/lit/ - Literature

see pumpkin in grocery store, flashback to halloween and oh-no-so-grimdark event, learns that everything is not as it seems. Bam. Homework done, Pulitzer incoming.

Don't do anything grimdark, though, just because it's "different". Do something that will actually challenge you.

Old grumpy Holocaust survivor.
Flashback to prison camp.
Ta-Dah! Relevant, grimdark (sic), easy.

A young guy gets back to his hometown and sees a bunch of local kids who are dissing an old men who seems mad / senile. Guy remembers he did the same when he was a boy to the same old men (insert flashback here, maybe the guy did something more than only shouting at the man like the other kids do).
He goes to the old man, apologizes for what he did and what the kids did. Finds out what happend to the old man in his life, befriends him and stays with him the last month of his life.

Probably a little bit to much for 600 words though

OP here

Forgot to say that the reason I don't want to do something cheerful, happy, etc. is that I find it overdone and, therefore, uninteresting to both the reader and me as I won't have fun writing it and the reader has probably read heaps of this kind from other students so it's not only to stand out but also cause I find the controversy interesting to talk about than something like a 1dimensional event where it can only be happy/sad without it being a different shade of grey.

Adult Woman, 27-32 years of age
Brings her child to an amusement park
Flashback to the time her father took her to the same amusement park
She realizes he molested her in the car afterwards and she had been repressing it

>>2036842
shades of gray are fine, but you seem to be implying that happiness and sadness don't automatically come with shades of gray

>>2036842
>I don't want to do something cheerful, happy, etc
> I find it overdone

What have you been reading? It seems to me that the majority of decent literature, is tragic, grim, etc.

Without conflict, there is no interest. Unless you're talking about some kind of bright and cheery conflict resolution at the end?

It would seem that you're basing your assumptions on sitcoms and bad movies, rather than the written word.

>>2036849

I refer to the stories my class was told to emulate, which basically told of perspectives in 1 dimension. One of them started off with a guy, whos just been dumped by his gf, is walking along and then he remembers his happy childhood and, instantly, he, at the end, realizes things will get better.

Call me picky but I find the plot rather cliche, and unauthentic in its progression.

Both do come with grey sides, however it is their presentation that makes them seem B&W.

>>2036876
Are you in 8th grade creative writing? This sounds awful.

>>2036853

Recently, Orwell and Huxley so perhaps that is where my grimness comes from.

I would want to write about something that is not 1dimensional it its presentation. Preferably covering a broad topic, subject to interpretation. I have no problems writing about a cheery/grim story providing it manages to look on all sides rather than be optimistic/pessimistic the entire time.

Say, for example, I would not want to write about some happy youthful memory where I constantly shower it with praise and nice adjectives.

I would however write about it if it meant that some old dude looked back on his past and saw himself being carefree, happy, etc. but in the end he realizes that he should have worked more to his goal rather than squander it in instant gratification. Or something like that.

>whom of which

Literally stopped reading there. I'll go back and finish, but fuck.

>>2036876

Nope. 10th.

bump for ideas

>>2036910
>14 or 15 years old
>pic so fucking related

>>2036935

>2011
>Be 16
>People much older still measure maturity in years
>mfw

>>2036942
>implying I said anything about maturity
>implying it isn't illegal for you to view this website
>implying them's just ain't the rules

>much older people aren't mature enough not to measure maturity by age!
>implying you don't see the flaw in this statement

>>2036953

>much older people aren't mature enough not to measure maturity by age!
>implying you're not doing it wrong

I'm not criticizing older people but rather the idea that maturity can only be defined by age, one that is evident more to those that are older. This in turn criticizes the rule and the fact that you bypassed the whole topic of this thread to point out that I'm "14-15."

I'm sure you are proud of this accomplishment.

>>2036966
And I was only pointing out that you're not legally allowed on this site. I said nothing and implied nothing about maturity. It seems to me that teenagers often jump to that when they are criticized by adults. No biggie, but you take yourself way, way too seriously.

I'm sure you'll be completely unable to imagine that you're in the wrong, though. I'm sure you're telling yourself that's not true as you read this. Don't care bro. Good night. And you think that my dismissal means you 'won'.

>>2036978

I do then hope you don't think this as your victory as well.

>>2036846
This. If you can treat the subject with some multifaceted seriousness and care. And if you have the balls to. It's got everything you need, its a happy, picturesque family day suddenly warped by the characters repressed memory. And suddenly throws up a thousand questions and turbulent emotions that cannot be fully answered in 600 words (which is a good thing. you want unanswered resonance in a short story like this)

>>2037067
OOO and the moral learned can go something like this:

Things from your childhood never seem quite the same when you visit them later.

It's something people always say, with a wistful air of nostalgia. It turns that very common sentiment into an idea that is horrifying, skin-crawling in its bitterness