Prompt #41 — Write Like Holly Simonsen

Simonsen’s piece (view here) proceeds as a triptych, three disparate sections that inform one another while remaining distinct. The first two connect thematically through the idea of faith and belief, though they present different approaches, one secular, the other sacred. This method isn’t just for prose; consider Wallace Stevens’s “Study of Two Pears” or the more famous “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” which also explore a subject from several angles.

PROMPT

Construct a piece of flash that depicts a topic, character, or event from a number of different angles. Think about what would lead a speaker to study the subject so attentively. Perhaps the speaker’s interest emerges from experience, as in Simonsen’s piece, or perhaps it is less direct and more obsessive. Regardless of the speaker’s motivation, make sure to present the object of his or her fascination in several different ways and to render those differences plausible through the narrative.