Monday, February 13, 2017

Flash Fiction #08: Swerve



Another one of these... this one is familiar, but not a true story.


Once upon a time, there was a man named Vince. He was a struggling television writer who was hired to write for a long-running, once prestigious television show that was sagging in the ratings and on the verge of cancellation. Along with another writer brought as the other half of this creative writing team, Vince was able to craft scripts that pleased his superiors and tell stories that brought in the masses. This continuous string of success would give this struggling television series its best numbers in years.

After three successful (not to mention profitable) years, Vince left his position as head writer citing creative and professional differences. He would soon join a competing television program that was once triumphant in the ratings war against his former employer, but was now in dire straights due to horrendous scripts that turned the audience away and in-fighting among cast and crew. Vince tried his very best for nine straight months, but the audience that stuck around were vehemently negative and the critics who bothered to give the show the time of day were just as unkind. Vince eventually left the show, which was soon pulled off the air a couple weeks after.

Today, Vince has retired from TV writing and makes a living defending his poorly-received scripts from the failed show, despite repeated promises that he would stop talking about that largely negative period of his life. He also owns a pizza joint, maintained by a Kentucky janitor named Corny.

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