Trent was in his second floor study staring at a blank screen.  Not quite blank, for he had brought up a picture for inspiration.  After a moment’s hesitation his fingers began to fly across the keyboard.  Many of his short stories were created in a similar fashion, looking at a blank screen pushing thoughts and ideas through his mind waiting for something to stick.  Usually something did come up and a story would write itself.

After a few minutes Trent stopped and frowned.  The story was too stiff, too clichéd.  Perhaps a rewrite would fix it.  He deleted the story and started again.  Nope, not right, so he did it again.  Then again. No, it just didn’t work, the story was horrid.  It was a cool picture, but no good ideas were emanating from it.  He had posted forced ideas in the past, but most of the time after the initial spark the story would grow organically, taking a life of its own.  Not this time.  It seemed like his mind was caught in some type of vortex, swirling around without hitting any real point. Continue reading →