Writing Prompt
Wk 4
Remember, what your characters DO keeps your story moving forward and reveals who your characters ARE. You need a good mix of slow and fast pacing in your writing, so this week we’re practicing writing something fast paced and action driven.
Imagine a character in a shopping mall.
They hear someone start screaming.
Thinking about action and pacing, (there’s no time for the character to think/reflect/ponder) write up to 500 words describing what happens next.
**For my exercise I chose a grocery store instead.
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My death grip on the jar of pickles in my hand started to give me a cramp.
I looked slowly as I crouched down, down the aisle I saw a mother and daughter taking cover behind the large frozen chicken freezer. Briefly our eyes met.
All of a sudden, a blur of screams and people ran past me, I jumped up and looked in the opposite direction to see what was coming.
Bang
Bang
Bang.
I start running down my aisle, I look back quickly to see the mother and daughter following behind me. abruptly I'm stopped by the Lay's chips rack in my path, we both went down to the ground, before my mind could even acknowledge the fall.... I was running again. The door was clear in sight and as I approached I didnt even think about why the doors weren't opening.
Ceiling.
black.
ceiling.
black
ceiling.
My vision was blurred, and my head pounded, all I saw was ceiling, then Vodka for $15.99. It took me a minute but then I realized where I was. I sat up quickly and crawled quickly to the Vodka aisle. I saw blood on the floor where I was, then I felt the sharp pain in my shoulder. As I tried to find where the pain was coming from, I found it. The bullet wound was in my deltoid muscle, maybe 1.5 inches from my rhomboideous, mobility was still okay. I think I have a minor concussion but nothing to worry about. I kept my arm elevated to limit the bleeding and opened a bottle of Vodka. I took off my sweater and took a deep breath. The sting of alcohol was almost unbearable.
I heard footsteps approaching, I stood to my feet. My heart was pounding so loud it drowned out the heavy rubber boots. All of a sudden a hand was on my shoulder I turned quickly and I swung the bottle in the air and with all my force and hit the man in the head. I dropped the bottle and it shattered on the ground. Blood ran from his head, making it way to the bakery aisle. I kicked the gun out of the killers hand and searched him for a cell phone.
Operator: Hello, this is 911, what is your emergency?
Me: There's been a shooting at the Los Angeles Superior Grocers on 10211 Avalon Boulevard.
Operator: Okay, miss what is your name?
Me: Dr. Katie Davidson
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