Wife Appreciation Day

 

Yes, today is Wife Appreciation Day

An interesting story might be in the form of a dramatic monologue where a famous person appreciates a wife or where the wife is the famous person.  Except that the identity isn’t revealed right until the end. You will probably give a few cryptic clues on the way.

Or you could write an article about the wife who has not been appreciated.  Maybe the wife of a famous writer works as an unpaid secretary. What would the life of a composer’s wife be like? Can you invent a life for Mrs Beethoven Mozart or Bach? Or of an artist?

A poem might take the form of an ode.         

Perhaps you could write a script or story about someone who learns to appreciate a wife.  Had they not appreciated her before? What changes? How do they show their appreciation?

You will probably want to spend some time on thinking about the main character here.

·         What are they like physically?

·         Intellectually?

·         Emotionally?

·         What is their personality like?

·         What is their greatest fear?

·         What is their greatest desire?

·         What do they need?

·         What is their main motivation in this story?

Or, if you have a wife, you might write a story just for her. Make it a limited edition – maybe only one copy – and “publish” it in an elegant or pretty box.     

The wrong something or other

 

Your main character walks away from somewhere with the wrong something or other.  Maybe they get off the train and pick up the wrong jacket.  Maybe they take the wrong brief case from the office. Perhaps they pick up the wrong present from the Secret Santa.

What do they find out? What do they lose or gain by their mistake?  Do they rectify it?

Think about your main characters

What do they look like?

How do they think?

What is their personality like?  

What is their greatest desire?

And their greatest fear?

What is making them absent-minded today?

Think about your setting

Give some attention to the time and place.

How will you show time? Is it important for the reader to know what the time is in the story? Time of day? Part of the year?

What about the time the elapses during the story? What is it? Is it important? How will you show it?

Does the place have an impact on the story? Is it almost another character? Can you show it to the reader by writing with your senses?

The shape of the story

Where will you start your story? After the mistake has been made? Or before?

Is the story about how the protagonist resolves the issue? Or is there a deeper issue that also needs resolving? Or do they need to come to terms with something.

Story length

Will this be a piece of flash fiction, a short story, a novella or a novel?