Cathy and I took advantage of the good weather today to do our outdoor winterization chores. We carried patio chairs to the basement, brought in the umbrella, covered the patio table, and cleaned out flowerpots. It always makes Cathy sad to see an empty patio, knowing as she does, it signals winter is almost here, but it’s a chore that must be done. It always makes me think about the last time we do something, perhaps not even knowing it’s the last time. I didn’t know, for instance, I was seeing my father for the final time one hot July afternoon when I told him not to work too hard just before he got in his car and drove away from me. “I won’t,” he said, and a couple of weeks later he was dead from a heart attack.

How can we use such final times in our work? Of course, if we’re writing creative nonfiction, we can write directly about the last time we saw someone, or the last time we saw a place, or the last time we did something. If we’re writing fiction, we can use the same strategy for the purpose of character development or to push the plot along. We can also use last times as part of a character’s backstory. If a last time haunts them, it becomes part of what they carry with them as they interact with other characters, and it influences the actions they take or don’t take. Last times can help create a causal chain of events in the dramatic present of a narrative.

You might catalog your own last times, or you might catalog last times for your main character, inventing whatever you can to help you better understand that character and the way they move through the narrative you’re writing.

This is the writing prompt for this week. Use a last time to put a character into motion. Maybe it was the last time they saw someone. Maybe it was the time they had to leave a place forever. Maybe it was the last time they spoke to someone. What happened to create tension or regret? What might the character be willing to do about that? Of course, you can apply these questions to your own experience in creative nonfiction. Last times. Go ahead. Write.