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Brainstorming at the Mall
I’ve been struggling with some intricacies of my plot lately and it's been a little slow going. So, I decided to go to the mall. No, not for any retail therapy, though I could use a new pair of shoes. This time, I went to stalk, er… watch the people.
I love people watching. The mall, specifically the food court, is my favorite place to people watch. The food court is where all the different factions of our society converge and sit down to eat as one. If only our world leaders could embrace this mentality and share an artery-clogging burger or plate of greasy Chinese food, the world would be a better place. It’s a medley of the human experience with all walks of life represented. It’s a writer’s dream.
I find a seat with a good view and I make up stories for everyone. Oh, and they’re much better stories than anything that happens in my life. Or, maybe worse. The couple walking by holding hands; he’s cheating on her and she has an alcohol problem. The mother and child sitting next to me, she’s thinking of getting a divorce. The group of girls walking by; one is struggling with an eating disorder, one wants to steal her friend’s boyfriend, and one doesn’t know how to tell her mother that she doesn’t want to go to her mom’s alma mater.
But, all these stories are horrible! I sincerely hope that every single person walking by doesn’t have nearly the drama in their life that I saddle them with.
But, such drama makes for great conflict brainstorming.
So, I thought we could play a little game today on the boat. I’m not going to make you write anything so don’t get your pretzels in a twist. I just thought we could people watch via computer.
Here are three scenarios. Your job is to come up with their background stories.
1) A young woman, perfect hair, perfect makeup, wearing pearls and dress clothes, sits alone at a table in the food court, eating a salad with the dressing on the side. She looks at no one.
2) An elderly couple with gray hair are sitting across from each other but looking around at the passerbys, the stores, and their food. They don’t talk.
3) Two teenage girls sit across from one another wearing Hollister clothes, with their cell phones in their hands, pushing buttons.
So, tell us what’s going on in these people’s lives. Make your own scenario or build off of someone else’s. Let’s get those creative juices going!
Or, if you don't feel creative today have you ever been people watching? Where's your favorite spot and why? Ever see anything crazy/cool/scary, etc?
Books by the Crew
32 comments:
I'm sorry I don't have much time to play today, but I wanted to make a short comment. I love to people watch. I do the same thing Marnee. I make up stories about each individual in my mind. I people watch to mostly observe gestures. It helps me describe character's reactions to specific situations in my WIP. I admit, I also make fun of people in my mind. I know it makes me a bad pirate, but hey I have to keep up my reputation:)
Lis - thanks for stopping to say hello, even if you can't play. :)
I love getting gestures too. I think that's how I come up with their stories, from gestures and body language.
I must be the Pollyanna of the group because I never do this. When I see people in the foodcourt, I just assume the are as happy and content as they look and most likely better off than I am. I have NO imagination.
And on top of that, I feel out of the loop because I have no idea what Hollister clothes are. But I'll take #1. The woman is trying very hard to look innocent and invisible. I'm thinking she's a dominatrix who moonlights as a clerk at B&N.
Ter - Man, I'm feeling dirty. :) LOL!!
http://www.hollisterco.com/hol/homepage.html
This is Hollister, it's kinda the new Abercrombie. At least, it was last year when I was still teaching. Ridiculously expensive clothes aimed at teens and tweens that reveal lots of skin.
Though the guy on their homepage is pretty yummy.
A dominatrix, huh? That has some possibilities. Especially if she brings her fetishes to work, ya know?
How old are those children?!? I do feel dirty now. LOL! And like we need more incentive for our kids to reveal more skin. Gah!
There's a store at one of our malls that has live models stand around outside their front entrance. Sort of the live mannequin thing. The last time I was there, I totally got caught staring.
Uh, that should be 'food' courts, not foo courts as I'm not into karate.
Arrrr! And a hearty mornin' to ya. I hate to sit alone in foo courts because I feel like everyone's looking at me wondering why I'm sitting all alone. But I do love to look at people. Then again, I wonder if people are wondering why I'm looking at them. *g*
Here's my go at this:
1) Miss Priss really hates eating in the food court where she has to sit amongst 'those' people. She's only working at Dilliards to make enough money to pay off her gambling debts. Archie, her husband would have a heart attack if he knew how much money she owed Lenny, her bookie. Until now, she'd done a good job of making him think she's at the day spa with her friends. Heaven help her if he ever decides to buy his mistress a pair of thongs at Dilliards.
2) What is an elderly couple to do? Stan is retired and home all day long. Mary is tired of Stan and eager for spring so Stan will start spending more time in his garden. Mary gazes at all the young girls thinking about her life, wondering if the choices she made were worth the time and exhausting effort she put into her marriage. But she's stuck with Stan and fears the day she will have to change his diapers.
3) Prom is only weeks away and no one has anything to wear. OMG! Not only that, their Prom dates have recently gotten into a fight and to totally top it all off, they've got ACTs the day after Prom. In a frenzy to find the right accessories for their gowns, they radically text message everyone in their group to find out what kind of push up bra to wear with a strapless, backless gown.
1.) Clearly *this* woman is a functional alcoholic. She dresses this perfect to cover the fact that her life is going to hell in a handbasket; she drinks vodka. No one knows.
2.) The couple is trying to figure out how to tell their remaining child they are getting a divorce (they can no longer keep living the lie!)--their other children have died already, and they probably would have waited just in case...but clearly, life is too short.
3.) They're texting each other, because that's the assinine crap teens do. If they had laptops, they'd be in a chatroom together.
Marn! I love to people watch. And I love this little exercise. I don't have much time today :( I'm working on the server. I'll be back! Great blog!
Most of my people watching involves gaping at police officers at Penn Station while I wait for my train. NYPD hires some super hot alpha males.
Anyway, I don't really people watch because if you watch people in NYC for too long there's bound to be some altercation or you get a "What are you looking at?"
Plus I'm always rushing to get somewhere, or my head is buried in a book or some great fan fic.
Kathy - I love your scenerios! The teens are great; I'm having flashbacks of teaching HS. LOL!! And the elderly couple is heartbreaking. Thanks for playing along with me. People watching via computer is much less intrusive than in person, don't you think?
Hellion - All the elderly couple's kids have died? Wow. Freak car accident? And my sister-in-law (18) texts her friends when they're in the same room. Bizarre teen behavior if you ask me.
Geisha - You work in NYC? What a great place to people watch, though I do agree you can't stare. I remember asking a guy on Lex for directions and he looked like I was going to bite him. I had my interview suit on and I was looking spiffy. Paranoid. Sheesh.
Sin - Hi! Have fun playing with the server! LOL!
group was supposed floor. LOL
This is when I'm glad I live in the middle of nowhere. You look at a person long enough here, they will automatically think you know them from somewhere and try to talk to you.
And I don't talk to people. I put my head down and keep my eyes on the group. Don't talk to me! I stutter when you address me personally and I don't know you. And I hate feeling awkward.
People are interesting, aren't they? You just don't know what makes them tick. (Sometimes even when you really know them.) I shake my head a lot, confused by people and oftentimes instantly annoyed, then I have to realize I must confuse everyone else. LOL.
All but one--after all, they weren't going to get divorced because it would break the children's hearts.
Natural causes. I've known plenty of elderly couples where their kids died before them--they'd be in their 70s/80s, but their kids died in their late 40s/50s: cancer, diabetes, heart attack, war, etc. (Okay, war is not a natural cause....) one's son died in a tractor accident; he was in his 50s--just doing a routine tractor job and it rolled over on him.
I typed a comment but it disappeared. Is this my server at work or what?
I hate when I see older couples like that and I see them all the time. Probably because I spend so much time in Cracker Barrel. I just hate the idea that you could spend 50 years with someone and end up with nothing to say to each other.
Then again, I might be the only person who feels that way.
And I don't think it's just you. I think the whole thing's being wonky.
*shrugs* I don't think there's necessarily wrong with silence while eating. A lot of guys don't eat and talk (thank God, because usually forget to swallow before saying something when they do). Sometimes you just reach a point in a friendship/relationship where the company is comfortable but you don't feel the need to say something. In fact, you might not be thinking anything all. Why force conversation when you don't even feel like thinking?
What's horrible is when you see an elderly couple going through the most fearsome thing of all, alzheimers. I got something online a few days ago about an old man who visited his wife for breakfast and lunch everyday. A nurse told him, "I don't know why you go to the trouble. She doesn't even know who you are." He said, "But I know who she is."
I love people watching. There is one particular couple I have been watching lately. They have a senior seminar that meets in the seminar roon next to my office, and for three weeks now they have stood in the hall after the seminar talking. They are falling in love. They have progressed from standing several feet apart and darting glances at one another to standing very close together and looking into one another's eyes. He is a hottie, and she is a little plump and rather plain until she smiles. I find them endearing--and almost anachronistic.
This was a great exercise, Marnee. I tried the first two. That last is too close to what I see on campus.
1) Pregnant! The word echoed in Ashley’s head. God, how had this happened? Stupid, Ashley! She knew how it had happened. Messy emotions had led her to be careless. There was no room for messiness in her life. No room for a baby. She knew she needed to make a call, but she couldn't seem to sumon the energy. And she couldn't stop that word the kept repeating in her head. Pregnant!
2) Dana swirled a French fry in ketchup. She envied the young woman at the next table. You could tell just by looking at her that she was in control of her life. Dana had never been in control of anything. Roger had always been in control. In three months Roger would be dead. She knew she ought to touch him, to comfort him, but she was afraid to. She was afraid of so much. Most of all, she was afraid he would see in her eyes the mix of terror and relief she was feeling.
Kathy, that email kills me when I get it. KILLS me. That's The Notebook in one page, right there.
Janga, woman you are killing me! #2 is about to make me burst into tears. Between you and Kathy, my coworkers are going to be casting covert glances at me all day. Oh, wait, they already do that.
Janga- I had the same idea. LOL.
1) A young woman, perfect hair, perfect makeup, wearing pearls and dress clothes, sits alone at a table in the food court, eating a salad with the dressing on the side. She looks at no one.
** After years of verbal and emotional abuse, she's spent the past two months trying to cope with living a normal life. She works in Mall HR, hiding behind her desk in an office surrounded by white walls and shelves of HR binders. She dreads the day when her ex might find her, but for now this job is all she's got until she can get enough money saved to get the hell out of dodge. It was stupid of her to forget her lunch. Even stupider of her to not ask for someone to get her something from the food court. But in public he couldn't hurt her, so she quietly kept her eyes averted, eating fast- praying silently that nothing would happen. Just two more weeks. Two more weeks and she would be gone.
2) An elderly couple with gray hair are sitting across from each other but looking around at the passerbys, the stores, and their food. They don’t talk.
** He just came from the doctor. It's not good news. Lung cancer. All those years working at the plant had finally caught up with him. He could see it in her eyes, the fear, the dread, the sadness. It was all for him. He couldn't help feeling that way about her. About what would happen to her when he was gone. How would she manage to get to the doctor without him driving her? How would she manage to get out of the shower without his helping hand? Who would have dinner with her and watch her shows? Silently he reaches across the table and touches her hand. They lock eyes for a single moment and go back to looking around at the passerbys. Watching them hussle through their lives, never living the moment for what it was. Taking it for granted.
3) Two teenage girls sit across from one another wearing Hollister clothes, with their cell phones in their hands, pushing buttons.
(Girl One Texting) Omigod! Brad just asked me to the prom!
*enter lots of squealing aloud* Omigod! Omigod! Omigod!
(Girl Two Texting) Wait. Isn't Brad a senior?
(Girl One Texting) *eye rolling* So what.
(Girl Two Texting) Omigod! Did you lie about your age? You know he'd never date you if he knew you were 14!
(Girl One Texting) *shoulder shrug* I might have put I was 17 on my MySpace page.
(Girl Two) *texting furiously* Omigod! What if he wants to... you know!?
(Girl One Texting) *flirty grin- texting back furiously* I'm totally down. Sidney told me how to do it.
I like people watching. At work we have the same people go by every day, and the receptionist lives in the area, so usually fills me in on some of their stories. People are fascinating, as I'm wont to say.
PS. I love to go to B&N and watch the people in there. Just like the library. I do that at the library too.
Great minds, Sin! LOL!
I agree, Sin. The Library and bookstore are interesting places to watch people. What people choose to read says a lot about them.
Janga - I completely understand about 3 being close to home. And her being pregnant! What a good twist! :) Roger and Dana are sad though.
Sin - lung cancer. So sad. And I remember those days of getting ready for prom. LOL! Great imagery.
The bookstore and library are great places. B&N, with the Starbucks. Best mixture of all worlds. :)
I've never been people watching. The idea of it is interesting, though. I haven't read anyone else's ideas yet, but here are mine. Sorry if any of them are somone else's.
Number one has daddy issues and hates men.
Number two have never met before today. They're on a blind date and it's not going well.
Number three are best friends for life. They are calling their moms' to ask for more time out.
I love the third one Kelly. BFFs, huh? LOL!!
You should people watch! It's good fun!
I love to people watch. I do it all the time and it's a fringe benefit of being a Deli Diva. People are amazing. Couples are fascinating, particularly young ones. Lots of body language. Flipping of hair. Rolling of eyes. Some cuddle. Some barely look at one another.
Here's my take on the three tables:
1.If I stare at that column long enough maybe the Polzarians will finally get here and take me back behind the veil. I can't use any of my powers here. So many people in one place and not one of them open to the mystics. I fear that if I am not taken soon, my essence will have evaporated and I'll be stuck here, staring into space, not ever saying a word again to my life-mate.
2. Do you think she can hear me, Ferron?, the old man thought to his mate. No matter how hard I concentrate, she won't take her eyes off that column. Didn't she read the mage guide? She's to stare off at a Cullum, not a column. She'll never get out of here!
Come now, Cullum! You must be patient. Use your wiles to lure her back to us.
I've no wiles, Ferron! I can only muster up 'congenial old man'. Syreen grabbed the wiles potion.
Oh, be quiet and leave the mysticism to me!
3. Syreen clicked on the rolling eyes emoticon as she furiously text into her palmer.
Just wrest it away from the crusty old man and get on with it. Jemma texted back. We should get another to lure her home. After all, one Cullum is as good as the next. This time I'll scatter my wiles over him.
Jemma wrested control from the old woman and with a flick of her wrist, she scattered her wiles on the old man transforming him in a blink of an eye.
The solitary woman felt her pearls heat against her breast. She turned her head as a sheen of particles, caught the sunshine filtering down from the skylights, fell upon the elderly couple. She blinked, her eyes like saucers of elfen nectar, as she stared agog at the Colin before her.
She nodded, smiling and held out her hand. That was it. A Cullum would beckon you but a Colin would always bring you home.
Santa! I didn't think to put the three together, but that was great. :) And I love your paranormal spin.
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