Monday January 28th, 2013

The exercise:

Write about: the hook.

We're in the process of figuring out our seed orders for this year, which is always fun. It's a hopeful, anything can happen time of year.

Though once they're in the ground come planting season, they're pretty much at the mercy of the weather. And our ability to keep up with the weeding.

Mine:

There was something missing, something vital. Everyone seemed to know it wasn't there, but nobody had thus far managed to figure out what it was, precisely.

With the deadline approaching faster than anyone cared to admit, each tick of the clock was like a gunshot in the room. Coffees were spilled by nervous hands, sweat stained overpriced shirts, priceless pens were twirled or tapped against teeth... but still the crucial element remained out of reach.

Footsteps in the hall dragged all eyes to the open doorway. It was too soon, surely. They still had time. It couldn't be over already...

An intern walked past, studiously ignoring the stares he felt coming from the room. Breaths were taken, shoulders slumped in relief. The hangman had not yet come.

They still had a chance to find a hook for their Super Bowl commercial.

4 comments:

Greg said...

Planning seed orders must be interesting; I guess you have catalogues you can look through (until you get fed up and turn to the internet), records of what's done well or badly in previous years to refer to, and ideas of target markets to help inform your decisions? Which must mean... Excel spreadsheets! It must be just your like old job :-P
The second paragraph in your tale today is great, it neatly brings the tension in the room to life. The whole tale is a nice read too :)

The hook
The Hook was a restaurant on the edge of the forest. Little Red Riding Hood liked going there for dinner with her grandmother, partly because the old lady always paid, and partly because of the paintings on the walls. They were done by local artists and were usually portraits, either of dinner guests or local dignitaries. Mayor Wolf had the biggest portrait, paid for by himself.
"What do you fancy then, dear?" asked Grandmother, peering myopically at the menu. "I think I might have the sushi."
Red, who was well aware that they were over three hundred miles from the sea and wouldn't have eaten the sushi if Mayor Wolf himself was demanding it, smiled politely. "I think I'll have three little pigs in blankets," she said. "With a port wine reduction. Grandmother, why is this place called the Hook?"
Grandmother's face grew solemn and she laid the menu down.
"Now there's a tale," she said, frowning. "And it starts with the death of your parents."
"My parents aren't dead," said Red, startled.
"About that, dear...."

Cathryn Leigh said...

Not really reading comments as I’m trying to catch up with two weeks’ worth of back log blogs. But this prompt took me as I struggle with the inner and outer turmoil of having my company acquired by another and having to wait a week and a half before I know EXACTLY what it means to me. ‘Till then I’ve been hooked into staying, praying that the future will be what I think it will be.


Hooked

They make us think their coming back.
They make us think we can,
Continue on our daily lives,
Executing our normal plans.

I just hope my gut is right
And I’ll stay upon this land.


The funny thing is as a whole no one has fled the sinking ship. Then again we all believe strongly in our product, which helps to improve the lives of the people whose Doctors’ use it.

Christopher S said...

I just want to generally commend this whole initiative. The excellent writing is just cherry on the cake.

Keep it up Marc!

P.S. Cathryn, that was good stuff.

Marc said...

Greg - yup, you've pretty much got the gist of it. But the spreadsheets are far more interesting than the ones I used to deal with :P

My goodness, I see the potential for a whole lot of fun in this setting. Great opening lines in yours.

Cathryn - I'm glad you found the time to write and share that with us. I do hope things work out in the end for you and your coworkers.

Christopher - thanks very much!

Feel free to share your takes on the prompts as well; we're all just here to practice, after all :)