October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and this months prompt asks you to think a little bit about breast cancer and the impact on people’s lives.
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post including photos from David Jay’s SCAR Project. The post struck a nerve with many people, because it forced you to view breast cancer in a very different way.
This months prompt asks you to see something from a perspective completely foreign to your own.
Three possible stories to tell:
1. Imagine you’ve been diagnosed with a mutation in the BRCA gene.
Mutations in the BRCA gene are linked to a higher susceptibility to certain cancers. Women who are diagnosed with this mutation make the choice whether or not to have a prophylactic mastectomy. Tell a story of what you decide and why. Make sure to include at least one scene with dialogue. Who would you talk to? Who would you turn to for support? Who would give you a hard time?
2. You object to the choice a close friend makes regarding her reconstruction options.
Your best friend or sister or mother or cousin, who had a double mastectomy and reconstruction, decides to have her implants removed. She prefers to live “flat.” You object. What do you say to her? Again, include at least one scene with dialogue.
3. You’ve chosen to appear in the SCAR Project photos.
Tell your experience of the photo shoot. What emotions do you experience. What do you see? Who is there?
You are, of course, free to modify these prompts as it fits your needs.
Maybe you want to make it into sci-fi. Or tell the story from the point of view of a man. After all, not only women experience cancer and the BRCA gene is also linked to many men’s cancers.
The key is to create a story that forces you and your readers to see things from a perspective different than your own.
