i'm probably going to regret this

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

-William Wordsworth-

I suffer from the somewhat romantic notion that I'm a writer. I believe it grabbed hold of me when I entered high school and became enamoured by story. All but disregarding the sciences, the classes which received my focus were English, History and Art. Throughout these formative years I wrote short stories, poems, a novella.....I sketched and painted....all in an attempt to tap into my artistic side.

I'm not sure that I was entirely successful. Having gone back and read some of what I wrote back then, I can't say that I was blown away. In truth.....I was somewhat appalled that I thought I was any good at all. In any event, my chosen profession is not one that really nourishes the creative spirit, so once I entered university and subsequently the workforce, my outlets of creative expression fell by the wayside.

And yet, something deep inside me tells me that I'm still a writer, hanging onto the notion of publishing a novel or scripting a screenplay. I want to start writing again. Unfortunately, as I try to come up with ideas of what to write about.....I stumble. Either I think too long on an idea and talk myself out of it, or I feel it is too similar to t.v. show X or movie Y, or some other work that I don't want to rip-off. I need something to get my feet wet. I've come up with a plan.

I call it, Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Creative Writing Edition.

Lame as it sounds, here is the premise:

The audience, namely you, will throw out some general ideas which I will use to formulate a story, which I will write and post here. We'll need some structure, and since I don't have Drew Carey as a moderator, it will work on a first come, first serve basis. I've identified four categories of ideas, so the first 4 commentors (in the following order) will contribute to the story:

Comment 1 - Genre (i.e. science-fiction, adventure, western, etc)
Comment 2 - Setting (location, setting, time, etc), eg. space station, grocery store, feudal Japan
Comment 3 - A defining characteristic of the main character (physical, character, occupation, etc)
Comment 4 - Random (some random element to incorporate in the story)

Only one contribution per person. Suggestions should be short and to the point (1-4 words).

Folks....this may end up as a train wreck. I offer no guarantees on length or time for completion, but promise that whether it is garbage or gold, I will post something. Now....let's see how it all shakes out.

And. GO.