Monday, January 18, 2010

Monday Moment #53: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )

Guess what I did this weekend?

Go on.

Guess.

No, not that.

Nope.

Sorry.

BINGO!

No, not "bingo" your guess is right. Bingo. I went to play Bingo.


I was invited to a friend's birthday party and the evening started with Bingo at the casino (the serious kind). I decided to step out of my personal box and give it a go.

What I expected:
To sit with friends at a table scattered with cards and little round marker chips (because that is what we had in grade school), drinking wine and giggling as we marked our cards.

What I got:
Intense Bingo action. Bingo is hard (at least for a first-timer). I had nine cards at one time. There are no markers, they have daubers (a stamp thingy to mark your card). The Bingo ladies rattled off those numbers one after the other, and before I had a chance to scan all B-I-N-G-O columns, they were on to the next. There's was no time to talk. Or drink wine.

There are also people who do this and do it well. The lady sitting across from me played three games at once (I wasn't keeping up with one), and not only would she check her own three sets of cards, she'd look across the table and double check mine (upside down no less).

The highlight:
BINGO! A blackout. And I got it. But I almost didn't because I guess I didn't yell BINGO loud enough (it's super intimidating to yell bingo in that big room). But I won. I won. Then I really sort of liked Bingo after that. At least for the night.

When has your character expected one thing but then experienced something completely different?

9 comments:

Jonathon Arntson said...

Bingo has been one of those mysterious activities for me my whole life. Like you, however, I recently shifted my view and enjoyed myself. Who knew saying, "B-I-N-G-O" could be so satisfying!

online bingo games said...

Bingo is a very much enjoyed game by every body. They can play bingo all the time and have a lot of fun. Its a family fun game.

Kelly Polark said...

I've only played bingo in the classroom! I bet it's intimidating in such a large crowd!
Congrats on your bingo win! (and I can't imagine keeping track of nine cards!)

Cuppa Jolie said...

Jonathon, thanks for stopping by! You're right. Who knew!

OBG...it was much enjoyed.

Kelly - I know. It was all about the classroom variety for me. I had NO idea what I was in for, but the win made it better. :)

Jennie Englund said...

That's a really good question about character. Something to think about, put in.

Thanks!

Dawn Simon said...

Wow, I want to try serious Bingo. I'll probably only be able to have one or two cards going at once, though. I already make my family crazy because I take so long figuring out percentages when we play The Farming Game. I got fired as the banker and my daughter now does it.

Sandra Stiles said...

I don't think I am coordinated enough to play that many cards at one time.

Anonymous said...

lol I never liked Bingo in school. I never wanted to win and when I did I kept quiet because of yelling Bingo and getting attention turned to me. I'm curious to try serious Bingo now, but it does sound intense like you mentioned. How long did the games last out of curiosity? I heard it can take hours.

pst: I would also love to own the little Bingo markers. They look like fun.

Congrats on your Bingo win! :D

Michelle said...

WOW- didn't know Bingo had gotten so serious and compteitive. 9 CARDS? I think a couple would be enough for me- maybe even too many :0)lol Does sound like fun though
Congrats on your win and maybe next time you can really belt out BINGO! and actually get the prize ;0)