Adding a Little Mystery

Let me preface this by saying, I'm not Goth. I just happen to shop at a store named Good Goth, and at this store that caters to a very specific demographic that I'm not a part of there is the coolest thing in the world: mystery bags.

The brilliant people that work there have taken their overstock, discontinued, and sample merchandise and packed it up into bags with a retail value of at least $40, often more. As a customer you pay $15 dollars for a black, non-returnable mystery bag. You have no idea what you're going to get until you fork over your money, grab your bag, and take a peak.

It is the funnest thing in the world!

So when I started my latest project I decided to see if the mystery bag approach would work for something other than Gothic apparel. Before I started I wrote up about twenty different events that I thought would fit in my story, folded them all up, and stuck them in a hat. They were things like "drone opens fire," "you get shot," "life support fails," or "________ pulls a knife." Now while I'm writing and hit a writing road block I pull one out.

So far it has added a little spice and helped me get over the bumps I usually get stuck on. Even when I pull out a paper, grown, and refuse to do it because the last thing I need is another explosion it still gets me thinking about what I do need.


-Aaron