Prompt #40 — Write Like Andrea Syzdek

Syzdek’s piece (view here) proceeds from the perspective of a child who offers an explanation for the father’s physical deterioration. The stiff joints, limp, and aching body could all be attributed to the warehouse job; however, as we read the piece, we understand that they could also be linked to the physical abuse the father suffered as a child. This piece successfully builds tension between the explicit rationale for the father’s ailments and the text’s suggestion of implicit factors contributing to it.

PROMPT

Create a story in which the narrator’s understanding of a situation is plausible but, perhaps, incomplete. Use details to reveal things to the reader that the narrator does not quite grasp. Consider why your narrator does not fully understand the situation: he or she may be a child, may be blinded by some prejudice or misconception, may be naïve, or any number of other circumstances. As Syzdek does, build the tension between possibilities rather than making one choice definitively.