Post #189 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompts and Life Prompts – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
Hawaii, Palm Trees, and a Birthday
Today, we’re celebrating Kendra’s birthday.
ALOHA AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KENDRA!
Kendra has some favorite birthday stories that she’s told me over the years. You probably have a few of your own favorite memories. Maybe the memory is from one of your celebrations. Maybe the strongest memory is a birthday you celebrated with your best friend or with a family member.
Think about one of those stories right now, get out a piece of paper or switch to your word processing software and make a note or two to remind you how you usually tell it.
A (Brief) Digression
I’d like to digress for a moment and you’ll see why.
I’m celebrating Kendra’s birthday in Hawaii and Kendra’s celebrating in Maine. We’re 5172 miles apart and have a six hour difference. I don’t know the view on her nearby coast, but this is a photo of palm trees from my walk today.
The eye focuses on the tall coconut palm trunks. There are many vertical lines in the photo. The eye goes up and down. To show this angle, the camera was in portrait mode. It might not be the most typical photo. After all, I didn’t include the ocean in the background. But it shows lots of coconut palm trunks and that’s what I usually see when out walking. Later on in my walk, I sat down on a public chaise lounge to study the ocean. Deciding there was enough time for a little relaxation, I put the back rest down and stretched out. Then I looked up and saw a different view of the palms. The trees were the same, but different.
Here’s the second view. Now the focus is on the coconut palm fronds. Sure the trunks are still there, but they are no longer the where the eye goes.
While studying this view, I recalled a movie I once saw. It opened with a small child under the table. The adults are talking but we see the scene from the child’s angle — just the shoes of the people in the room. A different angle can be physical, but it can also be mental.
Now Back to Birthday Stories …and Today’s Writing Prompt
For today’s writing prompt, I’d like you to take that favorite birthday story, the one you have told and retold. Instead of telling it the way you usually do, take a different angle. Here are three suggestions. Let these be starting points. You can come up with your own.
1. Take the perspective of another person in the story and tell it that way. Remove yourself from the story except how the other person might mention you.
2. Tell the story but begin with the day before or the day after the celebration. Was there a big build-up? Was there satisfaction or a let-down?
3. Do you usually tell the story in narrative? Instead, tell it entirely in dialogue.
And 4. Your unique new angle on that favorite birthday story. Hold the story in your mind. Turn it this way and that way. Then settle in and write for ten minutes. A new angle will give you fresh details.
