Hello, friend.
Did you know that today is the first day of story hunting season? True story.
I've been waiting for this day all year, and I can't wait to get out there and catch some great new content for my blog.
Feel free to tag along if you'd like.
I wonder what sort of stories I'll catch this year. Hopefully I'm a bit more lucky than I was last year.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying last year was a flop by any means. It just wasn't exactly bestselling, you know?
The stories I caught last year certainly got the job done and were inspiring to an extent. But none of them were really unique or timeless in any way.
Basically what I'm saying is, none of them were the sort of stories you'd want to drag back to the bar and brag about, you know?
Anyway, here we are.
This is probably a good spot to stop for a bit and start outlining plans for the rest of the story hunt.
What I'll usually do is set out several dictionaries opened up to random pages in case anything definitive decides to come wandering by.
A thesaurus will work too, just be discriminating because you can get yourself in big hot water pretty quick with those if you don't know what you're undertaking.
Sometimes instead of using any book traps I simply stand there with my eyes closed for a while, waiting to see if maybe I'll catch wind of something interesting. That's how I got an epic poem about a blind world-champion kitesurfer once.
There are so many different ways to story hunt, I could probably fill a library with the ones I know, and another couple libraries with all the ones I don't.
But however you choose to hunt, just keep this little piece of advice in mind:
The best stories are notoriously bad at hiding, but they're also the hardest ones to score.
…
…
Speaking of which, what's that over there in the bushes?
Damn, I think we might have ourselves a story here! And a very fine looking one at that!
Let me have a closer look…
By all Jove's finest bards!
Do my eyes deceive me?
For I believe I spy not one, but two stories over yonder!
Two most excellent story specimens, and both well within easy reach!
'Tis my lucky day today for sure!
Hear ye, hear ye all, I shall now make those two glorious stories mine!
…
…
…
…
Well, perhaps 'tis not my lucky day after all.
It seems that I have been creatively blocked.
One of the stories escaped my grasp, slipped my mind like a fond memory forgotten.
I caught the other story, but upon closer inspection I must conclude that it's no good,
because it doesn't have a conclusion.
Did you hear the one about the uh... uhm... the uh... shit. It's gone.
No, but just wait till I tell the one about the, whoops. Never mind.
Yeah. I was thinking that. Not anymore though...
Right, so I see the problem here. I've written myself into a corner. Time to start over.
Start at the end this time.
Good idea but maybe in medias res instead?
Just remember to keep your composure, or whatever.
Scone?
Ice cream scone.
The best scone!
Do you traffic scone?
Once but then I was scone
Never heard anything like it.
Yeah you have.
That's a helluva story.
You weren't kidding.
You are a natural at stories.
So are you.
I know what I saw in the bushes!
Aha! That blind kitesurfer you spoke about earlier was taken by the wind and landed there on the mountain. The only thing to hide from weather conditions was using the kite and create a tent out of it.
Being blind, the kitesurfer never realised he got company..
Yes indeed. Anytime you think you're having a bad day, just remember that poor blind kitesurfer. It could always be worse!
Yes! Poor guy all the way up there, with no idea how to get back home. Hopefully, his neighbour turns out to be cool!
Hard to say what sort of characters you'll meet out in those mountains. Crossing my fingers for our kitesurfer friend.
To be continued...
I don't know. That sounds like a lot of work.
Lazy.
How about a tall tale? I've always liked tall tales, being short as I am. Hard to drag back to the truck, though, once you bag 'em.
That could work. I'll start first thing tomorrow.
yessssssssss
I almost missed it!! Thank you, Brandt.
You're welcome! Did I miss something?
I almost missed story season, not you. Thank you again.
Ah! Well you're welcome, I hope you are able to hunt down some great ones. !PIZZA!
Remind to tell you.
You definitely have Lovely Unique Skill In Storytelling. You got my brain going to a different direction, only to bring me back to reality with a bang!
Thank you :) Funny how reality goes bang sometimes, huh? Have a !BEER!
View or trade
BEER.Good one! Loved this.
The first story of yours that I ever read, last year, knocked my sock off. You story teller, you.
Thank you :)
This year, I aspire to tell a story that knocks both of your socks off.
I already bagged me a couple, hung em out to dry. I think they will be some tasty fare!
Nice work! I imagine you've got some great food for thought there.
Oh yes, I think I will be making a stew!
Glad to see you're still out hunting, after having already accumulated such a fine collection of trophies!
Gotta stay sharp :) Have a !BEER!
View or trade
BEER.PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
(1/5) @brandt tipped @dandays (x1)
Please vote for pizza.witness!
If I were you, I'd just throw caution to the wind and put out a couple of thesauruses - really get a strong word scent going. They should be placed close together and one should be open to thrilling and the other mysterious. You are bound to end up with a mind-bending, overwhelming, rousing, fantastically, perplexingly inscrutable story. I'm sure you can handle it. I'd like to put my hands around it too...I wonder what I did with that thesaurus.
I know a certain blind world-champion kitesurfer who would approve of this approach. I can almost smell those mystery-drenched thrills already!
Me too. I think I am going to get off of here and go work on one I've already caught and have been keeping in a cage.