You’d better get a move on, or else

Prompt. I know what a prompt is, or I thought I did.

I looked it up in the online Oxford Dictionary, which proved to be a bad idea – there is such a thing as too much information. The dictionary told me that there are no end of different sorts of prompts; it can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb.

Well, all that is completely above my head, so I’m going to stick to the prompt I know and love, the one that paraphrases ‘You’d better get a move on or else!’

A recent example of such a prompt came at me out of the blue recently. I belong to a Community Choir led by Donna, a remarkable lady who is managing to guide us through the labyrinth of clefs and crotchets towards heights of warbling for which I for one never imagined we were capable.

She caught me after our last Wednesday session. ‘Jos, can you take any well-known carol and put humorous words to it?’

‘Yes, of course.’ I answered blithely. ‘When do you want it by?’

‘If you can have it ready by next week. Can you do it in parts? I thought then you, me and Andy can sing it.’

There are several things wrong with this conversation. The well-known carol, the humorous words, yes, OK, but I find it quite difficult putting words to music. I have to have the tune on hand so that I can hold the de-dum de-dums in my head whilst the words get themselves lined up ready to go.

It’s no good thinking that they scan, I have to sing it through (under my breath) to make sure they do actually fit the melody!

Then there’s the small matter of constructing a sort of trio of a soprano, a baritone and me, whose voice very closely resembles the drone on a bagpipe. But no, I can do that.

And here’s the prompt, hurtling towards me like an angry rhino – next Wednesday!

But I did it! I decked the halls with boughs of holly, or more exactly a huge great Christmas tree that was never going to fit in the space available!

I responded to the prompt and triumphed, mainly because I didn’t have the luxury of time; I had to get a move on, or else! It was a prompt with a pointy tip on the end.

But now I find I have fallen foul of a much gentler prompt. It came at me in the polite reminder that I had a Prompt to write. I had three weeks to get that together, no problem. But there are an awful lot of tomorrows in three weeks, and I fell fairly and squarely in the ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ pit.

Then John emailed me and pointed out quite gently that he would like it by the weekend. The Prompt had transformed from a light tap with a feather duster to an angry rhino.

Ah! Better get a move on then, or else!

My New Year’s Resolution, which is now quite close, is to act on prompts while they are still at the feather duster stage.

Feather dusters are so much easier to deal with than angry rhinos.

Your writing prompt, for this festive occasion: Do what Donna asked of me. Rewrite your favourite Christmas carol – or any song that feels appropriate – making it humorous and singable!