Aftermath (NaNoWriMo Part V)

I’m not sure I even remember who I used to be.

At some point, everything just sort of fell by the wayside, friends, hobbies, interests. I used to have a girlfriend. Do I still have a girlfriend?

I really ought to look into that.

I’ve never been more checked-out at work in my life, it’s a wonder I’ve still got a job.

But moreover, I’ve watched myself, the part of me that I consider Me, chipped away, piece by piece, judged and found unnecessary to the task at hand, until all I have left, all that I am, is hands on a keyboard, eyes on a screen, and the worlds I’ve created inside my own mind.

Worlds of words, in which I am the undisputed master.

Because I’m done. I’m finished my draft.

Thirty-one days, fifty thousand words.

A victory well earned.

And now: To try and pick up the pieces of my shattered social life and psyche, and see if I can put them back together again…

Weekly Prompt Story: Turkey

http://oneadayuntilthedayidie.com/?p=24903

Aftermath

By Christopher Munroe

Every part of your life will be leftover turkey from this moment on.

Your breakfast tomorrow? Turkey Omelet.

Lunch? Turkey Sandwiches.

Dinner will be Turkey and tomorrow it all begins anew.

There’s nothing you can do to prevent this, no aspect of your life you can keep separate, Turkey will consume you, and yes, you will consume Turkey.

Watching Gili on Netflix? Turkey Time, gobble-gobble.

Planning a vacation to the Ottoman Empire? It’s Turkey now.

Yes, going forward your life will be a hellish, leftover turkey filled nightmare…

Wait, that sounds delicious.

Well good for you, then! And happy Thanksgiving!!!

Forced Focus (NaNoWriMo part IV)

I’ve been chained to my computer most of the month.

Like, literally chained.

Police-grade handcuffs link me to it, and I’ve given away the key. It will be returned to me once I’m finished NaNoWriMo, but until then wherever I go, my laptop must go too.

Do I want to eat out? Why not? So long as I bring the laptop and work while I do.

A walk? Sure! But the laptop comes, just in case I sit down for even a moment.

Some wild, “House Party” style house party? I’m not sure, I may have to opt out. My laptop might get damaged.

It’s been an interesting method, so far, of staying focused, and I’ll admit, I’ve learned a lot over the course of the experiment.

For example: Police-grade handcuffs are a lot more expensive than you might think…

…best investment I’ve ever made.

Weekly Prompt Story: Burning

http://oneadayuntilthedayidie.com/?p=24856

Celebration

By Christopher Munroe

Welcome! Glad you could make it!

Come in, you’re the first to arrive, but I’m sure everyone will be here soon enough.

Have a seat.

We have a great evening planned, there’ll be games later, Mitch over there is a tremendous bartender and, while you haven’t met most of the people who’ll be here yet, once you do I’m sure you’ll love them.

And, at the stroke of midnight, we’re burning the Wicker Man.

No word yet as to who will be inside the Wicker Man. I’ll keep you posted as that’s worked out. In the meantime, have a drink…

Motivation (NaNoWriMo Pt. III)

…and then, one day, you’ll hit the wall.

Maybe you’ve hit it already, at some point in your creative life. It’s likely that you have, everyone does sooner or later. If you haven’t, congratulations, you’ve got something uniquely horrible to look forward to.

The words will dry up, your mind will empty, and you’ll stagger to the nearest mirror to take a good, hard look at yourself and ask “Who the fuck do you think you’re kidding?”

The reflection will have no good answer for you. It is, after all, merely a reflection.

You’ll be tempted, in that moment, to collapse into self-pity, and when that temptation comes, by all means, succumb if you want.

It’s your Self, after all, if you want to pity it that’s your prerogative. I’d never tell you what to do in your darker moments.

That’s private time. And I’m not the boss of you.

If a moment of self-pity is something you feel, deep within yourself, that you need, then take that moment. Collapse into a well of doubt, and fear, and misery, and let negativity wash over you like a river, dragging you under and out to sea.

Take your moment. You’ve hit the wall, it’s not like the time was going to be spent productively anyway. Feel small, and stupid, and worthless, like you’ll never accomplish anything.

But only for a moment.

And once that moment’s done, pull yourself back together, go back to your novel, and get the fuck back to work.

Weekly Prompt Story: Voyage

http://oneadayuntilthedayidie.com/?p=24827

That Great Adventure

By Christopher Munroe

My mind is the center of my universe, and no matter where I go, there it is.

Everything I’ve done, every place I’ve travelled, I’m the one constant, the thing that there’s no escaping.

So I’m left with two choices. Continue running, or take time and look deep within, figure out who I am and why, and try to make my peace with that.

That’s no choice.

So, much though the prospect of introspection frightens me, alien though it seems to my worldview, I shall do what I must.

The time has come to voyage to the center of me.

Ideas (NaNoWriMo Part II)

Ideas are easy to come by. They’re out there in the world, laying about, waiting to be picked up by an enterprising mind.

You can find them everywhere you look, if you’re paying attention.

All you need to do is see the world as it is, wonder “what if it was other?” and proceed.

It’s exactly that simple.

No, I have no sympathy for people who can’t come up with ideas. Ideas are commonplace, if you’re not having ideas you’re not thinking.

It’s translating those ideas into words.

Words are harder.

Words take discipline.

And that’s where the problems arise...

Weekly Prompt Story: Voice

http://oneadayuntilthedayidie.com/?p=24770

Me in a Nutshell

By Christopher Munroe

You misunderstand me, I’m not unfeeling, merely uncaring.

As such, I feel your distress, I understand it completely.

I just don’t care.

I know you find me unbearable at times. It’s only natural. I am, at times, unbelievably irritating. To you, anyway.

Indeed, to most people. You’re by no means alone in your assessment.

I understand this perfectly. I simply choose not to act upon it.

Because, you see, I find the sound of my own voice incredibly soothing. Hearing me speak relaxes me to no end.

So, in answer to your question, no, I won’t shut the fuck up.

NaNoWriMo (Part I)

….and then came NaNoWriMo.

I was excited, yes, but moreso I was ready. More ready than I’d ever been for anything in my life.

I’d wished my friends goodbye for the month, booked time off work, even had my cable and internet cut for the duration that I might do my work free from any distractions.

My fridge was stocked with thirty-one days worth of food, so I’d have no good reason to ever leave the house, and the numbers of two pizza places and my favorite Chinese delivery restaurant were programmed into my phone, for the days when I couldn’t tear myself away from the page even long enough to cook. Within my self-imposed literary exile, I reigned supreme…

…and, most importantly, I’d procured one hundred twenty four tabs of LSD.

Two for every morning.

Two for every night.

I had a book to write. A simple story of a man eating LSD in isolation, trying to write a novel and going slowly mad.

And nothing would stop me.

Nothing…