Too Many Questions?
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
She said: You know you ask too many questions? I said: Can you please just tell me what color plates you want? She said: Don’t you already know the answer to that? I said: If I know, why did I ask? She said: Maybe because you love asking questions you already know the answers to? I said: How do you know if I already know the answers? She said: Aren’t they obvious? I said: Do you have to do this every time I ask a damn question? She said: How else are you going to learn? I said: What’s there to learn? She said: You see how you just did it again? I said: What’s wrong with asking simple questions? She said: Do you realize how annoying it is to have to keep answering silly questions all day? I said: Do you realize how painful it is to be constantly criticized for the stupid things I do? She said: Did I ever say the things you do are stupid? I said: Isn’t that what you’re always thinking? She said: Why do you always have to assume the worst? I said: What else am I supposed to think? She said: How about that I’m just trying to help you? I said: Did I ask for your help? She said: Why don’t you just get back to setting the table? I said: You know this whole conversation could have been avoided if you had just told me what color plates you want?! She said: Blue.
This short piece is based on What If? Exercise 91: “He Said/She Said – But About What!”. The exercise is to write a story in paragraph form, 250-500 words long, using the structure of alternating voices who disagree about an issue based on an emotional subtext. The objective is to learn how to hang a story on a simple structure. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
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