Let’s Make A Story

   

    I always dreamed of being a writer, of stories. At my age now, it remains a dream with nowhere a fruition in sight. At times I attempted to doing it, but I was dumbfounded with the prospect of so many variables to consider in writing, even a short one. Added to it is the luxury of time to do it given the fact that I was so busy, and still am, with the very important business, of living.

    Knowing for a fact that a story must have to be formulated around the important elements of setting, character, plot, conflict and theme and not even mentioning some garnishings of tone, style and point-of-view, I hesitated countless of times when I was about to do it, until I surrendered desperately.

     For instance, pondering upon a principal character, who must be a male, since I am a male. What must be the trait of this male character so that someday even without much effort, a beautiful, kind, and rich lady could fall in love with him? Is he poor or rich? Is he intelligent or dull? Is he unkempt or self-consciously clean? Had he undergone a traumatic, or an uneventful but happy family living condition?

     In my contemplation, I almost entertained and welcomed a poor but hardworking male of a rags-to-riches kind, but I realized it is so familiar a character. Also, in consideration, I imagined a rich male getting poor, highlighting his coping mechanism of a sudden status change. But it too, I dismissed being too much of a mainstream.

   I really had to start somewhere. Must my character be one born out of petri dish which was injected to a surrogate mother? Or one coming from the outside world charged into earth to conquer it, in a sci-fi setting?

     Once I decided a character, a question would then confront me: Would I be able to sustain the story until the end? And to this I admit I would succumb. Why? Because even for this piece, I am already tired of thinking where do I go from here?