My Music Journal 2025: January 25, 2025

 

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Time: 2:30 PM
Song: Little Changes
Artist: Frank Turner
Mode of Consumption: Spotify playlist for Frank Turner from Music Snobs League

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/0pvAmXz50wNF8BNTLq4o1k?si=0c315e18ee984597

I am in another writing contest that started last night at midnight. I have until next Sunday to write a story of 2,500 words. This time my prompts are as follows: 

Genre: Drama

Subject: Prestige

Character: A wealthy mother-in-law

I stared at a blank page for quite some time this morning trying to figure out what story I could conjure from this mix of prompts. The drama genre leaves things pretty wide open. I mean, pretty much every story contains drama. I will just try to move that drama to the forefront, make it an emphasis. 

Prestige? My mind went a few places. Ivy League Schools. Swanky Club Memberships. Awards. The awards idea did get the brain thinking. In my journalism days, submitting to contests was an annual thing. For sports, the biggest fish in the award sea was the APSE contest. I am not sure though that the striving for sports writing prestige would make for a real dramatic story. Maybe. But that’s not where I feel like going. 

My mind drifts to a former co-worker who passed away last spring. She was the heart and soul of the news department, helping them to earn a lot of awards and recognition without really getting any prestige for herself. Could I write a story about the prestige of a newspaper while highlighting a character who does the thankless job of copy editing? 

I think I would have to make little changes (see what I did there).  I need to invoke some sort of conflict. Is it between her and the reporters she works with? Maybe with her bosses? 

And who is the wealthy mother-in-law? Maybe the owner of the paper? Maybe it’s her mother-in-law? How does that contribute to the conflict? What story am I really telling? 

I think it might be a little tribute. Something I won’t advertise, might never even try to publish, but I think it would be a good way to remember her. She would have got a kick out of it. Likely would have told me to make sure her character swears a lot. 

I just wish she were around to give a quick edit when I get a draft completed.