“They went in and out of each other’s minds without any effort.” – Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Much of writing, I think, comes down to our wish to connect with another person. We write because we want to connect. We read because we want to connect. We create characters that are capable of connecting with each other in a way that we aren’t always able to with those around us. Literature is a beautiful reminder that we aren’t alone in all of this, that there is someone else who feels like we feel. Someone who understands.
For this week, write a story inspired by the above quote from Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Write a story about two or three people who are so intimately connected that they are able to go in and out of each other’s minds without any effort. The characters and the scene are up to you. It could be about a mother and her daughter, an old married couple, or a pair of friends. Capture the intimacy of understanding what another person means without them even articulating it.
Or, on the flip side, write a scene in which your characters are incapable of understanding each other. Write about the frustrating experience when it feels like the person you’re talking to just doesn’t get what you’re trying to say, no matter how hard you try.
Whichever path you go down, focus in on this idea of connection, or the lack thereof.
Cheers!
– Annie
