Cursed at the pole
- Apologized to the pole
- Taken out a pocket handkerchief and gently wiped the pole
- Asked a pedestrian coming the other way, “What are you looking at?”
- Turned beet red, frozen and looked around to see whether anyone had noticed… seen me watching through the coffee shop’s window and…
Right now I’m writing a scene in which a woman is climbing to the third floor of a brownstone. When she reaches the second-floor landing, the overhead light flickers. She freezes. She has to lean against the railing to steady herself.
The light flickers again. And again. She smiles, sinks to her knees, and breaks down in tears.
What’s going on? Who is she? Where is she going? Why is she reacting this way to a faulty electrical connection?
That’s what my new book is going to be about.
Have there been moments when someone you knew (or a stranger) *did something* that felt totally unexpected, and what might it show about who that person is?
AND for anyone who missed the slam bang event with all the Reds talking about our new books courtesy of The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, here's the link:
https://www.facebook.com/thepoisonedpenbookstore/videos/722735695244513/
Once, in a toy store, I saw a child pick up a stuffed animal; her mom grabbed it out of her hand, threw it back onto the shelf, and dragged the now-crying little girl away. Children pick up things, especially in toy stores; I thought that was an awful lot of anger from the mom . . . .
ReplyDeleteAt the time, it just made me sad for the little girl; now, I wonder if perhaps the mom was upset that she couldn’t afford to buy the toy for the little girl?
And now I’m wondering just what’s happening with your woman crying over flickering lights . . . .
That is so sad... yes, children pick up toys. That's why toystores put their toys at kid-level. But we've all been at that point where the slightest most innocent thing can trigger... rage.
DeleteThe three story brownstone, the flickering lights, a woman falling to her knees! Hallie, I need more!
ReplyDeleteI had so been looking forward to the Jungle Reds’ big event on Saturday, but my heart belonged to my almost eleven-year-old granddaughter whose birthday the grandparents celebrated early on that afternoon. I plan on watching the video this week.
Granddaughter's birthday trumps all. Pardon the verb.
DeleteHallie, I would write the character apologizing to the pole. LOL. I am awake so I can catch the 10 am talk at the Edinburgh Book festival their time.
ReplyDeletePeople have surprised me. Too many to recount.
Diana
Anyone else watching the Edinburgh Book festival?
Deletewriting...sigh...
DeleteHallie, this is the first time I attended the Edinburgh International Book Festival, thanks to virtual events!
DeleteLucy, you can watch them anytime. I think that many events are prerecorded.
First things first. How does an untrained writer find one of your online classes? As in Grandma Moses started painting at 81.
ReplyDeleteA person of interest replied to my statement "and there is a Prince out there for you, with the counter "Doesn't have to be a Prince" leaving me to hope she didn't have a thing for frogs.
Thanks for the writer's thought problem. She is weeping because a. ghosts b. the handsome electrician just stepped in a puddle of water c. the sorcery/alchemist next door neighbor is playing with frogs. Again.
Tropical Storm Marco passed us by Good Luck Mississippi, and here comes Laura! wish us well.
First thing: easy peasy. For schedule of classes, go to my events page hallieephron.com/events
DeleteYou can start writing whenEVER the spirit moves you. And I love your answers to the thought problem. A nimble mind is the first requirement for a writer... and to be able to imagine the unexpected is a big plus.
And after Laura... the asteroid. :-p
This is clearly a topic the Universe is telling me I need to pay attention to. I signed up for MasterClass and was watching Margaret Atwood's classes this weekend. She offered some fascinating alternate story possibilities using Little Red Riding Hood as an example. It really got me thinking. Now you, Hallie, and your man walking into a pole. Must ponder this...
ReplyDeleteThe JRW event with Poisoned Pen was wonderful! Thank you for one of the best evenings I've had in a while!
This spring my little great-goddaughter (age 2 1/2) in her red cape went galloping around her yard re-enacting Little Red Riding Hood, but it definitely wasn't the original story and had lots of variations Anything's possible.
DeleteCracking up. When my grandkids visited a few weeks go little Jody (4 years old) told us the ENTIRE story of the three bears. Had us in stitches.
Deletethanks Annette, we had a blast!
DeleteAw, such sweet memories. My own children loved putting on little plays, dressing up and pretending all kinds of wildly imaginative things. I so miss those times.
DeleteAll those alternatives! I walked into a pole once as I was stunned after a full day taking SAT tests. I was talking with Jill and Bob, my two best friends, and didn't even see the pole. Can't remember what I did except I know I didn't punch it. Knowing us, we three probably collapsed laughing.
ReplyDeleteAfter my bullheaded Irish grandfather died - a man who had taken offense at something mild my mother had just said to him just before my birth and cut off all communication with her and my family, a man who hadn't spoken to any of us in fifty years - I was informed he had left my siblings and I each a few thousand dollars. Go figure.
Hallie, I so loved that memorable eals post you did here a few weeks ago (Frogs legs, artichokes, and buffalo milk… memorables on the menu) that I have of my own one up today at the Wicked Authors, outlining some of my life's memorable meals and foods enjoyed around the world.
First thing: it has to HURT to walk into a pole.
DeleteGoing to the WICKEDS to check out your food blog. Roasted goat! Escargot! Yum.
and here's the link for the Wicked's and Edith's blog on memorable meals https://wickedauthors.com/2020/08/24/memorable-meals/
DeleteOh, Edith, your SAT experience! After the LSAT I almost walked into a draw bridge in the upright position. It seemed to take a very long time to figure out why the sidewalk and the street were going straight up! :-)
DeleteI once lived in a small cottage in a very ritzy area with a grocery store that catered to the ritzy folk. I saw lots of expensively dressed, made-up women exit big cars and impatiently push their way through the store. Then one day I saw one of said women in a fur coat pushing her cart slowly through the store. With her was an older woman. Fur coat lady gently guided her cart and her mother (I'm thinking)up and down the aisles, deferring to the older woman as she placed things in the cart. Same at the check-out counter--no impatient thrusting a card at the clerk. A slow-motion revelation of character, so touching I've never forgotten.
ReplyDeleteHallie, what are you teaching and where?
Love that duo. Defies expectation.
DeleteMy teaching gigs are on my web site - I keep the list updated. hallieephron.com/events
Having said that I've got three or four new ones that are pending posting, pending final plans.
What a great story. So NY! So, what was he reading? The Post, The Times, or the Daily News. I would have apologized to the pole, my characters? Hum, not sure, it would depend on which one. The small details tell so much.
ReplyDeleteWHAT WAS HE READING!! So key. Yes indeedy. Not only what paper but what article was so compelling that he didn't see where he was going. The personal ads? The help wanted ads? That page in the paper where they publicize settled court cases? The obituaries? ...
Deletebrilliant question!
DeleteKait, a vital detail, which would most definitely have had an impact on his reaction!
DeleteLooking forward to your book, as always! I've never walked into a pole or if I did I don't remember it, but as an older student in graduate school I wasn't paying the best attention when I pushed the door to the stairway. Except I pushed the wrong door - it was the men's room. just as my professor was coming out!
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! Talk about bad timing. This reminds me of a male friend, a very distinguished, reserved, polite Persian (he left before regime change) who I worked with ... he hurried to teh bathroom during a meeting break and only realized he was in the Ladies' room when he heard female voices after he was already in the stall. He... raised his feet. And waited 'til the coast was clear to exit.
DeletePeople surprise me all the time - in good and bad ways. It's the nature of people.
ReplyDeleteHallie, I must tell you my stepmom has become a huge fan of yours. I hooked her with THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN and now she wants more. :)
And I definitely need to know more about the woman in the brownstone.
HUGS to your stepmom!
DeleteOoh, deliciously teasing, Hallie. Apparently, I'm not at my most imaginative this morning because I can't come up with a single reason for the smile. Oh, wait. She's testing the special effects for her upcoming Halloween party. She's so relieved that it finally works that she cries for the emotional release.
ReplyDeleteI can relate.
When I was a geeky kid in high school I often read while walking from from school or whatever I was doing in town. It was about a mile, but I had to cross many streets along the way, and can still remember lots of honking horns. As to the many poles I've walked into, I can say for sure I've never punched any of them.
A wife cutting up her husband's meat in a restaurant because one of his wrists was in a velcro splint.
ReplyDeleteMy story is similar to Joan's. In a Walmart I saw an enraged woman grab her daughter by the hair and scream at her. I wanted to help but had no idea what to say or do. I'm such a coward that I didn't want that rage directed at me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my Mom-in-law about this later she suggested asking the parent "Do you need help? Is everything okay?" This is supposed to distract the parent and make them aware of what they are doing to their kid. I haven't had the chance to try it but next time I'll be ready.
The image of that woman pulling her daughter's hair while screaming; the girl's face red from crying or pain and the look of terror in her eyes is something I'll never forget. I often wonder what triggered the situation and if the girl and her younger sibling are okay. (Younger sibling was not involved in the event.)
I was just describing the writers mind to the Guest Son yesterday, and I told him you know you're a writer if you're constantly making up stories in your head about anything and everything you see. There was one lovely old house on the way to my kids' school that gradually got more and more neglected and Gray Gardens-esque. I had a whole family saga in my head about that house!
ReplyDeleteThe light flickers. And flickers. But doesn't go out. That stairwell is still in between opting for light or dark. Maybe she is in the same boat and is relieved that no decision has been made yet.
ReplyDeleteHallie, that is such a great tease!! My first thought is that the woman's husband has recently died. They didn't believe in ghosts, but had joked that if either of them died, the one who had "passed on" would make the lights flicker three times, to let the other know they were still with them. So the widow is overcome with joy because she thinks her dead husband has communicated with her.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I can't to find out what the real story is!
Sometimes when I write myself into a box, I have to shake myself up and think "it's my story, I can change things." So many possibilities!
Oh, Hallie, I must know who she is and what is happening. Has she locked herself out? Is she trying to sneak in? Is she crying because she's about to be discovered? So many possibilities. Also, I can't believe that guy punched the pole. People are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteSO great, Hallie! Is it a suspense, or a women's fiction??
ReplyDelete