A Project, At Last

I have no ideas. Zero. This isn't even writer's block. This is just writer's meh.

I want to work on something. Anything. I've been going through all these writing prompts and nothing has ignited that spark. I'm trying to make a fire with wet paper over here. Any little inkling of an idea I get quickly drives itself into the ground in a spectacular show of boringness. They never even have a chance. As I try to develop them, the creative part of my brain just fucks off, leaving the part of my brain that ruins things.

I had this whole plan at work today. I was going to come home, pick a prompt from my giant list, and talk a bit about its possibilities. What I could do with it. What sort of characters might be called for. And then I'd write an actual short story for Friday. Then I got home, looked at the prompts, and thbpbp! Nothing good.

All I really have right now is a song that was stuck in my head earlier. I'm determined to pull a story out of it. Something about a deal with the devil, I think. Or a mission from, uh, upstairs. One or the other. Or shit, maybe both. I'm not really sure who's side we're on. I don't think anyone knows.

This was the most relevant bit, that got me started on all this:

"If heaven's grief brings hell's reign

Then I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday."

Like, what does that even mean? I've got this vague idea about being sent back in time to fix a decision or something. To, you know, save the world. Or yourself. One or the other. Or yeah, maybe both. I feel like I'm going in circles here.

This, folks, is the wild practice of getting inspiration from songs. It's a… messy business. Typically, you're not following all the lyrics exactly, otherwise you wouldn't end up with anything very original, just the song in prose form. So instead, you're going off feelings, and random lines here and there. I mean, it's "inspired by" not "based on."

I've done this before, with mild success. That was my story "Unknown Soldier," which is floating around here somewhere. That also involved a guy going back in time… I promise that's not a requirement.

So here is what I imagine, right now. You've got a dude. Not what I'd call a good guy, but he doesn't eat people or anything. I think some kind of afterlife shenanigans may be involved, and then, yes, probably time travel. Or something. To save the world. Or, wait. Wait, wait. He's dead. So dead. You know how I love killing people. Uh, characters, I mean. And now he's gotta do something in exchange for more time.

This kind of makes sense to me. Hopefully it will make sense to you to. When I write it.

On Friday.