Myshuno! Prompt: Chapter 13 (377 words)
The prompt for this story was “Chapter 13,” submitted by rosefyre. This story fits into Already in Progress a chapter or two ahead of Chapter 43. This short is set in the future, and so could be considered to be spoilery, but is probably mostly just confusing as all get-out. Read at your own risk.
Contains one swear word, repeated twice.
Dramatis Personae
Sally Couderc, TV screenwriter with maxed Creativity.
Troy Langerak, her husband.
Setting
Sally’s writing room. Sally has been working on a Goldberg & Silent Lady novel, and is completely stuck on Chapter 13. See? I used the prompt!
SALLY: Aaaaaaugh! (shoves her chair away from the computer, frustrated)
TROY: What’s wrong?
SALLY: I can’t do this! I can’t! I can’t write a book! The characters just stand there! I tell them to do something interesting, and they just look at me blankly and go back to standing there!
TROY: But you’ve been writing about these characters for years. How can they just stand there?
SALLY: I’ve been writing about them for TV - it’s completely different.
TROY: How so?
SALLY: For TV, I just have to think in dialog, maybe a few stage directions. I can give a very sketchy set description, or none at all if it’s somewhere the set designers are already familiar with. I don’t have to worry about inner monologue or point of view or person or tense or - (waves hands vaguely) all those little gestures and things people use when they’re talking or communicating non-verbally.
TROY: So how do you write Silent Lady, then? Isn’t she completely non-verbal?
SALLY: Oh, Rowena’s a genius! I just write down what I want her to communicate in square brackets, and she comes up with a way to mime it. (reminiscently) I once wrote her the line “If you don’t remove this monkey from my shoulder immediately, I will personally rearrange your internal organs, you little brat,” just to see if she could do it.
TROY: And could she?
SALLY: Of course. I told you, the woman’s a genius! (getting frustrated again) But look, when I write for the show, I just have to listen to what they’re saying and write it down. Maybe I make a note of any really big gestures. It’s like taking dictation. But this… (tugs at her hair distractedly) Oh, why did I ever say I would write a novel about them?!
TROY: I believe the phrase you used when I asked you that was “They offered me a shit-ton of money.”
SALLY: But we already have a shit-ton of money! What are we going to do with more?
TROY: And that, I believe, is where that charity comes in. The one that provides free surgery to children whose parents can’t afford it.
SALLY: Ohhhhh yeeeeeah. (turns back to the computer) Okay! Let’s do this!
Contains one swear word, repeated twice.
Dramatis Personae
Sally Couderc, TV screenwriter with maxed Creativity.
Troy Langerak, her husband.
Setting
Sally’s writing room. Sally has been working on a Goldberg & Silent Lady novel, and is completely stuck on Chapter 13. See? I used the prompt!
SALLY: Aaaaaaugh! (shoves her chair away from the computer, frustrated)
TROY: What’s wrong?
SALLY: I can’t do this! I can’t! I can’t write a book! The characters just stand there! I tell them to do something interesting, and they just look at me blankly and go back to standing there!
TROY: But you’ve been writing about these characters for years. How can they just stand there?
SALLY: I’ve been writing about them for TV - it’s completely different.
TROY: How so?
SALLY: For TV, I just have to think in dialog, maybe a few stage directions. I can give a very sketchy set description, or none at all if it’s somewhere the set designers are already familiar with. I don’t have to worry about inner monologue or point of view or person or tense or - (waves hands vaguely) all those little gestures and things people use when they’re talking or communicating non-verbally.
TROY: So how do you write Silent Lady, then? Isn’t she completely non-verbal?
SALLY: Oh, Rowena’s a genius! I just write down what I want her to communicate in square brackets, and she comes up with a way to mime it. (reminiscently) I once wrote her the line “If you don’t remove this monkey from my shoulder immediately, I will personally rearrange your internal organs, you little brat,” just to see if she could do it.
TROY: And could she?
SALLY: Of course. I told you, the woman’s a genius! (getting frustrated again) But look, when I write for the show, I just have to listen to what they’re saying and write it down. Maybe I make a note of any really big gestures. It’s like taking dictation. But this… (tugs at her hair distractedly) Oh, why did I ever say I would write a novel about them?!
TROY: I believe the phrase you used when I asked you that was “They offered me a shit-ton of money.”
SALLY: But we already have a shit-ton of money! What are we going to do with more?
TROY: And that, I believe, is where that charity comes in. The one that provides free surgery to children whose parents can’t afford it.
SALLY: Ohhhhh yeeeeeah. (turns back to the computer) Okay! Let’s do this!