Awesome Writing Prompt #15
1 Oct
Your assignment is to jot (and I stress that word JOT) down the scenes you would expect to find in a story based on the following premise:
Two childhood friends unexpectedly fall in love during a trip to New York.
The scenes do not have to be in order. They do not have to cohere. They do not have to be original.
This is an exercise in reacting to an idea. Keep it fast and loose and automatic.
Please post your results in the comments or send them to me at dennis <dot> cass <at> gmail <dot> com and we’ll put them to good use.
Final thought:
Duplicate answers are beyond okay. So if you see something in the comments and you feel that it’s already been covered, please post anyway. The more people who contribute the better.
Awkward first meeting scene/Do you remember when scene/So this is you now scene
Obligatory tourist scenes in NYC that bring out the most lovable in our characters
The moment we know we’re falling scene
The no-we-can’t-fall-in-love scene(s)
Why we can’t fall in love scene(s)
The fight for our love scene(s)
The resolution scene
Hey! I can do this one! I live in NY now!
*Standing outside of a restaurant, looking at the take-out menu taped to the window, catching glimpes of one another in a “new light.”
*Subway platform noise interrupting important conversation.
*They go to see Letterman. Letterman comes out to warm up the audience before the show and asks if two friends are a couple. One laughs at the idea preventing the other to take action.
*Running into a different childhood friend who puts a wrench in the trip.
Vintage toy/hat/poster/cassette triggers a shared intimate memory.
Hostile city motivates an unexpected display of chivalry.
Cab ride in the rain. Silent reflection followed by making out.
Encounter with stranger that affirms or subverts a “only in NYC” stereotype.
Minor celebrity sighting.
Visit to a site where a scene from a mutually loved/reviled movie/TV show/video was filmed.
Street food.
These drinks are so expensive! But we don’t care!
Among the beautiful people.
Hotel check-in, awkward how many rooms/beds discussion waded into or avoided entirely.
Elevator ride.
Ill-timed phone call from one character’s kinda/sorta/not really boyfriend/girlfriend.
Good stuff people. Would love to hear from more of you. Leave it anonymous if you’re feeling web shy.
Flashback: remember that time we spied on your parents (or snuck into a movie, or snuck out of the tent when camping…some minorly “naughty” thing).
A flash of anger from her: it’s so easy for you, you always took everything so lightly! I can’t just do this and then go home and forget!
He talks about something he remembers about her, something obscure, like the fact that she loved frozen diced carrots, and she is touched–he really does care! He always did!
Time for one of them to go home. Cab is honking outside. It’s now or never. What are you going to do?
(Sorry, this brought out the cliché-ness in me.)
Awkward touching of hands – reaching for something like a door, glass, etc. where there is an unexpected frisson of attraction/excitement
Reminisce about how they use to tease each other, lapsing into affectionate silence, and then cast bedroom-eyed glances at each other, as they move toward each other for an embrace, but are interrupted by something – a bellboy, the nurse calling one of them in to see the ER doctor, etc.
They bump into each other for the first time in 25 years at the general “mixer” session of the conference, shocked and thrilled to see each other, not having realized they were in the same professional field.
Their first kiss is in front of some quintessential NYC scene – a homeless person wanders by as they are waiting for a taxi and says “You are the loveliest couple.” They look at each other, realizing that they are, in fact a couple, and turn to each other….SMAK, Smooch, etc.
They are two women who were best best friends, so are a bit slow to realize it is love they are falling into…
Awkward touching of hands – reaching for something like a door, glass, etc. where there is an unexpected frisson of attraction/excitement
Reminisce about how they use to tease each other, lapsing into affectionate silence, and then cast bedroom-eyed glances at each other, as they move toward each other for an embrace, but are interrupted by something – a bellboy, the nurse calling one of them in to see the ER doctor, etc.
They bump into each other for the first time in 25 years at the general “mixer” session of the conference, shocked and thrilled to see each other, not having realized they were in the same professional field.
Their first kiss is in front of some quintessential NYC scene – a homeless person wanders by as they are waiting for a taxi and says “You are the loveliest couple.” They look at each other, realizing that they are, in fact a couple, and turn to each other….SMAK, Smooch, etc.
As they are both women, best best friends as girls, they are a bit slow to realize it is love they are falling into…
Having some technical difficulties with the blog which is preventing me from posting my response. I should have it up and running in the next day or so.
Meanwhiles, does anyone else have a take on this premise?
If I may stick to geography:
Walking in front of the water in Brooklyn’s neighborhood that I forget the name of right now. The famous one.
Walking through Central Park on a weekend to see the roller-blading/roller skating/drum circle/shuffleboard playing wonders everywhere they turn.
Ferry ride.
Walking past the Twin Towers memorial/contstruction.
A long-ass subway ride out to Queens, fraught with missed, delayed or broken connections.
A frantically whispered scene inside the New York Public library; chase/hiding scene down the marble hallways and oldfasioned phonebooths.
Lost, drunk, and either happy or bereft at night, in the rain, on the subway, and then on Broadway.
A scene in a rock club or restaurant du jour.
Brooklyn bridge.
Ok, I admit, some of these are more scenes I might like to see than necessarily expect to see.
A plot built in and around elevators of NY or what have you would be so much more interesting.