I got angry this week.
That’s not unusual….but this week I got really, stinking, spitting, crying angry when I heard the freaking, rotten news about…
…well, I can’t get into it here. (For my co-workers who read this blog: nope, it wasn’t about Thursday.)
How did I release the stress?
I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I put my “angry song” on the car stereo and played it over and over and over again about a million times on my way to work…at about a million decibels loud.
I’d forgotten how cathartic it is to literally SCREAM away the hurtful feelings while belting out the lyrics.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m still spitting angry about the situation…but that initial hot-faced, head-pounding feeling is gone. I’m on a low simmer. Worse, there’s nothing I can do about the situation because I’m not in control. Well…I could air my feelings to the offending party, but that’s only going to cause hurt feelings all the way around and still not change anything… I’m stuck.
(Those of you who know me very well know that I can’t let this lie for too long. Otherwise, it’s just going to fester. I need to get it out before I explode. Timing, of course, is everything…)
Here’s Your Prompt: Write a scene where the main character hears something that made him the angriest he’s ever been. (This character could be you, btw.) What brought on the anger…betrayal? A lie? An accident? How about a revealing, devastating truth?
Show your character’s anger, don’t tell it. Relate how your character initially felt upon getting angry. Did the anger strike all at once? Or, did it bloom from something less? What physical symptoms did you character feel? Pounding head? Hot face? Burning eyes? Chest pain?
Write it so your reader can feel it, too.
Gosh, Kelly, this is a heavy one. I’ll have to think on it — so hard to choose; I’m sort of an angry person.
Love the pic, btw.
You don’t strike me as an angry person! Even if you are…there’s got to be something that stands head and shoulders above the rest…right?