Stoician was quite certain that he did not like writing. At least, putting words on paper was something that he did copious amounts of in high school and he could not remember any pleasurable memories associated with it. As he related on many occasions, “I will not be going into writing.” Despite this, he did become quite able with the pen during that time. Significantly better than the average in fact; though, the other engineers that he was making this comparison with were probably a less than ideal sample group.
He did, on the other hand, enjoy reading. During his youth he would become engrossed in all sorts of fiction even to the point of neglecting sleep. At first reading various popular works, but when these ran dry he reached into the past to read the classics. Genres including fantasy, science fiction, action, and even romance. Over time he stopped reading and turned toward more creative pursuits. And create he did; first programming, then 3D modeling. But as time wore on he became distracted from these hobbies. Being tired by his formal studies, he fell into a terrible habit. Reading news and politics, more easily accessible than ever with the burgeoning of digital communication that had grown up alongside him.
One can only handle so much of things outside their own control and Stoician was no exception. He was receptive to change, but needed a spark to realize this. He found that spark, through chance or providence, by stumbling upon a short fictional story. At that point it had been a long time since merely reading for entertainment. As such, this had an incredible effect on his mood. There was one failing or maybe it was a blessing. Like a great deal of creative pursuits on the internet, it was unfinished or perhaps the author was simply a nihilist and considered the story’s current form finished.
Stoician then did something he had considered anathema his whole life. He began to write just for himself. Maybe it was the emotions from such a long hiatus in reading fiction, but nothing had ever seemed so easy; three days and six thousand words later it was finished. After looking over the work, he immediately realized one prominent issue. It was terrible. Thankfully, he had also realized something else. He enjoyed process every minute spent on it.
Over the period of several months, a goal slowly formed in his head. To accomplish this several actions needed to be taken; one of those, was to practice writing by starting a blog.
So, here it is. The rules are fairly simple. I will attempt to write a fictional story around a 1000 words (about double the length of the above) once a week.
It should be noted that when coming up with ideas, I usually have a significant issue. In all of the fantasies that I imagine, the plot balloons into a large epic (the old definition) with very little personal content or descriptive details. In other words, they have sketchy character development and little environment. Though the reason for that weakness could be that I have never actually tried to write them down.
So, for these super short stories, I will be focusing on that element. Trying to put flesh on the bones of a simple plot. To facilitate this, I will have a third party provide a prompt of a single sentence which I will attempt to weave a story around. Eventually, if this blog gains a large enough readership, I hope to attain those prompts from you. In the meantime, I have a reliable source that will do for now.
Realizing an end,
Stoician
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