Another quick little post. Those of you who know me through here know it sometimes takes me a bit of time to get replies out to commenters. Just an odd schedule, Im using borrowed computers at the moment, and sometimes Im just plain lazy about it, Ill admit it. But hey now you know if you didnt..just give me some time and Ill get back to you. :)

Now.. writing tag.. I have the exact link to the post where the most current one is going on if you are curious. Its here.

Again.. its LONG. Honestly, I havent even read it all the way up to the current point yet myself.

Typically, we ask for volunteers to start things off. After one or two of these, people start coming up with the beginnings of a story in their mind they want to put out there, so we rotate it a bit to whoever wants to go first. After that, we take a list of everyone who wants in on it and randomize it.

First person writes a few paragraphs (dont have a standard, but typically about 3 or 4 to get people interested), then of course leave it hanging. That person then goes and "tags" the next person in the pre-determined lineup that its their go at it. The person writing their portion will link at the end to the next person in line, and preferrably link in the beginning of their portion to the person right before them. I typically will put up a list of the links to everyone for a cut and paste type of reference. Continue on in this manner until the story ends or the list has been gone through...working on this part still.

As far as genre goes... thats up to the people writing it. Dont really have any limits or rules or anything. Just get creative and go wherever you feel the story is taking you?

I have our other two (or was it three?) writing tag "experiments" in their entirety on this site if you scroll back a few pages, you'll see shorter versions of how it all goes.

Think thats about the basics. Oh.. and we are going to be putting a limit on how long you have to complete your portion. Too much time in between and interest gets lost.

Thats writing tag in a nutshell. And yes, I do intend on seeing what I can do about getting these little stories collected together and published somehow. Wouldnt do it without everyone's permission beforehand of course..

Thats all I got for now.. I actually have something else written I will get around to posting here one of these days...

Writing Tag...

For those of you looking for an update..for those of you new to the blogring...

Welcome.

We currently have a round already (or should I say "still") in progress. Its being hosted by Benevolent_Bloke this time around and is about 27 printed pages long.

This is not quite typical for us, but the goal was to let it go this time until the story finished itself off.

As soon as a new round begins, I will post the information here. Thinking of maybe getting a second round going since we have so many new members interested.

Thanks for joining... keep writing. :)

I have been struggling with the lack of inspiration in the fictional sense for some time now. Ive noticed a pattern, though. I go through periods of nothing, then sit down one day and some little random pointless blurb comes out. After that, I get myself back on track and can come up with other fiction. This is one of those blurbs. Kind of a rough draft.. but it will hopefully serve its purpose of getting me back in the "game".

Musing..

There once was this girl... well..more accurately, many times over there was this girl. She appears periodically throughout history, in different places, at different desperate times in humanity's existence. She appears and she lives with one purpose to her life- to inspire. She is a muse, yet she doesnt know she is one.She has never known, and never will unless this story succeeds.

Whatever form she appears in, she is born raised among commonfolk, usually, lives a life dedicated to others who eventually go on to make great paintings, fantastic sculptures, soothing music, etc. (once this girl even appeared in the form of a man- but that was catastrophic. A man can only seem to really inspire another man to start a war or blow something up). So each time she appears, she inspires, she leads a selfless life, then dies feeling a little more incomplete each time. Like any female, she does eventually want credit or some form of appreciation for her good deeds. She wants just a little "something" for herself. Each time we send her down, she gets a little less selfless and a little more impatient with men, or whomever she is trying to inspire.

We didnt pick up on the fact that her restlessness builds up until it explodes until once when she said "screw it" towards her destined "target" and started a whole revolution geared towards women. So weve come to the consensus that every five or ten lifetimes, she will struggle for a bit until we go ahead and give her a little something for herself. We have to watch her to see for sure when that time comes, because why give in if she is not going to fight us on this particular go 'round? Plus, her angst can be a great form of inspiration in itself. So we watch and see when she starts complaining too much, when she starts getting big ideas in her head... then we go ahead and give her a little break.. a little luxury in her life and just write off her intended target as a loss. Once or twice we missed the signs, or she held them in too well, and she ends up letting loose with her influence on the masses in one form or another, occasionally becoming her own vessel to bring art or music, etc to the world.

Its the year 2006 AD and as we watch her, we see she is getting overly restless again. We may have to give in, but this time it would  be a huge loss to humanity. This time she is stuck in a small country town in the United States and her target is supposed to become a world-renowned artist, though he has no inkling (as usual) that he could possibly harbor such talents. This man is supposed to create paintings so inspiring that even the government stands up and takes notice, creating a diplomacy between the world super powers that cause wars to stop for two generations. So to let this one go would be a large loss to humanity. Were going to watch her for another year or so and see what happens. Weve started sending multiple muses to different parts of the world, hoping to keep a steady stream of inspiration going, if only on small scales now since the world has grown so incredibly. Every now and again, that one large beacon of hope needs to shine through or else we get to go through the Dark Ages again, which was simply no fun for anyone.

Were on the brink of something similar now, which is why we need this one to work out. We need her to be a little more selfless for just a little longer. Spread her intrinsic joy to just this one more sorry, uninspired man before we give her a break.

Were hoping that by sharing this plea with a few people in a public venue, she will happen upon it, read the message, and feel her life purpose of inspiring others calling to her. This is just too important this time....

People say you cant go home again. Im finding this to be true. Because what is "home" really to most of us but a quilted together piece of fabric with little snapshot squares of moments? Whatever place is represented by the most quilt squares is "home". The only problem is that you can not go back and relive snapshots. No matter how close you get to the exact location, scene setting, and cast of characters- its just not possible to recreate the original feelings.

I went on a snapshot tour yesterday with the quest of connecting with some long buried emotions, just a connection period, to this place that is the setting for so many of my "firsts" in life as well as the home of just numerous powerful moments. I drove down the street that was one of the main arteries of my existence from its general starting point relevant to me to its ending at my old high school. Im positive the road continues on past this point.. but its relevance to me never had.

As I looked around, I saw some familiar sights like old work places and get-together spots, but couldnt seem to feel what I felt when I was there. That poolhall where a few of us from work would meet at was just a run down yellowing stone building advertising billiards and fun. I couldnt recall any of the conversations that we must have had about work or love lives..or even really who had been there.

I saw the place where I used to go have some drinks with my mother and eventual husband. From my current perspective it was just a sad looking dive bar with sad looking people going in and out. There was no feeling of excitement like I used to get when I would walk in and hear the pounding live music and feel certain eyes rest upon me, sizing me up, wondering why I was at this place where I stood out from everyone else.

If I had gone down a side road, I would have seen the Elk's Club parking lot where I learned how to drive. I would have seen that restaurant where I fell in love for the first time. I would have seen that haunting old dingy motel where I lost a love to suicide. So much to see on all of the back roads I used to know so well- but nothing to feel.

Of course there were places on this road that had completely changed. The building where my husband and I ran our computer business had completely vanished to be replaced by a stamped down overpass. It was there one day and seemingly gone the next. Just like all those old emotions that were wrapped up in this city. Here one minute- and vanished the next with barely any residue left over to identify what used to be there.

Im still not sure of the exact reason for my return to these spots. Am I trying to recapture some of my escaping youth since Im drawing close to the big 3-0? Am I trying to get a feel for what made me into the person I am today? Or maybe Im trying to figure out who, exactly, I am period. Maybe its just that I thought I needed places to remind me of old snapshots since all of my mementos and literal snapshots have been permanently lost to too many moves. Or was it that by returning to some place where I once had felt some power and control in my life, I could hopefully regain those feelings over my current situation?

So maybe the saying "you cant go home again" is simply about not being able to relive your life. Because anytime you try and go somewhere else to feel "home", you are trying to go into your past. Home can only be a present tense dwelling- wherever you are when you wake up and live your daily life. Home is not memories of youth. It is your day-to-day existence. It is the feelings you get every moment and must therefore enjoy or live in every moment as they happen. Because once those moments are resigned to your snapshot quilt, you cant have them back to experience over again.. no matter how hard you look for them.

Changing up the protected postings list a bit due to some past discrepancies I have with some unknown individual. Anyways.. I hope to be posting again. Anything Ive actually written will go under "protected" just because..

And trust me.. its not that I think it will ever be stolen.. just feels more spechial that way. :P

Hope you all are doing well and have had safe n happy holiday fun so far. Lets keep that concept up through one of the worst days for drunk driving..New Year's Eve. Please designate. Or stay in and party. Ok..done preaching. Now I think Ill try and post something silly and rambly on the 'flip' side.