Two Months of Retirement and a New Story

I can’t remember where I was when it happened. I don’t recall exactly what day it was or what I was doing at the time. All I know is at some point between 8-12 days ago, an entire story popped into my head almost completely and fully formed. I’ve been writing fiction for most of my life and this has never happened before. Never.

Here’s how it usually works. I will stumble on an interesting idea, sometimes it’s a particularly interesting character, other times it’s a fascinating plot device or an overall story line that I find interesting. Then I ponder this newly discovered idea for several days/weeks, after which I do one of two things—get bored with it, or start writing. Once I start, most of the time the ideas become short stories. Sometimes, blog posts. More rarely, they become novels. But this thing was different. The only thing that I can imagine might have prompted it is the fact that lately I’ve been thinking a lot about a debate that philosophers have been having for 3000 years or so—Do the ends justify the means? Or, put another way, is it acceptable to achieve noble things via ignoble methods?

Anyway…this story pops in to my head, fully formed. I knew who the characters were, I knew what the conflict was and I knew exactly how it would end. Poof!! But writing the thing was brutal. Hard things, terrible things, impossible conflicts, tragic people. (Think: Flannery O’Connor in a really bad mood). But when I finished, I read back over it and was proud of the thing—and convinced that most people would hate it so I probably shouldn’t share it with anyone. As a compromise, I sent it to two buddies of mine whose opinion I respect and value and asked them to give it a test read. They both liked it, although one of them said he was disappointed it was only a short story. But what do they know? They’re both dudes. I currently have it out with two women for their opinions (one of whom is my wife). We’ll see what they have to say. Stay tuned!

Tomorrow will mark two full months of retirement. I’m loving every minute. I’m getting in shape, losing a bit of weight and so far have not driven Pam crazy. I’ve also worked out the ideal retirement shaving protocol. I’ve discovered that shaving just twice a week—Wednesday and Sunday mornings—is sufficient for my needs. The semi-permanent 5 o’clock shadow which accompanies me most days seems appropriate to someone with no active employment obligations. I’ve also discovered that the Hope Cafe is an excellent place to grab a bagel and a cup of coffee around 10:30ish on weekdays. It comes with the added benefit of giving me lots of opportunities to annoy a bunch of great people who are all trying to get some work done. Always a plus.