G'day again, everyone, from a Sydney sweltering in an unusually warm autumn. It's still so warm that I sometimes still get around in my shorts, which I usually never do at this time of year. Our thirty-second story from Aberrant Selected is also unusual. It is entitled Likewise Hearing. This tale is completely the result of writer's block. Let me explain.
When this story was written I was at the start of an episode of writer's block, quickly deciding to check the Wikipedia entry for information on the condition. I did so, and the article suggested one just keep writing, even if it's automatic writing, or doggerel. The important thing is to continue physically writing and then the creative juices should flow again eventually.
So, taking this advice, I took a quote from a Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, The Marble Faun, and used this as a prompt: it caused an action, then a reaction, then another action, another reaction, etc. Within the hour I had a complete short story comprehensively outlined, and all beginning from a quote that I used as a prompt. I then wrote out the story using the outline as a guide.
The method described above is now my go to cure for writer's block. I have had the block one other time after this initial episode, and my method of dealing with it, using a copyright free quote as a prompt, was completely successful. If only life were so manageable.
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