ACTUALLY WRITING: Challenge #2, BEARS, and Goodreads
Challenge #2:
Think of the worst job you could ever have. Specifically you could have. Not just garbage man or waste treatment facility, but something you would be horribly suited for and would find utterly distasteful based on your own aesthetics.
Something outside the box.
Now write 200 to 400 words about the character who loves that job.
I'm not quite sure I did it justice (especially compared to the Divine Ms M's take on it), but hey, I WROTE IT.
Gary, the guy who sat in the cubicle across from hers, hated his job.
He hated the typing, the filing, the endless whirl of paperwork that
passed from hand to hand to filing cabinet. Paperwork that was doomed
to sit there and molder until a higher-up needed it at a moments
notice, and he had to be the one to find it and start the cycle over
again.
Anna, it must be said, did not understand Gary. Anna found the
repetition soothing. Anna loved the routine: pick up, enter
information, date stamp, and file. It was easy. Gary complained, said
he felt like a mindless drone, but Anna smiled at him, and filed her
thousandth paper of the day.
She left her desk four times every day - two bathroom breaks, a lunch
break, and a trip to the coffee and fax machines. Her desk was
uncluttered and clean - she didn't like the mess that came with papers
and papers and papers, so she stayed up to the minute on her filing.
Sometimes there was a hitch in her routine, and she took papers up to
the Vice President's office, or slipped downstairs to speak to the
people in charge of the archives. She didn't mind that either; the VP
could be short with others, but he was distantly polite to Anna, and
the archives personal had been there long enough that they had seen
hundreds of people come and go, and knew a kindred spirit in Anna.
Gary would never last. Like Becca and Steve and Adam hadn't lasted.
Whoever came next probably wouldn't last either; it took someone like
Anna - someone who barely noticed the papercuts, who thrived on
alphabetical order, someone who enjoyed making order from the chaos
that occurred when thousands of yellow carbon copies were involved.
Anna wished Gary a good night before she went home every day, her
purse hung neatly over her shoulder and her hands freshly scrubbed
free of ink smudges. She hoped he would find something he enjoyed
doing soon.
I can remember when I could sit down and bang out a thousand words without blinking, and now it's a struggle to get past 200. *sigh*
In Yuletide news:
THERE ARE NO BEARS. HA. I started it - it looks like it will be plotless, because I rarely actually write plot - just character stuff, but I have started it, and I like what I have, and while I still need to review canon to make sure I have a solid grasp on dude, I feel like it might work out just fine.
...that might change by the weekend, but hey, at the moment, there are no bears. None.
Goodreads: So, yesterday while I was avoiding my challenge and my yuletide, I finally got around to joining Goodreads, and in a sweeping moment (read: HOURS) of great life choices, rated over 500 books. Because I have emotional problems. Regardless, friend me if you like: ALIA READS ANYTHING NOT NAILED DOWN (IF I CAN PRY IT UP, IT'S NOT NAILED DOWN)
Posted at dreamwidth and lj. Comment somewhere!
Think of the worst job you could ever have. Specifically you could have. Not just garbage man or waste treatment facility, but something you would be horribly suited for and would find utterly distasteful based on your own aesthetics.
Something outside the box.
Now write 200 to 400 words about the character who loves that job.
I'm not quite sure I did it justice (especially compared to the Divine Ms M's take on it), but hey, I WROTE IT.
Gary, the guy who sat in the cubicle across from hers, hated his job.
He hated the typing, the filing, the endless whirl of paperwork that
passed from hand to hand to filing cabinet. Paperwork that was doomed
to sit there and molder until a higher-up needed it at a moments
notice, and he had to be the one to find it and start the cycle over
again.
Anna, it must be said, did not understand Gary. Anna found the
repetition soothing. Anna loved the routine: pick up, enter
information, date stamp, and file. It was easy. Gary complained, said
he felt like a mindless drone, but Anna smiled at him, and filed her
thousandth paper of the day.
She left her desk four times every day - two bathroom breaks, a lunch
break, and a trip to the coffee and fax machines. Her desk was
uncluttered and clean - she didn't like the mess that came with papers
and papers and papers, so she stayed up to the minute on her filing.
Sometimes there was a hitch in her routine, and she took papers up to
the Vice President's office, or slipped downstairs to speak to the
people in charge of the archives. She didn't mind that either; the VP
could be short with others, but he was distantly polite to Anna, and
the archives personal had been there long enough that they had seen
hundreds of people come and go, and knew a kindred spirit in Anna.
Gary would never last. Like Becca and Steve and Adam hadn't lasted.
Whoever came next probably wouldn't last either; it took someone like
Anna - someone who barely noticed the papercuts, who thrived on
alphabetical order, someone who enjoyed making order from the chaos
that occurred when thousands of yellow carbon copies were involved.
Anna wished Gary a good night before she went home every day, her
purse hung neatly over her shoulder and her hands freshly scrubbed
free of ink smudges. She hoped he would find something he enjoyed
doing soon.
I can remember when I could sit down and bang out a thousand words without blinking, and now it's a struggle to get past 200. *sigh*
In Yuletide news:
THERE ARE NO BEARS. HA. I started it - it looks like it will be plotless, because I rarely actually write plot - just character stuff, but I have started it, and I like what I have, and while I still need to review canon to make sure I have a solid grasp on dude, I feel like it might work out just fine.
...that might change by the weekend, but hey, at the moment, there are no bears. None.
Goodreads: So, yesterday while I was avoiding my challenge and my yuletide, I finally got around to joining Goodreads, and in a sweeping moment (read: HOURS) of great life choices, rated over 500 books. Because I have emotional problems. Regardless, friend me if you like: ALIA READS ANYTHING NOT NAILED DOWN (IF I CAN PRY IT UP, IT'S NOT NAILED DOWN)
Posted at dreamwidth and lj. Comment somewhere!