Tagore song: Klanti amaar khauma koro

Writing 101, Day fourteen: Recreate a single day

How will you use twenty-four hours as your story’s canvas?

Start in the middle of the action, then zigzag through time,from the moment you woke up to the last thing that happened before you retired for the night.

Structure your story as a play-by-play( or hour by hour) account, complete with precise  time markers.

Zoom in even further, limiting yourself to just one hour of your chosen day.

Ignore these instructions and reveal one day’s significance indirectly, through focusing on its aftermath.

Assignment : Recreating a single day

November eighteenth Wednesday,Writing 101, Day 13: Play with word count

The day was yesterday, our assignment was to try to write a 50-word story or a 100-word story. I read a few samples of 100-word story and felt it was doable .

What could I write in hundred words was the question I asked myself. I read a true story of a mother about her son.

Did I have a true story to tell in just hundred words?

Instantly my father’s face popped up in my mind, I started writing, when I completed it, the trauma of that day’s event refreshed my mind. I thought of my siblings, my mother, how devastated we were that day.

I tried to brush it off and thought the only way was to go to the bus stop and take route 2 to go to the mall. After twenty -five minutes there was a sign of route number two heading my way. I was anxious to get on the bus, it was cold, windy and I was uncomfortable; in my haste to get out of the house; I chose the wrong jacket, it had no hood, I wore a cap and put on a scarf, which I did not wear properly to avoid the wind hitting my face and neck.

I had a few errands to run, it took less than fifteen minutes. I was not in a mood to spend anymore time in the mall, I took the bus and came home.

At home the memory of my father disturbed me. I tried to watch TV, realized soon enough, this piece of equipment occupying space in my room was not worth a dime. It was unable to make me happy. The weatherman was predicting snow, high winds and treacherous road conditions. I was safe in the house but my mind was preoccupied with the thought of my father and the rest of the family.

I remember waking up at 5 AM, finished my prayer, and was happy I’d have a lot of time to do a number of things. Two hours later I was writing a hundred -word true story. The memory of that day echoed in my mind all day.

At nine PM I sat down to watch, “Jeopardy” my favorite player Matt Jackson was competing in the tournament of champions; at first he was slow in responding; then he whizzed through and made it to the finals. I was thrilled my evening turned out better than I hoped.

I went to bed happy, woke up this morning feeling good because I didn’t have nightmares!

……………………………. 🙂