So after I did last week’s post, WordPress notified me that it was actually my 50th one, which just about coincided with the 1 year anniversary of the blog too! Unfortunately, it was a kind of dour post, which is a shame for that kind of milestone. However… I’m here to make up for it with a much more positive one… a new book idea!
For a while now, I’ve kept a list of all the book ideas that I want to make into full stories. It was sitting at a nice, even number of 10, which already felt like a pretty long list of future projects, probably enough to keep me going for years and years! I think it’s comforting to have plenty of options for what to write, so if my mood ever changes, I know there’s plenty of other ideas to work on.
However, 10 definitely felt like enough ideas for a while. Enough to have lots of choices, and definitely enough to keep me very busy. So I haven’t been actively trying to come up with any new stories now for a long time, and once I finished one of those ideas and checked it off the list, I was so happy to be back down to 9, being in single digits felt like I was making real progress towards getting them all done… However, once again, I had another strange dream, showing me a whole new universe and story that I just have to add to the list!
This is now the third time that this has happened, and it seems like dreams are my most consistent (But still random) way of getting new ideas. I quite like this method, because letting my subconscious do all the work takes the pressure off me! Although, it can be difficult to get to a notepad quick enough after you wake up to make sure you write down the dream exactly as you saw it. Thankfully, these weird ‘idea dreams’ seem to linger around in my head a bit longer than regular dreams, which just disappear as soon as I wake up. It’s like my mind is letting me know that I should pay attention and write these ones down!
So, the list is back up to 10 ideas now, which is kind of fitting I suppose- as soon as I finish one, I have another! I also feel like it’s the perfect way to get back into things after my break, like my brain is starting to work again and is telling me it’s ready to get back to writing. I’m really happy about that, because I was so worried that it could take ages to get back into that mood again.
I haven’t decided yet which idea I’ll be trying to properly write next, or if I’ll just focus on the editing of the finished one for now, but either way I’m definitely coming out of my break, which is exciting for me- and hopefully a lot more of an appropriate update for the blog’s one year anniversary!
Photo Prompt!
So this week’s photo prompt is quite frankly gross, but it does pose some interesting questions.
Firstly, why would someone be eating beef jerky in a toilet? Just… why? And secondly, what on Earth is all of that black dust in the sink? Cigarette ash? Did someone enjoy a smoke after their pack of beef jerky in a Morrison’s loo? There’s got to be a (really weird) story behind that… But anyway, thanks for reading!
The Worlds Worst Writer (Maybe) 
Congrats on your anniversary! Dreams are awesome for story ideas. I also use them as a good starter for them. Your photo prompt inspired some flash fiction. Thanks….
Mini mart.
I listened intently, just behind the bathroom door of the gas station that I had found. The groans of the zombies and the shuffling of their feet grew distant. I spied the jerky packet as I darted to the relative safety of the bathroom and could still see it in the dim light of the ransacked minimart. The door creaked as I stretched my hand to the jerky that had gotten wedged under a cardboard display. The solitary packet must have slipped to the ground unnoticed by previous searchers. My fingertips managed to get enough grip to slide the pack toward me as my stomach grumbled loudly, making me pause, hoping it did not arouse the notice of the dead things milling about mindlessly.
Continuing the arduous rescue of the only food I had seen in days, I slid the packet ever so gently across the filthy floor. I got it; it was mine! I pulled the jerky through the gap in the door, and as quietly as I could, I closed it, but did not let it latch in fear that the noise would draw attention, then carefully ripped the packet open and ate the entire thing in one salivating mouthful, nearly choking.
The salty meat dried my mouth, making my lips feel like they were going to split open like old leather. I crawled to the sink, hoping that I could get a drop, a trickle, anything to quench my growing thirst. I stood and gently twisted the knob of the sink, eager with anticipation, but there was nothing.
I stared at myself in the mirror, shocked at my unrecognizable face, thin and covered in dirt and grime from my days of running in terror. I brushed the dirt off my face trying to find the person who used to stare back at me, but only dirt fell from my face leaving behind a scattering of much in the basin like a metaphor for my current life.
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Thank you very much, and I love what you did with the prompt, a zombie apocalypse seems like a fair excuse to be eating in the loo!
I’m glad something good at least came from that horrible bathroom! Haha. : )
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That sink picture raises quite a few questions, indeed! Thank goodness, another writer has managed to fill in the gaps…
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Yes it certainly does, I was glad to see someone had found a way to make sense of such a weird sight! : )
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