" You know what piss me off about white people?," Jane Doe asked.
How about that for an opening line? Make it controversial and color your writing with interest.
Maybe, Jane Doe was Latino and lived in a small southern American town. Maybe, there was a small concentration of Latinos there. Perhaps, a crime took place. The townspeople were disturbed. The sheriff could not find the culprit and the people needed a scapegoat. They blamed her brother, Jose Doe. I know it is an old plot, but it is real. Real people with real blood running through their veins experience such injustice everyday, worldwide. Allow them to "happen" on paper.
Get in touch with broken characters. Talk to people you meet and look for it. Who knows, you may be the turning point toward their healing. I'm not suggesting you "fix" people, however, I am suggesting you observe "brokeness." Most of us are or have been broken somewhere throughout life. Have you ever had a broken heart? I'm willing to bet you were not the most pleasant person to associate with at the time, were you? Okay, take that thought and exaggerate. This will help towards character development.
Okay, get busy. Write.
2 comments:
"...I know it is an old plot, but it is real. Real people ... experience such injustice everyday...Allow them to "happen" on paper."
Great line. And until the world learn the lessons of the past, the plots will continue, Period, Case-Closed.
Your statement,"Most of us are or have been broken somewhere throughout life." This is so true. And then you go on to state, "...observe the brokenness...". Smiling, I do this daily...I think this is how I am able to stomach the mess on the job. I understand many of them to be "broken" people, doing unto to others as it has been done unto them, quite unlike "Doing Unto Others As We Would Have Them Do Unto Us!" And I continue to grow, Period, Case-Closed.
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