Fantasy Island


Journal writing assignment. If you haven't started a journal of your own, what on earth are you waiting for?

Stop now, go get a sheet or 10 of paper, or a new book, or a looseleaf notebook, or fire up your favorite text processing software or blogging engine, and let's get to work:

So if you're my age, you'll remember Fantasy Island, and if not, then you've probably seen episodes on Nick at Night of the old 1970s television show with Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke, and Herve Villachaise as Tattoo.

Not familiar? Well the premise of the show was fairly simple. People paid to come on "De Plane!, De Plane!" to Fantasy Island, where they could pick a time from the past to relive. It was a chance to fix mistakes, right wrongs, change what the characters most wanted to change about their past to make their present work better.

Got it?

So, here's the assignment. It's time to write your episode of Fantasy Island. You can write about any event you want, because it's your journal. But if you've ever suffered because of your extra weight, been made to feel horrible about carrying it around, can identify times in your life when you wish the situation or the conversation had gone differently, then use this writing assignment to relive that moment, and maybe write a different ending.

Follow?

It can be a simple scene. I remember as a college student, riding my bike to campus from my apartment, and some creep drove by, yelling "Hey FATASS! Get off the road, you make me SICK."

Sweet, huh?

Well, it sticks with me.

On Fantasy Island, I'm still on my bike, the guy is in his car, he still yells, but now I get to write a new ending.

There are so many possibilities.

I could catch up with him, slam my palm on the hood of his car, and make a speech. What would I say? I have ideas, alright, powered by 20 years of thinking about it.

I could have him drive right up to a bigger, meaner fatass, who heard his comment, and write that dialogue/scene.

I could pull out an uzi. Nah. Not my style. Really. I swear. It is practically never my style. Virtually not hardly likely ever.

I could sic my mommie on him. Oh my.

There are plenty of places to take that scene. My scene. But what's yours? It doesn't have to be a confrontation, it could be about a time when you wish you had made choice B instead of choice A. Write the scene where you make the other choice, talk down a bad guy or convince somebody to see things in a different way. Write the scene where you get the right tool at the right moment, or win the girl or boy, or both. Where things change for you, and see where it takes you.

It is your assignment to come up with a happy ending. It can be a surprising ending, a cliché, really dramatic, a big surprise, but end it in a good spot for you.

Because it's your fantasy.

And then if you feel like it, visit us over at 3fatchicks.com and tell us about it.

Juju

Fantasy Island
Writing effective dialogue


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