So my new short story has been out for a week by the time this has been posted. True to my word, I don’t know how anyone reacted, if at all – I wrote this blog post right after last week’s, and just kept it in reserve for a week.

So, it’s called Panopticon. Largely, this story was based out of the idea of making an erotica story about absurd concepts. The most absurd I could come up with was the surveillance state, Big Brother, the NSA, etc. There has always been something so eerie about the whole ‘watch your move, because the government or whoever is watching you’ narrative. Maybe because I write erotica myself and I’m probably on a list somewhere as it is.

The first thought I had after that was some sort of story involving exhibitionism in front of a video camera, but it seemed too easy, like that would be anyone’s first idea if given that topic. Plus, it didn’t lead anywhere story-wise. So I came up with the kind of character that would work looking at security footage and want it to happen. From there, I created the unhinged protagonist, then Clara, then viola.

The style was a risk for me, obviously. I’ve heard criticisms before that I rely too much on dialogue and I wanted to try to write a story where I don’t really use any traditional dialogue. Even towards the end, I try to create the ending lines Clara gives the protagonist differently than normal dialogue. I also intentionally didn’t give him a name. Somehow, it added power to the story, though I can’t say how or why. I really enjoyed being out of my element – was it my best writing? Absolutely not, but it felt new and allowed me to explore further what worked and what wouldn’t.

Currently I’m working on GBM Chapter 5, but I will be doing a few more short stories here and there. I don’t know what’s best for my work ethic, so I’m experimenting on that front too. We shall see (hopefully good results) within the next few months, but I want to make another solid go at this. Until then, that’s my story. Feel free to email/comment/tweet with any thoughts/criticisms, etc. I’ll talk to you all next week.