Writing about LOSS

Looking at my grandmother frail body, I could not hold back the

heartbreaking sorrow that consumed me at that moment. I wished I could
hear her voice again, even if she was nagging at me for the umpteenth time. I
wished she could just sit up and ask me to buy her favourite food, Hokkien
fried noodles, even if it meant I had to travel an hour to the hawker centre in
Tiong Bahru to get it. I wished she could get out of the bed and start her feisty
tai-chi routine right there, with the loud music blasting from the CD-player I had
bought her for her last birthday.

I wished.

But, I knew my wishes were futile. As futile as the final despairing image of
her lying motionless on the hospital bed. As futile as my desperate cry for a
miracle. As futile as the tears that fell from my eyes.

And I knew, with a regret which was almost as strong as my grief, that
with this parting there would be no protests, no appeals, no desperate clinging to
the past. ( simpler version of last sentence: With a regret as strong as my
grief, I knew this was the final goodbye. ) A goodbye I was not ready for. A
goodbye that was too sudden. A goodbye I was responsible for bringing. All
because of my selfishness and impatience.

Problem:
Character's Desires/Goals
Conflict between who/what?
Conflict because of what?
Climax / Turning Point

10 ways to describe anger

1) The pulse of irritation swept through my nerves and I felt an impending

meltdown dangerously close.

2) If humans could spontaneously combust then at that moment, I felt like a

deadly explosive device about to be triggered off.

3) Consumed by an overpowering rage, I lashed out at him mercilessly

with my cruel words.

4) A wave of hysteric rage swept over me and all hell broke loose the
moment I unleashed the curses from my mouth.

5) Blinded by my rage, I could not see the pain in his face as I hurled insult
after insult at him.

6) I was possessed in that instance by blind and destructive rage towards

those whom I perceived were my enemies but mostly against myself.

7) Livid with rage, I tore the film into shreds and smashed the camera onto the
floor.

8) Eyes blazing with intense hatred, face red with rage, I roared, " I will
show you what I can do, you vermin!"

9) In her face I could see cold rage and resentment. I knew this was not the
right moment to ask the question.

10) His face was flushed with searing anger the moment I uttered those three
words, "I am leaving."

Describing Different Types of Silence

1) She breathed deeply, savouring the silence. A sweet silence rare in her life
which was filled with constant bickering and violent screams. For that moment, it
seemed like time had stopped and given her respite from the chaos and
nightmares she woke up to everyday. She closed her eyes, relishing this precious
moment of serenity and peace. She needed this more than anything, to free her
mind from the shackles of worry, to empty her mind of all troubling thoughts, to
just disappear into the silence.

2) The silence was stifling, almost suffocating. I swallowed my saliva but my

throat still felt parched. No one seemed to dare to move even an eyebrow, all
waiting in bated breath, anticipating the expected outburst. Yet, there was only
that torturous silence.

3) I looked up at him in sullen silence. That moment our eyes locked, you could
feel the tension increasing. No words were exchanged but I could see the disdain
and contempt in his eyes. Refusing to be intimidated, I fixed my gaze into his
eyes, challenging him. I didn't know what got into me but I just could not
surrender to his tyranny. Not this time. He had gone over the line.

4) I could only manage a silent cry of despair. What else could I do? I could not
break the shackles that chained our life together without causing immense pain to
both us. It was a shackle I was born to endure. Family, filial piety, responsibility
- these were the chains I could not break even if I felt as if I was already broken.
What was left in me were the pieces of something that was once whole. My hope
for an ordinary life shattered all because ......
5) I maintained a stony silence as I stared into his face defiantly. What had I
done wrong? Why is my father always picking on me? Did I fail the Mathematics
test? Why is a C grade not good enough for him? I could hear his deep heavy
breathing and the veins showing on his face. He was clutching my test paper so
tightly that I was sure he was going to tear it into two. I don't care. I did nothing
wrong. I studied for the test and C is the best grade I could get. The silence
hung heavy like an ominous sign of something worse about to explode. I wished
he would just scold me and let me get it over with. But, he just stood there like a
statue. In fact, he looked like one, now that I had been staring into his face for
the last ten minutes. A deathly pallor covered his face. His eyes were closed
tight. Even his fingers seemed to be slowly releasing their tight grip on the
paper. Something was not right. Before I could react, he suddenly collapsed with
a loud thud right in front of my eyes.

6)the passing of time made the silence chillier, until it felt like an icy shroud
around her.

7) an embarrassed silence

8) the silence was palpable.

9) covered with a blanket of gloomy silence.

10) trying to fill the vast void of silence.

11) stared at me in a kind of shocked silence

12) held her breath in the silence

PROVERBS/Quotations TO INSPIRE WRITING IDEAS:

1. "Let the flames of hope always burn within you."

2. "The final stretch of the trip seems to take the longest of all."
3. "It takes but a small shaft of sunlight to pierce the clouds of life."
4. "It is a waste of ourselves to spend too much time in sorrow over
something we cannot change."
5. "We all live with our own demons."
6. "The same wind that blows one door shut often blows another
open."
7. "We are afraid of the things we do not know--just because we do
not know them."
8. "We endure long nights of winter so spring will welcome us back."
9. "Work gives a man dignity; stealing takes it away."
10. "Don't follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail."
"Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality."
11. "No amount of travel on the wrong road will bring you to the right
destination."
12. "It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you
are not."
13. "This is your life. You are responsible for it. You won't live forever.
Don't wait."
14. "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."
15. "Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing."
16. "The deepest form of despair is to choose to be someone other than
oneself; the opposite of despair is to will to be that self which one truly
is."
17. "It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been
before...to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day
came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more
painful than the risk it took to blossom."
18. "To look a fool is the secret of a wise man."
19. "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things
brought together."

Making Dialogue More Interesting

1a. "I know I shouldn't say this," Melissa sniggered, staring straight into my eyes as a
malicious smile spread across her face, "but I am glad he is dead."

"What!" I shrieked, appalled by what I had just heard, an overpowering rage filling me up.

1b "I know I shouldn't say this, but I am glad he is dead," Melissa confessed without a hint of
sadness in her voice, her face filled with a cold resentment and her eyes burning with rage at
the thought of her good-for-nothing father.

"What?" her distraught mother exclaimed, shocked by her daughter's ungratefulness.

2a. "Do you realize what you have done?" roared the infuriated father, anger flashing in his
eyes as he stormed towards his son.

"Huh?" mumbled the puny boy with a look of innocence on his face as he glanced at his
father's menacing eyes.

2b "Do you realize what you have just done?" I screamed, gesturing at the broken pieces of
crystal shattered by her clumsy hands.
"Huh?' my brother sheepishly replied, with an innocent expression on his face.

Livid with rage, I growled, "I will kill you, you idiot!" The resentment and rage began to grow
within me. The pulse of irritation swept through my nerves and I felt an impending
meltdown dangerously close. I knew I was losing my self-control. A wave of hysteric
rage swept over me and I hurled insult after insult upon him. Blinded by my rage, I could not
see the pain in his face.

3. Fatimah's eyes glistened with tears as she pleaded in desperation, "Listen to me, please!"

"No! It's too late!" Ahmad bellowed, his eyes blazing with intense anger and his face livid with
rage.

4. Her devious eyes narrowing into fine slits, Mary snorted, "You know you can never beat
me, don't you?" She flung back her head and let out a haughty laugh.

Stumped by Mary's attitude, Judy could only mumble helplessly, "Huh?"

5. His eyes were brimming with tears, blurring the features of his mother in the photograph he
was holding. "I am sorry. I should have listened to you," he wailed.

6. I slouched against my wheelchair, peering out of the window. The somber, sullen colour of
the sky filled me with a numbing despair. Staring blankly out of the window, I sighed
miserably as I recalled the tragic events that led to this. The pain of the memory pounded in
my head and I could not suppress my anguish anymore. "I should have kept my promise to
Mum, I should have!" I wailed miserably.