So I Had This Crazy Idea

Hello, humans.


I have a somewhat shocking revelation to make to you all:


I like writing.


I know, it's stunning. I'm sure you would have had no way of guessing or predicting that.


Anyway, I enjoy making fictional compositions as much as I enjoy contributing to this blog, but I find that I don't actually do much fictional writing (or at least, not as much as I'd like to). Well, no, that's a filthy lie. I currently have two mostly completed manuscripts of not insignificant length sitting on my desktop glaring at me reproachfully. I've been working on one since last April and the other since last November, and yet I keep not finishing them. I also have a "short" story (which, if I ever finish it, is ideally going to end up being just over 10,000 words) that I've been working on for three months and am not even halfway through yet.


I don't know why I've been having so much trouble making myself write lately. If I really thought hard about it, I could probably come up with a lot of very plausible explanations (like laziness, my self-imposed and overly strenuous reading schedule, a fear of dissatisfaction with finished products stemming from my crippling perfectionism, etc.) but instead I've chosen to believe the very silly explanation that my currently half-finished stories and all my other story ideas are just so long that I've been daunted and exhausted by the length (but I am going to finish both of them before the end of the summer, dang it!).


So now we come to my crazy idea.


Several months ago, I asked my mother to, as part of our minimalistic homeschooling method, start assigning me short story projects (and I mean, like, actually short, not 10,000 words). The thinking behind this was that, since I respond very well to instruction I would benefit greatly from being told what to write about, and that the practice might help and inspire me to get through my longer stories. But, due to the miles of difference between my mother's and my personalities, this project ended after just one assignment.


So now I'm trying a different approach.


My idea is that you, my readers, can give me suggestions or setups for short stories, which I'll then write right on my blog and post for your general enjoyment. This will, in theory, accomplish the same objectives I was hoping to accomplish through the other, failed project, while also giving me the chance to get more extensive feedback on my work than I usually do.


And before you start asking what I mean by "suggestions or setups", allow me to say that not even I am entirely sure what I mean. Basically I'm looking for any kind of jumping-off point, which could be anything from "a story about a raindrop" to "the first-person narrative of a girl caught outside during an air raid in the London Blitz" to "a 'Doctor Who' fanfiction" (also, please don't actually say a story about a raindrop; I do not want to write a story about a raindrop).


So...... yeah. If anyone thinks this is a terrible idea or doesn't want to see new fiction writing on this blog dedicated to fiction, go ahead and say so and I'll try not to cry too much. Otherwise, please offer up your suggestions and we'll see where this goes.


*Takes deep breath*


You may begin.


~Pearl Clayton