The Big U

The plan today was to post the image of a representative handwritten sheet of words, complete with spike-hole. My new scanner broke before it even scanned a single thing, though, so you'll just have to read about it.

Of course, I'm not going to write about it, so we're at a bit of an impasse. To the subject-changing machine!

Amongst my writing weaknesses is an inability to write a believable villain. This is partly because I don't believe in villains and partly because I like to give the Villain Ball to a character and let him ham it up.

The first part is both a weakness and a strength. As I learn to accentuate nuance better in my writing, I think a story with no villains can work. My particular path in life has led me to the realization that there the only villains are those human beings more severely flawed than the rest of us.

All of the flaws of humanity can be traced back to The Big U. Take your pick. Uncertainty: Lack of total information and stability and time to think about it leads us humans to make the best of it. Unprepared: We humans are to greater or lesser extents not ready to deal with sudden opportunity. Underutilized: Idle hands are attached to the arms of the devil.

Now my challenge is to write a story where the antagonist wants to destroy the world, including himself and all his nuances. The potential for self-ham should not be understated.

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Murder most foul is what it was: a hot chase into a cool room for a cold-blood to kill. We found her the next day, lying on the bed in the morning dawn, dew and blood mingled on her forehead and staining her dress. Such a young life snuffed out by that fedora-wearing freak-show? Intolerable. Unheard of! Let us pack our bags with ammunition and limber down our firearms for a proper posse.

So peaceful, as if she were sleeping and not roasting in whore-hell.

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500 words? Yes
Book "Lived Too Long To Die" - chapter twelve
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Reading - "Job: A Comedy of Justice" (Robert A. Heinlein)