When I was writing it, the idea of a thoroughly unimpressed figure was appealing. Just… dry. Wandering the backrooms with profound indifference. It was really fun to write in that mindset.
I love how you left us with so much questions. The narrator's thoughts seeming to pick up and mirror the mundane-turned -eerie aspect of the environment he found himself in made the story feel an unusual and fascinating mixture of cozy and foreboding. I loved it! 💚
I think the backrooms are such a fascinating piece of liminal fiction real estate because of it being… kind of a total sandbox for whatever you want there to some extent. Like I feel there are rules, but I can’t articulate what fits or doesn’t, you just… know? So weird. But thank you :)
Thank you for the compliment! The prologue to a larger story is something I am starting to hear a lot of with my other pieces too. But when I write it, it *feels* finished to me afterwards, and before I have time to reconsider, I get the "Oooh Shiny new idea!" impulse and wander off to write something else. I think I may need to sit down and revisit what I've been doing. You got me thinking!
Writing a prologue is not something that comes easily to many writers. They'll spend paragraphs tediously explaining the environment while the reader is wondering where the story is. You do it naturally, and yeah, your stories feel short as a result because we’re left wanting more of the world you teased us all with.
He was trapped
in an infinite liminal space.
His main complaint:
the playground fill
could be improved.
— AËLA
When I was writing it, the idea of a thoroughly unimpressed figure was appealing. Just… dry. Wandering the backrooms with profound indifference. It was really fun to write in that mindset.
I love how you left us with so much questions. The narrator's thoughts seeming to pick up and mirror the mundane-turned -eerie aspect of the environment he found himself in made the story feel an unusual and fascinating mixture of cozy and foreboding. I loved it! 💚
I think the backrooms are such a fascinating piece of liminal fiction real estate because of it being… kind of a total sandbox for whatever you want there to some extent. Like I feel there are rules, but I can’t articulate what fits or doesn’t, you just… know? So weird. But thank you :)
There is so much effortless, natural world-building here. It's bonkers. This is one of those pieces that could be a prologue to a larger story.
Thank you for the compliment! The prologue to a larger story is something I am starting to hear a lot of with my other pieces too. But when I write it, it *feels* finished to me afterwards, and before I have time to reconsider, I get the "Oooh Shiny new idea!" impulse and wander off to write something else. I think I may need to sit down and revisit what I've been doing. You got me thinking!
Writing a prologue is not something that comes easily to many writers. They'll spend paragraphs tediously explaining the environment while the reader is wondering where the story is. You do it naturally, and yeah, your stories feel short as a result because we’re left wanting more of the world you teased us all with.
"If not story, why story shaped?!"
A nice piece of writing. I enjoyed it. :)