Skipping Stones on the Stream of Thought - #1

Sometimes I need to just let my mind wander. I would love to publish something amazing every day but that's just not how my brain works. Maybe that is going to work against me...or perhaps I will learn to let myself flow like a river and find a zone of prolific bliss.

What's important to me is the quality. I intend to measure my success not in the number of upvotes or comments, although those things are great, but in how many minds I can inspire. What's important are the impressions I leave behind.

This is the first in what will likely become a series of posts that I plan to use as a way to reflect on past submissions and ponder what might come in the future. I may also take the liberty to talk about a whole bunch of nothing just to see what emerges. I fully understand if you're thinking "well, this is a waste of time" and that's ok. I'll use the same title image each post of the series so you can easily skip over it as you're browsing through your feed.

If you like anything I have written however let's use this space to talk about it. Same applies for criticisms, as long as it's constructive.

So, here in no particular order are the things wandering through the space between my ears this morning as I enjoy my coffee;

• On the things I've published so far...
  • The Hallowed Wood - This was an idea I came up with almost a decade ago and never found the time to write down until steemit came along. The core of it is simple but I found it to be pretty tricky to turn into a story. For one thing the dialogue was difficult because I chose to tell it from a third person perspective. I learned that it's much more natural for me to write from a first person perspective. I suspect this is true for most writers. Overall the concept came out ok but the punch line might have gotten a little lost in the character development. It's a story about how an ironic twist of fate leaves the worst examples of humanity in control of things. I know, seems like that's the state of the world now. I guess I just wanted to drive the point home with a little dark humor.
  • One day in 2040 fiction contest entry - This was my first attempt at a writing contest. It made some money thanks to the curie crowd but didn't win. I was very pleased with the results overall though. The story came out as I had it in my head and even though I didn't place in the contest it still helped me to learn a great deal about steemit. Perhaps the most important thing was getting to know other writers here on steemit.
  • The Flint Knappers - This was also an idea I had from years ago. It was originally intended to be the story line for a video game. I would still like to use it for that if an opportunity arises. I have considered posting in the gaming community an open offer to collaborate on a game design project. I'll write the story, someone else builds a game around it. When I started this story I didn't know how long it would go on but I did have a general idea of the story arch. I have left it for now with a logical ending after 9 chapters and the possibility to continue the story if there's an interest. Three of the chapters I published got noticed by curie and friends which brought my reputation up to 52. I found out that's the upper limit for curie so while I appreciate all the help and attention I know it's better for curie to spread the love. From here on out I'll have to earn the big votes the hard way...quality and persistence. This series has generated the most interest of anything I have put out so far and I would really appreciate feedback if you liked and and were hoping for more.
  • Psy-Op writing contest - We're still waiting on this contest to wrap up. The competition on this one is formidable and I like it. I may not win shit but I am happy to be part of such a talented group. Reading the other entries has been a wellspring of learning for me. Thanks to everyone that have decided to make steemit the best place on the net for quality content.
  • The 5 minute freewrite exercise - This has been great for me to shatter the old writers block. When I started writing here it was the first creative writing I had done in years. It was like my brain was rusted. The freewrite has really helped to break free of that and get my rate of production closer to where I would like. In addition to that benefit it has been another great way to meet other writers here. I really like how the output is such a quick read and I think it encourages cross-pollinization of ideas among the writers that is universally beneficial. Thanks again to @mariannewest for all the effort she puts into this great project.

I'm trying to learn something new every day in terms of how to achieve my goals here on steemit. One thing I sort of stumbled on recently is trying to decide what format to use moving forward. Should I do a series (which is my favorite idea) or try to write a completely new story line every time I publish? When I started getting major upvotes from curie I researched what it was the curators were looking for. I thought catering to their tastes seemed like an obvious good idea and so started leaning towards the notion of a new concept with each post. This was because their guidelines tend to discourage voting for a series. They're trying to avoid someone just riding the same old one-trick pony, which I totally understand. Later I found out that I had hit my reputation limit for curie and therefore shouldn't really worry about their guidelines as much as being true to my own integrity. This brings me back around to doing a series and I'm now left to decide whether I should continue the Flint Knappers (which now has a fully developed world and characters) or start something fresh. I'm ok with either direction but I want to really cater to the steemit audience and what you want to read. Do you prefer a daily quickie with your coffee? Or maybe something a little more in-depth every few days?

I'm still defining my direction here and this is your chance to let me know what you like to see. I hope you'll let me know your thoughts in the comments. Still learning steemit? Let's share our experiences and learn together.

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Title image provided pixabay user: jacob_mckinley