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To post or not to post

I’m conflicted. I have a bunch of available writing to shar, but it is still in the development phase. Should I post it here for feedback, or do I wait until the manuscript s complete and then send it to be edited and cleaned up and push it out as a complete item.

I am certain either way would be fine, which is where the internal conflict comes from. If I post it early, it loses a lot of the mystery. Yet, if I post it now I get the feedback (hopefully) that I need to make it better.

In the end I suppose it is just a matter of deciding one way or another, and then being content with the decission and following through as is.

Thats all. Carry on.

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S2: Chap. 1

Our second story in the experiment will be a thriller. At this time there is only a beginning prompt to start people thinking. I want the comment sections to help drive the rest of the opening scene. This is tough as there is little to work with, however, this is the fun in an experiment such as this… anything is possible!

–Prompt–

as of 6/6/2017

Louis scanned the table, looking for a sign that they would make it through unscathed. Fearing the worst, he placed the 4 and the 10 on the table. He held up 2 fingers to the dealer and received his new cards. Slowly lifting their corners he revealed a pair of queens.

Full house. Queens over 8’s. Was this enough though? It would have to do. They were out of chances.

Julie struggled again in her chair to try to show disapproval of their situation but it was futile. The bindings clenched against her chest and thighs tighter than she usually enjoyed. Her wrist began to sting with pain. She began to feel the warmth of trickling from her wrists running into her palm. Just enough to let her know the wire around her wrist was digging deeper so any continued struggle would hurt even more.

The dealer handed out the remaining cards to the other two players.  The betting started again. The man in the tie checked his bet, passing it to the guy in the green jacket. This stranger also checked, bringing it to Louis.

He sat for a moment contemplating his odds. If he raised, and lost, they couldn’t pay. Her bindings were already too tight. If he checked and the others raised, she might not handle any more. On the other hand, If he didn’t raise they wouldn’t dig out of the hole they were in. The pressure mounted.

“Tick Tock, Louis, Tick Tock…” Woodman pressed coldly and staring at Louis.

As he stared at him waiting for his move, he nodded to the captor behind Julie who ever so carefully dragged a blade across her cheek. Her tears smeared across her jaw line as he did.

“Raise a quarter”

“a quarter WHAT Mr Jensen?” The dealer asked condescendingly.

“a… a quarter-inch.”

One of the other girls broke down sobbing through her gag creating a muffled moan mixed with whimpering. The third girl was still unconscious from the last round involving repetitions and not inches.

Louis turned slowly to Julie and looked her in the eye. He mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ to her as best he could. it didn’t matter. he was in a unwinnable situation.

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Where to begin?

Wow… first post. What an undertaking. It’s one thing to create a blog and build on your own based on your own ideas and content. However, this site by design is the exact opposite. How can you build a blog with the help of other people when you are currently an army of one? So many thoughts. So many ideas, yet, too many of them require a readership and audience to be on target for the experiment. We aren’t at page 1… we are at negative 6.

When we talk about the actual story, not some beta, or alpha version, how should it be built? Should we start easy, or jump right in with a complex and twisting story? I think by nature the whole experiment will be complex and ever changing. Perhaps we just start and see what happens, shall we? We need a main character, or two. Also a setting; place and time, along with some simple thematic directions so we have a sense of what is going on. I guess perhaps we just start with that.

But how does one start with that if there is no audience yet to help drive the train. Seeds can’t be planted if there is no soil to place them into. So it seems we are in some sort of twilight zone paradox of a writer’s block-not-block. Maybe we establish mini stories and go from there. The initial idea(s) will have to be generated internally, and due to current available reach, the input and sway of the “masses” will be very, very small. This is o.k. This is how it grows. Maybe we don’t officially launch an interactive story experiment “beta” until we have amassed a following of 50 readers or so. Then perhaps the “real” experiment will launch with 150 readers or something. I dunno. Either way it wont start until I start, so now I’ll stop so we can start.

-BB