Happy Friday the 13th! Despite its reputation, I’ve always loved Friday the 13th. Or perhaps it’s because of its reputation? I really don’t know. All that I do know is that I love Friday and thirteen is one of my lucky numbers, and so Friday the 13th is usually a good day for me. (The jury is still out on today considering my dog didn’t let me sleep much.) A lot of people, however, seem to consider Friday the 13th as unlucky, and it’s that reputation I want to focus on for this writing prompt.
I could go into the history of how Friday the 13th became an “unlucky” day, but that would take too long. (You should look it up, though. It involves greed, a corrupt government, and the Knights Templar. You couldn’t make this stuff up.) Instead, let’s jump to the good stuff: a perfectly unlucky day.
What’s a “perfectly unlucky day”? It’s a day when nothing can seem to go right. From the time you wake up until the time you go to bed, everything seems to blow up in your face and, by the end, you just want the world to go away. We’ve all had that sort of day. Maybe it’s not as drastically bad as in the movie Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but it’s still the worst day you’ve ever had. This is the kind of situation I want you to throw your characters into.
Image retrieved from Amazon
As usual, the prompt is pretty straightforward: write a story in which one of the main characters in your WIP experiences their worst day ever. The story can be a part of the character’s everyday life or a major plot point in your WIP, depending on how evil you’re feeling. All that matters is that nothing goes right for them that day.
However, don’t make the bad day illogical or implausible for your character, either. With very good and very bad luck in stories, it’s easy to rely upon coincidences. For this prompt, I want you to avoid coincidences as much as possible.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say part of your character’s very bad day is catching their partner, who works in the same office as them, having an affair with a coworker. You will want to avoid a set-up such as your character runs out of staples, goes to the office supply closet to get more, and just so happens to catch their partner making out with a coworker. Instead, have them notice that their partner and the coworker seem to have been flirty for a while. Then, because they are in a bad mood from having a bad day anyway, your character becomes paranoid and decides to follow them during lunch. During this stalking, your character finds them sharing a kiss in the stairwell, and their suspicions are confirmed.
I suggest that, before actually writing the story, you create an outline of the unlucky events that will happen to your character. Obviously, this outline will just be a guideline, but it’s good to go into this with half an idea of what you want to write. It’s easier to avoid coincidences that way.
This exercise is meant to test your character’s limits. What will they do under the pressure of a bad day? Will a normally calm character have a meltdown? Will a nervous nellie be oddly prepared and step up to the challenge? Take this opportunity to really explore your character’s personality. After all, a person’s true personality shines in the worst of times, not the best.
How did this prompt go for you? Did you learn something about your character that you hadn’t thought about before? What sort of torment did you put them through? Leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!
Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011