Friday Writing Prompt- Why We Broke Up

Today’s Friday prompt is about break ups.  I wrote a review last week of Daniel Handler’s Why We Broke Up.  Like Min, I’m sure we’d all like to write a letter to an ex, but most of us just never bothered.  Whether you were the dumper or the dumpee (or it was mutual), I’m sure you still have something to say.  Our relationships form us, good and bad, and once they’re over, we may say we’ve forgotten, but they’re part of us forever.

So, the actual writing prompt:  Write a letter as you (or your character) to a former love.  Explain why you (or your character broke up).  Any regrets?  Anything you (or your character) wanted to say and didn’t?  Any secrets to let out of the bag now?

In case you love your letter and want to post it, you do have the opportunity to submit it.  The Why We Broke Up project is still going on, and I’ve included the link below.

http://whywebrokeupproject.tumblr.com/

Ah, Young Love!

There’s nothing quite young love.  We’ve probably all been through it, and through the breakup that eventually results.  Almost everyone has at least one heartbreak story.  I do.

I recently read Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, a story about falling in love and the break up, told from the point of view of Min.  Min is different– artsy– and meets Ed, the co-captain of the basketball team at a party.  They’re very different people, but they both try to make the relationship work.

As you can tell by the title, eventually they break up, and the book is told in a letter written from Min to Ed.

This young adult novel is illustrated, and would probably be rated at least PG-13 for language, sex, and underage drinking.  The reality is though, that this book features a lot of things high schoolers are going to run into in the real world.  Overall, it’s well written and engaging, though there were parts I had to skim.  Min is apparently an obscure film buff (made up films, but they’re obscure in the book too), and rambles on about the films and their stars.  Sometimes it adds to the book, and other times it just makes it drag.

I do recommend this book.  It was a fun read, but I’m glad I got it from the library.  It’s not a re-reader for me.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Broke-Daniel-Handler/dp/0316127256/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328626759&sr=8-1

There’s also apparently the “Why We Broke Up Project,” where people can post brief break up stories.  As a counselor, it’s interesting to me how people balk at the idea of journaling, but if you give them an online venue to express themselves (this project, Facebook, Twitter), they jump to tell the world how they feel.  Just something to think about.

http://whywebrokeupproject.tumblr.com/