“What if” posts are not simple writing prompts but supercharged explorations into the many directions a simple prompt can take you. Here you will find conventional questions and “what if” questions surrounding a prompt to help get the creative juices flowing.
Prompt comes from Writer’s Digest’s A Year of Writing Prompts
An incident spurs a mall Santa to reexamine his life.
I understand the prompt says ‘his’ but what if the mall Santa was a she/her?
Could this bring more depth to the character as you have to wonder why she wants to be Santa and the how she goes about it? I can’t help but think the opposite of Mrs. Doubtfire here. The why portion probably can be explained by exploring the rest of the prompt.
For some, Christmas time is one of joy and giving. And a lot revolves around family and a lot around the religious significance. For others, the season holds a bitter taste. The crowds, the pressure of finding gifts, not to mention some of the financial burdens, to name a few.
What if a person doesn’t have a family to spend the time with? Would the season bring sadness? Or what if the season is their favorite time of the year because they get to be Santa and the kids that sit on their knees are his grandkids and the parents just one more part of his huge extended pretend family?
Could the incident that makes him reexamine his life be one that convinces himself that his life is a lie? What if it was something a kid said, a worker elf, or a parent that triggered the event? What happens next? Does it end in tragedy and the story is about looking back on Santa’s life? Or does another incident make him realize that his purpose in life was to bring joy to certain kids and it was in the form of Santa? Sure some kids could care less for Santa, but what if there was that one or two were it really mattered. Could a grown-up, who as a kid, visited this very Santa be the one to propose this? What if that grownup’s life would not have been the same without sitting on Santa’s knee all those years ago? What if he found more people that say the same?
What if Santa is new and this was the first year? What if Santa was unable to have children and now being surrounded by kids, would he seek adoption? What if he met a single parent and the relationship blossomed? What if he wanted to save a child from an abusive parent? What if the child was homeless?
What if we explore the religious side? What if Santa was an angel sent to earth to atone for something? What if he was here to fix a situation with one family that he doesn’t know who it is? What if he thinks he has the right family but doesn’t and in the end of the story he in fact fixes two families' lives?
What if the real Santa became a mall Santa who is looking for a successor? A twist on the Miracle on 34th Street and The Santa Clause.
If we think of Christmas as the season of giving and Santa being the biggest giver of all, then what if our mall Santa knew his time was limited? What would he do? If he had money or not, would he become sort of like a real “Santa” giving to those who are in need? If he had money, he could play Secret Santa, but what if he did not but was determined? What if he kept his ailment secret and he borrowed money? What if the bank would not loan him the money and he sought out loan sharks? What if he stole the money? There are some endless paths here.
Without letting this post get too long I will stop there. Now “What if” you wrote your story?
コメント