The Prompt
Think up a narrative about some form of travel—anything from setting out on an adventure, to a school trip to somewhere, to crossing a border, to an accident on the way, (a train wreck perhaps).
Begin this in the voice of a collective first person: “We.”
How does a group consciousness describe the experience?
Consider both Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s School for Girls Raised by Wolves” and Ayșe Papatya Bucak’s “The History of Girls” as examples of this voice. Note that both authors introduce the element of the individual “I” at critical points among the we. See if you can identify in your story idea where the individual “I” might intrude or take over. (500 words and up)
THE AUTHOR
GREGORY FROST’s most recent novel-length work is the Shadowbridge duology from DelRey. It was an ALA Best Fantasy Novel pick. His latest short fiction will appear in the September/October 2020 Asimov’s Magazine and in an upcoming issue of Weird Tales.
His collaborative novelette with Michael Swanwick, “Lock Up Your Chickens and Daughters, H’ard and Andy Are Come to Town,” won an Asimov Readers Award. His short stories have been finalists for the Stoker, Nebula, Hugo, and Theodore Sturgeon awards.
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
GREGORY FROST, SHADOWBRIDGE
Leave a comment and let us know how you got on and what you’re writing about
Again this prompt has reminded me that in May I wrote the outline of a story based on part of my novel. I hadn’t returned to it so now I have written an expanded version and it’s ready to have a second draft of it done.
Small group touring the historic Bank of Montreal in Montreal, Canada find themselves in a hostage-taking event.
700 words at the moment. I’ll come back to finish this story.
Correction: We were taken hostage in the historic Bank of Montreal in Montreal, Canada.
My story unfolds around a family from the West of England travelling to Portugal in search of a holiday home. The parents and their 13 year old daughter seem to have a shared goal on this project but as villas are viewed and new areas of Portugal explored it becomes clear that each of them have their own agenda at heart. I began to use the ‘I’ voice to emphasis the point at which individual preferences began to disrupt the harmony of this family.
An interesting exercise and one I would love to become accomplished in!
I will definitely finish reading the two suggested books now I’ve ‘dipped’ in to them. A great discovery. Thank you. 🙏
This one was interesting. We went up from Cairns to Karanda on the train a number of years ago. I bought an Akuba while we were there. For some reason the phrase “Waiting for the Karanda train,” has been rattling around in my head for years and I finally had a chance to use it. The POV shift seemed natural and not forced at all. Another arrow in the quiver. We came down from Karanda in a cable gondola on a windy day. Scared me to death – I have a thing about heights.
Wrote about a pilgrimage to see Jimi Hendrix’s grave.
Nearly 700 words of a story that will be forming a scene in my WIP