Prompt #52 — Write Like Donora Hillard

Hilliard’s piece (view here) takes its inspiration, and title, from the genre of tragedy, then considers how or if that genre still exists as a form in contemporary life and art. The piece itself offers a complex treatment of the topic; the speaker’s assertion that no great tragedies exist may contrast with her solitude at the end of the piece, or it may simply revise our understanding of the tragic.

PROMPT

For your story, consider various formal tropes, the kind of stories that exist, and write a story that explores one of these forms and its permutations. You might process what the contemporary horror story or love story looks like, or how coming of age narratives have shifted in the twenty-first century. Do not be too overt or explicit; remember that you are not writing a critical argument and that the narrative must carry the piece.