My writer's group
meets once a month at the local B&N, and I show up whenever I can. It's
always a fun time and Kim, out facilitator, keeps things light, informative and
gets our creative juices working with intruiging writing exercies. Last night,
the challenge was to take a fairy story (or any work of fiction), and instead
of seeing it from the protagonist's point of view, take the other side - the
villain's perspective.
Usually, I need
half the writing time just to figure out what to write. Not this time. I had my
baddie right away.
Remember The
Hobbit? Smaug the dragon? How interesting (and challenging) would it be to see
the story from his viewpoint.
Here's what I wrote.
It’s a little rough, because we are only given 10 or 15 minutes to do the whole
assignment, but I think it turned out pretty well.
‘It only took
thousands of years. They killed my whole family, hunted them down like
monsters, invaded their homes, woke them from their beds and chopped off their
heads. Or speared them with lances, or a myriad of other gruesome deaths. It
only took thousands of years, but I finally have justice. Mounds of treasure I’ve
claimed as recompense. Vast piles that fill the great rooms and halls. They say
it’s wasted on me and I don’t know its worth - and their right. But does that
matter? No amount of gold can compare with the value of a loved one.
They say I
overreacted when a tiny thief stole an insignificant goblet from my hoard, but
I disagree. To me, every small piece is like a drop of my family’s blood. And
now mine is up - blood, that is. They must pay some more for the anguish they
caused me.
I crawl out of the
halls and take to the air. As I spew fire down upon their village, the houses
flair to life like match heads. Below me stands the captain of the guards.
There’s a bow in his hands. He pulls an arrow out of a quiver and...what’s he
doing? Talking to it? Now he puts it to the string and looses it at me. Like
that will do any good. As the arrow flies towards me, I get a good look at it.
Huh, that’s interesting...it’s all black...’
If this sparks any interest for someone to re-read The Hobbit, then that's cool.
