Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sentences

Here are two sentences from the same story. The actual story is nothing but these two sentences and the writing is influenced in no small part by John Irving, possibly the best fiction author alive today.

"The chandelier in my house was an Old World relic, something specifically called for and transferred across the globe, and has been in the main hall since the day the ceiling was built to hold it."

"The day I committed suicide I knew exactly what I was thinking."

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Two New Ideas

We were at a bar and I was talking with a friend. I'm not sure how it came up, but this is what he said.

"You can't fix holiness."

I think this is a great quote and opens many possibilities for stories and thoughts. When have you ever heard of someone trying to fix holiness? Is it something that needs fixing? Can it be fixed? I just think it's an interesting concept to be incorporated somewhere.


250 Toilet Seat Covers
I'm standing at the urinal at a bar and see something very strange. In front of me, written in bold sharpie, are the words: "For a good time, call 555-7682." Two things strike me. First, that is one of the most overused lines in bathroom wall literature. The writer really could not come up with anything better, especially in such a prominent location? Perhaps he has other writings scattered about with greater literary merit and this just happens to be the one that we all notice.

Second, that's my phone number.

The idea for this story came from two different sources. I'm reading "Straight Man" by Richard Russo right now and the concept I have for this character is similar to the main character in his book. Second, I was at a bar called Busby's and above the toilet are those disposable covers and it has printed on it, very proudly, "250 Toilet Seat Covers" as if other brands would never package that many covers together. So the story is about this guy, a teacher (perhaps) who gets put into these ridiculous situations, spawned by his number being written on the wall. It's basically a quest to find out who wrote his number and why and a story about the people who end up calling him. At the same time, he's trying to put a good face on his life by being proud/bragging/showing off something odd that isn't necessarily something to be proud of, such as housing 250 toilet seat covers.

Still fleshing out the details.