Guide 09
Sitting cross-legged on the deck of the boat, the Viking writes with a fountain pen in a notebook, surrounded by a compass, a coffee and nautical charts — The Hammock and the Hummingbirds, practical guide to writing

How do I stop brooding after a scene that hurt me?

Comedy journal

You don’t write down what you went through. You write down what you could have answered.

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The key

Write the comeback you didn’t have.

When it happens to you

The scene ended three hours ago and you’re still replaying it. You finally find the right answer — too late, in the shower. And it starts all over again tomorrow.

“Humour is my armour and my sword.”

Chapter 22 — Rikiki the Maggot

Rule to remember

What you tell, you endure. What you write, you work on.

How to do it, in 3 lines a night

  1. The scene, in one sentence. The facts, very short. “He left without a word in the middle of dinner.”
  2. The comeback you didn’t have. The one that came to you too late. Write it down as it is, even exaggerated.
  3. Make it funnier. A second version, shorter, more absurd. That’s the step that changes everything.

You’re not brooding any more: you’re making something. And next time, the comeback will already be ready.

⚠ You laugh at the situation, never at the person. A notebook that tears someone apart feeds the grudge; a notebook that makes the scene absurd gives you back your freedom. Your notebook becomes your workshop, not a rubbish bin.
I don’t stew any more. I make things.
Read chapter 22