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Writer's start
May. 20th, 2018 10:37 pmShe woke on the first morning of her new job looking forward to learning more about writing for a TV show that she loved. She had graduated at the top of her class om college, she had her pick of jobs but this one was her dream. She was going to be an on-set writer, any complications with the script she would try to fix. They had told her she would be working with the actors to make the dialog more real, less formal.
When she got to set the 4 actors came up to her and welcomed her to the insane set as they called it. They warned her to watch out for their pranks, they said she would get one week to prepare and then she was as likely as anyone else to be the subject of one of their many daily jokes. She had never been very good at practical jokes, she was a very serious person. There didn’t seem to be many serious people on this set, she was sure she wouldn’t make it here.
After the first week she knew she was in trouble. They were always changing their lines to make each other laugh. How was she supposed to get a realistic read from men who wouldn’t say their lines right? She wasn’t a confident person except with her writing. She knew the only good thing about her was her ability to write.
The first couple of weeks she pretended to be okay with their changes in dialog, but she left the set nearly every day in tears. She was able to hold it in until she was away from them. She didn’t want them to see her crying. She still loved working on the show, she was learning so many things. she didn’t want to leave even with them making her cry every day.
One day they were particularly playful, by lunch she knew if this kept up they would see her cry. She didn’t want them to have a reason to laugh harder at her because she couldn’t take the jokes. She went for a walk to try and calm down, it didn’t work. As soon as they went back to work they started back in on her. It took about an hour for things to get bad enough to break her. She decided to walk away again trying to calm down. As she walked out one of them asked if she was okay. Instead of answering she nodded and continued to walk away. They followed her, she was trying to get away so they would see her cry. They were all bigger than her so they caught up quickly. She wouldn’t look at them, they forced her to turn around.
When she looked up at them they were all concerned that something was wrong, like a death in the family. Immediately they started asking her what she needed them to do to help her. She wouldn’t say anything.
“Hey, tell us what’s wrong.”
“Just let me go for a walk, I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
“You’re not walking away until you tell us what’s wrong.”
“I just don’t do well with practical jokes. I don’t like to have people laugh at me. I’m a good writer, but not good at laughing at myself.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was afraid you would be harder on me if I asked you not to.”
“If you were serious we would listen to you. We won’t do it anymore. You need to learn to stand up for yourself.”
“Never been able to do that.”
“Time to start.”
They walked her back to the set and they finished the day. On the way out, they all said they were sorry and they hoped she had a good weekend. She was thankful that they had left her alone the rest of the day, she was sure it wouldn’t last. She began to allow them to joke with her after a while.
She worked there for 6 more years and slowly she began to laugh at herself. They had helped and now she could go to work anywhere because they had given her the confidence to laugh at anything and everything including herself.
When she got to set the 4 actors came up to her and welcomed her to the insane set as they called it. They warned her to watch out for their pranks, they said she would get one week to prepare and then she was as likely as anyone else to be the subject of one of their many daily jokes. She had never been very good at practical jokes, she was a very serious person. There didn’t seem to be many serious people on this set, she was sure she wouldn’t make it here.
After the first week she knew she was in trouble. They were always changing their lines to make each other laugh. How was she supposed to get a realistic read from men who wouldn’t say their lines right? She wasn’t a confident person except with her writing. She knew the only good thing about her was her ability to write.
The first couple of weeks she pretended to be okay with their changes in dialog, but she left the set nearly every day in tears. She was able to hold it in until she was away from them. She didn’t want them to see her crying. She still loved working on the show, she was learning so many things. she didn’t want to leave even with them making her cry every day.
One day they were particularly playful, by lunch she knew if this kept up they would see her cry. She didn’t want them to have a reason to laugh harder at her because she couldn’t take the jokes. She went for a walk to try and calm down, it didn’t work. As soon as they went back to work they started back in on her. It took about an hour for things to get bad enough to break her. She decided to walk away again trying to calm down. As she walked out one of them asked if she was okay. Instead of answering she nodded and continued to walk away. They followed her, she was trying to get away so they would see her cry. They were all bigger than her so they caught up quickly. She wouldn’t look at them, they forced her to turn around.
When she looked up at them they were all concerned that something was wrong, like a death in the family. Immediately they started asking her what she needed them to do to help her. She wouldn’t say anything.
“Hey, tell us what’s wrong.”
“Just let me go for a walk, I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
“You’re not walking away until you tell us what’s wrong.”
“I just don’t do well with practical jokes. I don’t like to have people laugh at me. I’m a good writer, but not good at laughing at myself.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was afraid you would be harder on me if I asked you not to.”
“If you were serious we would listen to you. We won’t do it anymore. You need to learn to stand up for yourself.”
“Never been able to do that.”
“Time to start.”
They walked her back to the set and they finished the day. On the way out, they all said they were sorry and they hoped she had a good weekend. She was thankful that they had left her alone the rest of the day, she was sure it wouldn’t last. She began to allow them to joke with her after a while.
She worked there for 6 more years and slowly she began to laugh at herself. They had helped and now she could go to work anywhere because they had given her the confidence to laugh at anything and everything including herself.
