24 December 2014

Wednesday Writing Prompt #4

Yes, even on Christmas Eve. Your mission [should you wish to take it] is to make something Festive from this:

'Do you come here often?'

Okay, stop laughing and concentrate for a minute. Cliches become cliches because of overuse, but that doesn't mean they should be disregarded altogether. They need to be interrogated, and then turned on their heads.

So what have we got:
  • a spoken question - and the single speech marks, just like the double quote marks below, are not a mistake; it's the way we punctuate in the UK. Reverse them if you'd prefer.
  • you - who is "you"? "You" can be a single person or an entire group of people.
  • is the speaker the narrator?
  • why is the question being asked? Clue: because he/she doesn't know.
  • therefore, what is happening around the speaker that is so out of his/her norm that the question needs to be asked?
  • Be festive. And I suggest you interrogate that word, too, before jumping to the nearest conclusion.
Have a great mid-winter... festival!

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