First, Some Words:

This post is sort of late. I usually try to get these prompts down and posted before dinner on Sunday evenings, but it is now nearly 6:30 and I’m feeling less than thoroughly motivated. I don’t know why, precisely. Could be that I’ve started submitting stories again, and getting nothing but form rejections. I had promised myself, a couple of years ago, that I wouldn’t be so precious about my stories sending them out, but rejections still kind of hurt. There’s no getting around that. And rejections are not just demoralizing, they can affect motivation to write as well.

Arley Sorg, agent and editor and writer, has posted several times on social media that rejections do not mean that you’re not a good writer, and that is true. I like to write, I have fun with it, and I like it when people read what I’ve written. Still, it’s nice to get some editorial validation once in awhile.

Still, though. There’s nothing to do for it but to keep writing, keep revising, keep submitting, and keep aiming high.

Last Week’s Story:

Last week’s story, “Breaking the Chains”, is as yet unfinished. It’s going well, for what it is, but it’s also a victim of my lack of motivation. I hope to have it finished tomorrow (since I have Labor Day off from work, and labor rights is sort of a theme in the story), or maybe Tuesday. We’ll see.

This Week’s Prompt:

I rolled a 2 on the d8, meaning Main Deck; and a 5 on the d6, meaning mystery. So. A mystery story that is not fantasy, horror, or science fiction (well, it could be one of those but I’m not constrained by the deck that I got). So here’s the prompt:

A criminal wants to save a vast maze, but it will mean forgiving family.

My first thought upon reading this prompt is, “Huh?” What does it mean to save a maze? Save it from what? From whom? What sort of fate could arise that could cause harm to a vast maze? How could a criminal save a maze from that fate? I’m not sure, but maybe I can find some inspiration from the fourth story I wrote, “The Labyrinth at the End of the World”. Honestly, I’ve written so many of these stories that I have no idea what some of them are about. In a way, that’s funny; in a way, it’s kind of strange.

But this sort of thing happens to writers. A few years ago I found a subfolder in my “unfinished novels” folder on my hard drive called Down to Ninevah. There was nothing in that folder save a blank document with that title. I fretted and pondered on this for days before mentioning it on Facebook, only to have my good from JT comment that it sounded like a retelling of the Biblical Book of Jonah. And then it clicked: I was indeed going to write a modern take on Jonah’s tale! It was set to be a coming-of-age story with epic events set in the mid or late 90s. I have always found the Book of Jonah to be one of the funniest books of the Bible, especially the end, and that’s a story that my soul wants to write. Gonna be awhile before I get to it, if I ever do. Right now, I’m still writing Witness to the Scourge, and my motivation for that one (along, as I mentioned, with my motivation for any writing) is in the doldrums.

This Week’s Recommendation:

Is this story, “Tuesday, June 13, at the South Valley Time Loop Support Group“, written by Heather Kamins and published in Escape Pod. I’m a sucker for a good time loop story, and this is a good one. Enjoy! I recommend listening to it rather than just reading it, but either way is a cracking good tale.

That’s is for this week. As always: Stay safe, stay kind, stay weird, stay punk as fuck, and have fun!