I was going to write a very earnest possibly boring post about habits – how by changing our habits bit by bit we can change our lives, especially our writing lives. But you have to admit the headline for this post about screaming in the parking lot grabbed your attention a lot more than Changing Your Habits.

Here’s what happened: I woke up this morning at 5:45 to a woman screaming in the parking lot two houses north of us. “Get off me! Fuck you!” she screamed, “Get out of my car. Go! Go! GO!” I jumped out of bed, about to call 911. I knew I should; I didn’t want to be one of those bystanders who let a rape or a murder occur because I didn’t do the right thing, but first I grabbed the binoculars to see what was going on. A  tall guy in a green shirt was standing next to a car with a woman beating him on the shoulders who was screaming (and I mean screaming) fuck every other second. “Go! Get the fuck out of my life.  Don’t touch me! Take your stuff. You have no soul, no heart!” (Obviously they knew each other.) And then a guy in a backpack walked toward them across the parking lot and whipped out his cell phone. The couple immediately jumped into the car and took off, with the guy in the green shirt driving.

That’s it. You can use it as a writing prompt. (What did they say in the car as they drove off? Where did they go? What was she so angry about? What were they doing here at 5:45 am?)  The point is we’re interested in drama. We want to know why people are screaming in parking lots.  When you write a scene don’t reveal everything all at once. Keep your readers wondering, turning the page to find out. And keep your eyes and ears open for bad behavior in public that you can take notes about and maybe turn into a story. Or a blog post.