Writing
Challenge – Climax (not really)
We all know it's coming. We see it
on the horizon. It's the change, the bang, the kiss, the death, the capture,
the freedom, the end. It's the climax.
CHALLENGE: Start your work in what
appears to be VERY NEAR what should be the climax of the piece, and then draw
it out. Add new obstacles. Get tantalizingly close and then have it all fall
away. Keep the stakes very very high. Your characters should be pulling their
hair out and gnashing their teeth with frustration.
Bonus: Don't use traditional characters
or traditional desires.
Bonus: Don't have it be about sex.
Bonus: Have a plot twist reveal that
brings about the climactic moment
(Author’s Note: This is a great challenge. But I’m afraid the guy’s are post-climax here
in this scene, and it is – partly – about sex, and traditional characters and
desires, with nothing too twisty. So I
will really address this challenge another day.
Right now, these new characters are still speaking to me and they're very chatty, so I have to
listen and take dictation before it evaporates again - )
TV
BOYFRIEND
The morning after.
JAKE has thrown on a pair of boxer briefs and is
whipping up some kind of crazy eggs in a skillet at the stove.
KEN – T-shirt and sweatpants - wanders in, a little
bleary-eyed.
JAKE
‘Morning,
sleepyhead.
KEN
You
cook breakfast, too? Are you some kind
of gay unicorn?
JAKE
I
burn through a lot of calories in training.
I
cook breakfast all the time.
Well,
not all the time.
In
a pinch, sometimes I just order pizza.
This
didn’t seem like a pizza morning.
KEN
Do
you normally sleep til noon? Where do
you find a pizza place that serves this early?
JAKE
I’ve
become buds with the guy who owns this one place I really like. He’s a fan of the team.
KEN
The
team?
JAKE
Olympic
team. He doesn’t know about the gay
thing.
I
hope you’re hungry. I’m still used to
cooking for two, well, three.
KEN
You
give the dog people food?
JAKE
Yeah,
drives Billy crazy.
Used
to drive Billy crazy.
Sorry,
shouldn’t mention the ex. Bad form.
KEN
I
don’t mind. I just don’t want to bring
it up if it makes you sad.
JAKE
You
don’t make me sad. Billy makes me
sad. Another reason I shouldn’t mention
him.
KEN
Where
is the dog? Moose, right?
JAKE
How
do you know my dog’s name?
KEN
I
confess. I read the occasional celebrity
rag. Particularly if there are hot
shirtless guys walking their dogs.
JAKE
Billy
walks the dog now. He got custody in the
split.
KEN
Oh. Sorry.
JAKE
Not
your fault.
KEN
Didn’t
mean to bring up –
JAKE
It
made sense. I’m away too much. Moose needs more human time than I could give
him.
KEN
So
that’s what you meant about the house being too quiet.
JAKE
Yeah.
I
miss him.
Moose.
Well,
Billy, too, I guess. Hard to break the
habit. Expecting him there, where the
empty space is.
Speaking
of space, get your ass over here and taste this.
KEN walks over.
JAKE holds out a taste of his egg concoction.
KEN tastes.
KEN
Mmmmm! Damn.
That is weird but strangely good.
JAKE gracefully, instinctively puts down the spoon,
turns off the heat on the stove, quickly turns back to KEN.
JAKE
Now
taste this.
JAKE kisses KEN.
KEN
Mmmm. Also weird but strangely good.
JAKE
You
have entirely too many clothes on.
JAKE goes to peel off Ken’s T-shirt.
KEN resists.
JAKE insists, tosses the shirt aside.
KEN gets a little self-conscious.
JAKE (cont’d)
Hey
now. None of that. I enjoyed it last night. What makes you think I’m not gonna like it
this morning?
KEN
Well,
it’s not like I’m –
KEN gestures futilely at Jake’s body, words
abandoning him.
JAKE
You
go mute at the weirdest times.
(trying to finish Ken’s sentence)
It’s
not like you’re – 24? Me? A professional athlete?
I
know. I didn’t take me home last night,
I took you home.
If
you’re cold, get over here and cuddle up to me at the stove. I won’t bite – unless you ask nicely.
KEN wraps his arms around Jake’s waist from behind.
JAKE can’t suppress a grin as he works.
KEN rests his chin on Jake’s shoulder for a moment,
until he notices something.
KEN
Did
I give you all these scratches?
JAKE
I
think I found your sweet spot somewhere in the middle of round four, and I just
kept hitting it. That’s when you started
to dig into my back and shoulders.
KEN
You
should have said something. I don’t want
to hurt you.
JAKE
I
could say the same to you, buddy.
KEN
I
wasn’t exactly screaming for you to stop.
JAKE
I
noticed. Dude, I’ve had more broken
bones than any five random people you can think of that you know combined. A little human touch isn’t gonna kill me.
I
might ask you to trim your nails ‘fore the next go round, though.
KEN
Sorry,
I’ve been growing them out a little because of my guitar lessons.
JAKE
You
play guitar?
KEN
Not
well. My hopeless lack of coordination
extends to my fingers on strings, apparently.
Progress is slow, but steady.
Music will eventually emerge. If
this becomes a regular thing, maybe I’ll subject you to me playing something
sometime.
JAKE
*If*
this becomes a regular thing?
KEN
I
didn’t want to presume.
JAKE
I
almost never bring anyone back to my place.
I
almost always go to theirs.
I
almost never stay til morning.
I
can’t remember the last time I cooked breakfast for somebody other than Billy
or Moose.
I
haven’t felt this good in months.
You’re
the gay unicorn here, pal.
KEN
Like
an idiot, I feel compelled for some reason to argue with you on that point.
JAKE
Then
we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
As
far as I’m concerned, you are the prize in this box of Crackerjack.
I
don’t want to presume either, but if you want a regular thing, I’m offerin’.
I’m
a sucker for a guy who plays guitar.
Now
snuggle up and keep me warm. Breakfast
is almost served.
A companionable silence.
Then KEN can’t help himself. He winces, almost stops himself, then asks
the big question -
KEN
What
went wrong?
JAKE
With
Billy?
KEN
Yeah.
JAKE
Closet’s
a bitch, man.
It’s
all tied to my career so after a while the relationship became all about me and
not about us.
I
guess a guy can only feel like he’s an inconvenience for so long before he
starts to resent it.
He
just couldn’t stay in the dark with me anymore.
He’s
still really angry about it, too.
Failure’s
mine, dude.
Haven’t
seen him or Moose in almost nine months.
Billy
posts pictures.
He
hasn’t blocked me.
Looking
at how happy they are, without me, kinda hurts.
KEN kisses Jake’s shoulder.
JAKE reaches back and touches Ken’s face.
JAKE (cont’d)
You
have anywhere you need to be today?
KEN
Nothing
I can’t shift around. You?
JAKE
A
rare day off. Could you shift those
things around and hang with me?
KEN
Absolutely. What’d you have in mind?
JAKE
Well,
since I found your sweet spot, it seems a shame to let that knowledge go to
waste.
KEN
Oh,
I see now. Just your own personal fuck
puppet, am I?
JAKE
What? No.
KEN
I’m
teasing.
JAKE
Fuck
puppet. Who says things like that?
KEN
I’m
hilariously inept at talking dirty.
JAKE
Well,
there I’m gonna have to disagree with you.
You’re mighty fine in the moment.
Just don’t overthink it.
KEN
So,
staying in?
JAKE
At
least part of the day. You OK with that?
KEN
Staying
in with you? Absolutely.
JAKE
Any
more of your plays on stage right now?
KEN
Wouldn’t
that be nice? Nope, just the one.
JAKE
You
have copies? Could I read them?
KEN
Sure. Well –
JAKE
What?
KEN
I
was gonna say I don’t have any on me.
But they’re all on my computer.
Which is in my bag. In my car.
JAKE
Sweet! Can you go get it? After breakfast, while I clean up?
KEN
I
should at least do the dishes.
JAKE
My
kitchen, my rules. You go get us the
entertainment.
We
can read ‘em in bed.
Ooo,
we can play the parts!
KEN
I
wish everyone was so adorably psyched about reading my plays.
JAKE
I
wanna pick apart the soldier play first but then I want to get to know the
others. They’re not all sad, are they?
KEN
Heck
no. I mostly write comedies, or at least
stories that are ultimately positive.
Gay characters have enough unhappy endings in literature. I’m not gonna add to that pile. Someone needs to balance the scales.
JAKE
Excellent. Eat up.
We’re gonna need those calories to burn off later.
KEN
Unicorn.
JAKE kisses KEN.
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