Week Eight Writing

EXERCISE: Think of a situation in which there is a clear initial disparity of power (e.g. older man/ younger woman) and explore how power can shift between the two protagonists. The way to ensure that the dialogue has energy and purpose is to think about what they want from each other, and to make it their mission in the dialogue to try to get it. You can further complicate this by making the characters only half-aware of what they want, or not at all aware. Think how varying degrees of self-knowledge may change our sympathy towards characters. Are they less to blame if they're not fully aware of what they're doing? You can see that this opens up all kinds of questions and opportunities. Experiment with extending this dialogue into a virtual environment. If you like, you can show one of the characters talking about the other person in a way that reveals a different quality to their voice and way of talk to another person.

(My initial thought with this exercise was this: Does a disparity of power always have to be in favour of the man? The story we read to inform this exercise had the power batting between the two characters depending upon the situation they’re in, and this idea is appealing, but I didn’t want to directly repeat it. Nor did I want to depict a stereotypically dominant man and submissive woman. Turning the brief on its head slightly, I chose to use minimal dialogue and allow that to explain the character’s personalities. I figured it would be more of a challenge for me as someone who tends to rely upon dialogue to use less dialogue but make the bits which are used more significant.)

A ricochet of whispers passed through the crowd like a Mexican wave as Elle stepped into the taproom that night. Smiling to herself, she strode confidently over to the bar, resting herself against it in a way which she knew would accentuate the curves of her body and attract attention. And now all she had to do was wait.

Elle had a power over people, particularly men, and she knew it; she wielded it at will, enjoying watching them squirm. Glancing across the room with a deceptively lazy gaze, she scouted the crowd with a hungry, surveying eye, searching for her next prey.

What she wanted of the evening she hadn’t decided yet. Usually, she found it easier to ascertain her victim before she decided what games she would play with him. Until she could see the look in his eyes, she couldn’t know what he wanted from her, although she’d never had someone say no yet.

Would it end at a conversation over a drink? Or would she try him out for a kiss? Or perhaps something more than a kiss? That all depended upon how good a game player he was.

Her radar locked onto a man inconspicuously sat in the corner, who’s eyes had not drifted from her from the moment she walked into the room. His dark eyes were wild and hungry.

She swiftly appraised him; the half-drunk pint beside his hand was the only one upon the table, signifying he was alone. His grey-green eyes swept over every inch of her body,

making her feel almost naked before him, which sent a thrill up Elle’s spine.

Yes, she thought. He’ll do nicely.

There was no need for Elle to move closer to this handsome stranger. Making direct eye contact, she wet her lips slowly and seductively, luring him from his seat and across the bar until he stood beside her. As he got closer, she physically felt the atmosphere he gave off; all masculinity, darkness and danger. Instantly, Elle knew he wasn’t like other men she had come into contact with. No, he was vastly more complicated. He would be a little more difficult to decipher.

“Hi, I’m Elle.” She purred, a seductive smile tugging at her lips. Her voice barely rose above a whisper, knowing that a low voice was the best way to draw someone closer to her.

“Jack. What’s yours?” He asked, gesturing to his pint glass. A man of few words, Elle remarked, and with the kind of deep and gravelly voice that could make a girl’s toes curl.

Elle smiled her deadly smile again; this would definitely be fun.

At the end of the evening, Elle turned to Jack. This was usually the point that she would kiss her target and see whether he was worth the effort of proceeding.

Elle began to lay on her usual moves; glancing down at Jack’s mouth as she bit her lip before taking a step forward that would press her small body up against his chest. “So…” she began.

But as she took her step forward, Jack took a step back, turned around and began to walk away.

“Hey!” She called, a hint of disbelief and outrage creeping into her usually measured, sweet tone. “Where are you going?” How could he just walk away?

Jack turned slightly, casting his voice over his shoulder. “My place.”

Elle was rendered speechless with fury. This was unbelievable; no man had ever been able to resist her.

“You can come too.” He paused, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “If you’d like.”

For a moment, Elle couldn’t believe what she’d heard. This was not what usually happened.

Jack took a step towards Elle, a dark smile spreading across his face as an element of mockery crept into his features. “If you dare.”

Well that was a challenge, and there was no way Elle was going to refuse a challenge. And besides, when he looked at her like that, she felt a rush of heat flood through her skin. She smiled at him, the playful glint reappearing in her eyes, and he knew her answer without her voicing it. Offering her his arm, Elle quickly caught up to him and tucked her arm under his, before they both strode off into the cold, dark night.

The street they walked down towards his apartment was quiet, but Elle hardly noticed. Her heart was still fluttering in her chest and she was excited of what lay ahead with this intriguingly dominant man. It was clear that Jack knew exactly what he wanted, and wasn’t afraid to ask for it, which Elle found undeniably sexy. For the first time, she didn’t have to lead, and that was surprisingly freeing.

Swiftly breaking her away from her thoughts, Jack took hold of Elle’s arm and used it to push her up against a wall. His lips were on hers in an instant, and Elle was taken aback by the head rush that overtook her. No first kiss had ever confounded her so much; it was so good that it took her a few moments before she could even wrap her arms around him and kiss him back.

They broke apart, Jack’s strong hands pressed on the wall either side of Elle’s head. The look in his eyes was a mixture of satisfaction, as Elle was holding a hand to her chest in an effort to stop her heart from pounding, and lust. For the first time, Elle felt like a delicate female. She was no longer the predator; with Jack she was the prey.

“My place?” He asked.

Elle nodded, at a loss for words. But she smiled; for the first time, she didn’t mind being speechless.

Automatic writing from the seminar: What did you mean when you said that?

(I struggled with this brief to begin with; I couldn’t really think of where to start, and so I think I missed the initial brief a little.)

I don’t know what I meant. Why on earth would I just blurt it out like that?

‘Is it true?’ He asks.

I pause for a second before nodding my head. ‘I suppose there’s no harm in admitting it now.’

It feels for a moment as if the whole world has frozen in that single moment. I can’t breathe. I can’t speak.

My mind fills with a thousand different ways he could react to that admission. He could say he doesn’t return the feeling. That would be awful.

Or he could laugh. That would be worse.

Or he could say nothing… That would be the worst.

What feels like hours but can only be seconds passes as he stares at me. I can’t read the expression in his beautiful eyes. He’s usually so easy to read, usually so light-hearted and happy. But he seems too serious here. It’s not like Mark. No, my Mark has floated away.

Snatched away by the declaration of love.

My heart starts to hammer in my chest as he begins to smile. Could it be? Could I be so lucky as to have that one in a million chance that he felt the same way?

Homework:

1. Think of two distinctly different people you know well – you can hear their voices in your head, how they speak, their speech patterns. Give them false names, change their ages and appearance, put them in a different location.

2. Attach to each character an emotional space, different from each other – eg one happy, one sad, one passive, one aggressive etc. These don’t necessarily have to be the way your character always is.

3. Bring them together in a limited place, eg a car, and decide not what they are saying to each other, but what they are doing to each other. Is one trying to convince the other? Is one trying to seduce the other in some way? Humiliate them? Prove their superiority? Recruit them? Push them away?

4. Choose a subject matter that is banal – eg the price of milk, the weather, while in fact something much bigger is going on in the background – climate change, divorce, lost job, pregnancy, failed exams, got a disease.

5. Write a piece of dialogue that talks only about the banal subject matter and avoids the bigger context, but at the same time both reflects the differing emotional spaces that the two characters occupy, and also reveals the characters’ underlying motivation – what the characters are doing to each other.

6. What the characters are doing to each other and what they are saying becomes different, but connected, and your reader’s pleasure is in working out the difference.

“It’s so nice to be out with the family again now that this lockdown is over.” Maria smiled, looking out of the window with her travel mug of coffee warming her cold fingers.

Elliot scoffed. “I feel as if we’ve done nothing but see your family since we moved here.”

“That’s hardly fair.” Maria turned away from the window to look at him across the car console. “Your parents live over two hours away and mine live right down the road.”

“Which was your decision, I’ll remind you.”

“You agreed, I’ll remind you.”

“I didn’t have much choice in the matter.”

Maria shook her head with a sigh. “I’m not having this argument with you again.”

A pause ensued where Maria allowed her spirits to lift again, watching her sister’s children play by the riverbank.

“I’m so happy that Luke and Sarah play together so well. I hope they’ll stay close as they grow up.”

“They’ll be lucky.” Elliot muttered to himself.

Maria continued, either not hearing his words or choosing to ignore them. “They’ve got a bigger age gap than I had with Lisa, so maybe they’ll be more in step with each other. You

know, not that level of competition between them?”

“Well not everyone feels the need to constantly compete with their siblings.”

“Hardly for you to say; all you do is compete with Matt.” Maria remarked, meaning the comment to be playful.

“He’s my younger brother and he got married before I did; of course I’m competing.” Elliot scowled.

“And they’re going to have a baby before us.” Maria said quietly, looking suddenly sad.

Elliot ignored her and avoided the subject. “What’s your excuse with Lisa?”

“That she can be a raving bitch when she wants to be and spends most of her time rubbing everything in my face? Including her two beautiful children.”

“Can’t we have one conversation that doesn’t revert back to this?” Elliot’s voice was angry, so Maria fell silent and looked out of the window again.

“Look at those two.” Maria said after a bit, pointing at the couple walking arm in arm. “They look so cute together.”

“I’m glad Jane’s happy.” Elliot smiled for the first time since they’d pulled up.

“I can’t believe she’s engaged. She’s always been the baby of the family and now she’s engaged.”

“Time flies.” Maria’s choice of words didn’t escape Elliot’s notice.

“I’ve watched that kid grow up and now she’s an adult, starting a life of her own. It’s unbelievable really.” There was more than a hint of nostalgia in Maria’s voice.

“Tom’s a good lad.” Elliot commented. “If anyone deserves her, as her self-appointed older brother, I’d say he does.”

Maria smiled at him. “I still remember when they first got together. I knew he was different to the other boys from the first moment; she spoke about him like he was her Prince Charming, even after they’d only been seeing each other for about two weeks.”

“Sometimes it just fits like that.” Elliot took Maria’s hand in his across the console, a look of love crossing his eyes. “That’s how I felt when I met you. I knew I’d never find anyone else I could ever love as much as I love you.”

“Soon they’ll be getting married.” Maria added wistfully, appearing not to hear him. “Then they’ll have kids…” she trailed off.

“Maria.” Elliot said, a warning element in his voice as he pulled his hand away.

“What?” Maria turned to him, pain streaking through her expression. “I’m not allowed to even talk about kids anymore?”

“What’s the point? We’re both well aware of the situation.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier.” She glared at him.

They fell silent again and Maria scowled out of the window.

“Look,” she said after a long pause “it’s starting to rain.”