Writing exercise: a traumatic event.
Hi everyone, It's been ages I've not written anything here. I've been busy working on my second novel, just to get my mind of my first novel... and I'm thinking about everything I have not put in my first novel. So... this is a welcome exercise to get away from my manuscript.
So for today's post: relating a traumatic event.
About three years ago, I used to work for a gambling company. I'd been doing so for five years or so, had enough experience to be the manager of several branches. I declined that part of the job, because I felt I could be more useful and happier in my current role: a customer service manager. On that particular day though, I wish I had never accepted the shift I volunteered for.
I came in the shop around ten in the morning, the other staff member was already setting everything up. After a nice coffee and the door open, we settled back and had a chat, as a young woman came through the door. We checked her age, we did what we had to on the system. We never even thought that danger was coming.
The young woman asked for help; I left the counter area and went on the shop floor. Barely a minute after I closed the counter door, I heard a loud 'BANG'.
And again.
My heartbeat was going wild as I turned around and faced the end of a gun's barrel.
'Tell her to open the door or you're gone!' the man says. Two men are facing me, a third is at the door, checking the area. Everything goes so fast from that point. My colleague opens the door. I get dragged behind the counter where the men ask about the money.
'Where's the rest of it?'
'That's all we got' my colleague says.
'There's got to be more!'
But there isn't. After another minute, that feels like hours, they leave.
What's the damage? I think.
We ring security and the police.
Damage? A broken door,
a few hundreds gone,
a fear of guns,
an -incroyable- amount of courage to try to cross the street at night,
a dose of madness when looking at kids wearing hoods, or playing toy guns.
That's what is cost. Not much.
So, this is (as you may remember) a five minutes exercise, just to get the energy flowing. I think that I did well in the telling -minus the language problem: 'incroyable' instead of 'incredible' but well.
I'm not sure I would talk about things in a chronological way if I did this exercise again. I think that when relating traumatic events, dialogue is the quickest way to get the trauma across, so if I was working on a 'second draft' for this piece, I'd probably start with the dialogue and see where I go from there.
Any suggestions on what I could do differently? Would you do this exercise? And if you did, what did you come up with?
Even if you don't post anything you've done, remember to reflect, even if it's just for an exercise. Feel free to send your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
Happy writing!
So for today's post: relating a traumatic event.
About three years ago, I used to work for a gambling company. I'd been doing so for five years or so, had enough experience to be the manager of several branches. I declined that part of the job, because I felt I could be more useful and happier in my current role: a customer service manager. On that particular day though, I wish I had never accepted the shift I volunteered for.
I came in the shop around ten in the morning, the other staff member was already setting everything up. After a nice coffee and the door open, we settled back and had a chat, as a young woman came through the door. We checked her age, we did what we had to on the system. We never even thought that danger was coming.
The young woman asked for help; I left the counter area and went on the shop floor. Barely a minute after I closed the counter door, I heard a loud 'BANG'.
And again.
My heartbeat was going wild as I turned around and faced the end of a gun's barrel.
'Tell her to open the door or you're gone!' the man says. Two men are facing me, a third is at the door, checking the area. Everything goes so fast from that point. My colleague opens the door. I get dragged behind the counter where the men ask about the money.
'Where's the rest of it?'
'That's all we got' my colleague says.
'There's got to be more!'
But there isn't. After another minute, that feels like hours, they leave.
What's the damage? I think.
We ring security and the police.
Damage? A broken door,
a few hundreds gone,
a fear of guns,
an -incroyable- amount of courage to try to cross the street at night,
a dose of madness when looking at kids wearing hoods, or playing toy guns.
That's what is cost. Not much.
So, this is (as you may remember) a five minutes exercise, just to get the energy flowing. I think that I did well in the telling -minus the language problem: 'incroyable' instead of 'incredible' but well.
I'm not sure I would talk about things in a chronological way if I did this exercise again. I think that when relating traumatic events, dialogue is the quickest way to get the trauma across, so if I was working on a 'second draft' for this piece, I'd probably start with the dialogue and see where I go from there.
Any suggestions on what I could do differently? Would you do this exercise? And if you did, what did you come up with?
Even if you don't post anything you've done, remember to reflect, even if it's just for an exercise. Feel free to send your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
Happy writing!
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