Conversations with an Unfinished Story | House Blog

Story:  Hey, you! What’s up?

Me:  Oh, hi, Story. How’ve you been? It’s been a while.

Story:  Yeah, I know. So… I’ve noticed that you don’t really have any projects lined up for the next little while…

Me:  Well, I’ve got that flight story percolating in my mind, and a possible dystopian story’s been rattling around…

Story:  Yeah, but those deadlines aren’t for months.

Me:   That’s true.

Story:   You know what you should do? You should use this time productively. Maybe you should consider doing something with one of your story ideas that you never finished.

Me:  Hmm… That makes sense. I’ve got quite the backlog of unfinished stories.

Story:  I know.

Me:  I mean, there’s the ghost story set in Halifax that I finally picked a time period for, and then I’ve just had this new story idea about a missing princess and an assassin and it all takes place in an alternate–

Story:  You know, I was also set in Halifax.

Me:  Oh yeah, you were.

Story:   And I was also about assassins.

Me:  Oh yeah…

Story:  *Stares at me*

Me:  *Not getting it*

Story:   Remember the scene in the coffee shop… With the painting and the croissants… That was fun to write, right?

Me:  Oh yeah. That was fun. And the scene in the apartment…. Yeah, you were a fun story idea.

Story:  I know. And you thought of me years before any of those other stories even crossed your mind, so I assume you’ve had plenty of time to work on an outline.

Me:  Oh, yeah… *Awkward pause* I should probably finish you, shouldn’t I?

Story:  That’d be really nice of you. I mean, as fun as it’s been to sit on the shelf for the past 5 years, I’d love to at least make it to Draft 1 before you start to lose all your marbles.

Me:  Touche.

Story:  *Stares at me again*

Me:   I mean… Yeah. I’ll get on that. Right away!

Story:  Thank you.

*Pause*

Me:   …But, like, it’s okay if I work on the other stories as well, right?

Story:  *Throws up their hands in exasperation and walks away muttering*