Yoshimitsu
Former Moderator
So it's kind of a writing challenge? Kind of? Basically, in uni, we were given the task of writing a piece of prose or narrative based around things that did not occur. These things could be things like "The sky wasn't clear", "it wasn't raining", "she didn't wear a yellow dress" and so on.
I wrote one recently that's ending up not being used but I thought I'd share it and then open it up for a writing challenge thing? Write a narrative (doesn't have to be long) or a prose based around things that didn't happen.
Obviously feedback and stuff would be appreciated, but this is more a way of getting all you budding young writers to think.
Anyway, here's the piece I wrote:
He wasn’t special. He wasn’t above average in any way, with no talents or skills to speak of. No one saw him, acknowledged him. It wasn’t even like he didn’t try. He didn’t do anything at less than a hundred per cent, but he still wasn’t noticed. Wasn’t cared about. When he woke up that morning, he didn’t have a clear head. He wasn’t thinking straight. There was no drama or theatrics, no fuss, nothing extravagant. He wouldn’t inconvenience anyone. He was never that sort of person. Now, he never would be that sort of person. He would never have the chance.
Still, he wouldn’t leave people guessing. He was no fewer than twelve stories high. He didn’t have a direct cause that brought him here. There was no single element that brought him to this decision. He was never drawing attention, never outspoken or divisive, never causing any fuss or making any promises that couldn’t be kept. In all of his memory, he had never had the spotlight, never seen or actively thought about. Even now, he wasn’t thinking about himself as he spoke into his phone. He wouldn’t go into details. He wouldn’t mention how ignored he was, how he was never noticed. He wouldn’t elaborate on how he had never seen a healthy relationship. He didn’t comment on how the only normality he had ever seen was when his parents took the time out of their busy argument schedule to even look at him. He couldn’t say how the constant pushing to better himself did not help. He didn’t improve. He didn’t feel anything other than stress and anxiety.
He was never in a real, loving relationship. No real experience of loving relationships as a child leads to an inability to build them. Even when someone was stupid enough to invest emotionally in him, he could do nothing but ruin it. And it’s never as simple as that, either. He couldn’t ignore the whispers from his friends, his work ‘colleague’ who started the rumours, the sly remarks about information he had trusted one person to keep. He couldn’t stand to be there anymore.
So this was it. He didn’t even know why he was recording the message any more. For all his life, he hadn’t known anyone to care about whether he had thoughts or feelings, or whether he even existed. No one ever assumed anything other than that “he’d be fine”. People would know now that he wasn’t.
He wasn’t scared as he stepped over the edge.
I wrote one recently that's ending up not being used but I thought I'd share it and then open it up for a writing challenge thing? Write a narrative (doesn't have to be long) or a prose based around things that didn't happen.
Obviously feedback and stuff would be appreciated, but this is more a way of getting all you budding young writers to think.
Anyway, here's the piece I wrote:
He wasn’t special. He wasn’t above average in any way, with no talents or skills to speak of. No one saw him, acknowledged him. It wasn’t even like he didn’t try. He didn’t do anything at less than a hundred per cent, but he still wasn’t noticed. Wasn’t cared about. When he woke up that morning, he didn’t have a clear head. He wasn’t thinking straight. There was no drama or theatrics, no fuss, nothing extravagant. He wouldn’t inconvenience anyone. He was never that sort of person. Now, he never would be that sort of person. He would never have the chance.
Still, he wouldn’t leave people guessing. He was no fewer than twelve stories high. He didn’t have a direct cause that brought him here. There was no single element that brought him to this decision. He was never drawing attention, never outspoken or divisive, never causing any fuss or making any promises that couldn’t be kept. In all of his memory, he had never had the spotlight, never seen or actively thought about. Even now, he wasn’t thinking about himself as he spoke into his phone. He wouldn’t go into details. He wouldn’t mention how ignored he was, how he was never noticed. He wouldn’t elaborate on how he had never seen a healthy relationship. He didn’t comment on how the only normality he had ever seen was when his parents took the time out of their busy argument schedule to even look at him. He couldn’t say how the constant pushing to better himself did not help. He didn’t improve. He didn’t feel anything other than stress and anxiety.
He was never in a real, loving relationship. No real experience of loving relationships as a child leads to an inability to build them. Even when someone was stupid enough to invest emotionally in him, he could do nothing but ruin it. And it’s never as simple as that, either. He couldn’t ignore the whispers from his friends, his work ‘colleague’ who started the rumours, the sly remarks about information he had trusted one person to keep. He couldn’t stand to be there anymore.
So this was it. He didn’t even know why he was recording the message any more. For all his life, he hadn’t known anyone to care about whether he had thoughts or feelings, or whether he even existed. No one ever assumed anything other than that “he’d be fine”. People would know now that he wasn’t.
He wasn’t scared as he stepped over the edge.