Fortnightly Challenge #2

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Fortnightly Challenge #2

Your Challenge: A New Beginning . . . and Another . . . and Another . . .

"Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was." - Pope John Paul II

The question before me in preparing today's challenge was this: Where do I start? You already started, you might say, but that was an unusual case. I have so many ideas for more consistent

And then it occurred to me. This question is a question we all face on a daily basis. Every journey begins with a step, and that step is always the hardest. Whether it's learning something new, committing to the long haul, or urging yourself to get out of your easy chair and mow that lawn, it's that doozy of a first step that daunts us. We as writers come across this problem every time we write a new story. It's easier for some than others, and at certain times than others, but the first step is typically the dooziest. So over the next two weeks, get out of your easy chair and take a step toward that lawn mower . . . and then sit back down. Then get up again and take that same step. Then sit back down, get up again, and take that step again. But please realize we are not liable for any odd looks you may receive in this process.

Also note that I am speaking metaphorically. More clearly, your task is to write multiple beginnings. Whether this be through multiple stories, time travel, or different beginnings of some type throughout the story. They may all be different versions or revisitations of the same beginning or all entirely independent beginnings.

I realize this task isn't very clearly defined, but that's the point. A writer has to use their creativity, and if I tell you to the letter what to do, I'm not stimulating your creativity; I'm stimulating your obedience, which your parents or spouse might appreciate, but I don't. At the same time, working creatively with limitations, learning to think outside of the box even when you're in it, is a beneficial skill a writer should possess. For that reason the challenges will always have variance in degrees of freedom and limitations.

So for today, I won't be any more specific than saying write a story (or stories) with a combination of five beginnings. This means you can just write five short stories if that's the way you want to do it, or five chapters of your epic that somehow adhere to the "beginning" theme each time, or one short story with five beginnings, or five alternate versions of the same short story's beginning--or whatever ideas your mind produces!

Your Prompt: "Where do I start?"

Ameliorate Your Privy Lexis:

incipient adj. beginning to exist or appear

lief adv. readily; willingly

eremite n. a recluse; a hermit

obfuscate transitive v. 1 : to make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand

2 : to render indistinct or dim; darken