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Responses to a writing prompt on story structure, filled out moments after learning of my girlfriend's affair


by Ryan Mazer


1. Main character
Promiscuous girlfriend.

2. Main character's goal
Wants to have a lot of sex.

3. Obstacle
Has boyfriend.

4. Character's idea of a solution to the goal
Cheats on boyfriend.

5. How the solution goes awry
Months later, boyfriend's best friend finally confesses to affair. Boyfriend tells girlfriend they have to breakup.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She cries.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
Boyfriend takes her back. However, she worries that he might now be prone to cheating, and decides she doesn't want to date him anymore.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 as desired.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She locks boyfriend in a cage, thus reestablishing a trust.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
He asks if he can come out of the cage.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She cries.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
Boyfriend agrees to stay in the cage, but his hostility frightens girlfriend.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She decides the atmosphere is unhealthy for her, so she ventures out for some sex.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
She becomes pregnant.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She keeps her new child in the guest room, at the opposite end of the house.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
She forgets about the child, who grows feral after years of neglect. One night, he breaks out of his room and discovers the boyfriend's cage. Enraged by the sight of this man who has stolen his mother's affection, the feral child rips open the cage and castrates the boyfriend. Somewhere, Freud smiles. The boyfriend, meanwhile, cries for several days.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
No longer threatened by her boyfriend's sexual urges, she lets him stay out of the cage.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
The feral child follows boyfriend around, and won't stop growling.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She lures the feral child into a closet. Once in, she offers to bring him food.

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
On her way to the kitchen, she notices the mailman outside and invites him in for sex, forgetting again about the feral child. She finds him dead in the closet a few weeks later.

6. How the main character tries to fix this problem.
She quickly slams the closet door shut and runs away. Later, she puts a sign on the door, marking it "The Bad Closet."

7. How this "solution" goes awry.
The closet starts to smell.

8. Reversal and Resolution: Have the main character enact a solution that helps character meet his/her original goal and makes for a happy ending.

The girl matures. She would no longer mind having sex only with her boyfriend, but he has been castrated and so she can't. She cries. Her boyfriend consoles her, telling her that he is grateful she would stay with a "castrated freak" such as him, and that he understands her need for sexual fulfillment. She smiles. She has a lot of sex. And the two live happily ever after.

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