(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Write On! Pack yr trunk [1] ['Mettle Fatigue', 'Belinda Ridgewood', 'Nanny Ogg'] Date: 2026-06-04 . . . . . Tara posted this May 20, 2026 at TOP COMMENTS, and gave me permish to use it for Write On! Some of us have a tendency to hang on to stuff we don’t need, on the vague notion that it might prove useful later. For my wife (not coincidentally known as Packrat), this happens with belongings. For me, it’s more with my writing. I have a file on my computer for short stories. Alongside finished stories, it includes bits and pieces that never turned into anything, fragments that got cut from longer works, and an absurd number of old drafts even after I’ve settled on a final draft. I’m superstitious about deleting any of it, because what if it contains the seeds of a great story? What if my final draft and any backup copies somehow get lost? (Those who’ve encountered my technology jinx know this is not entirely a superstitious fear.) But I have an equally semi-rational fear that I’ll attach the wrong version of a story when sending it out on submission. So I recently created a new file called “The Vault,” and started moving old drafts and forgotten story bits there. I even steeled myself to delete drafts in formats that no one actually uses anymore. I’ll probably never look at any of this stuff again. And yet, somehow I feel better knowing it’s still there, like Packrat’s box of cables that could be used for….something, I guess? . . . . . And that’s where we get trunk manuscripts from for when we’re famous and much published but have a dry spell when a contract deadline is coming up to turn something in. Good to have a packed trunkful. CHALLENGE: . . . . . Some characters travel light, whether believably or not (I hear there’s a film in which Tom Cruise says the shirt, jeans and boots he’s wearing, and stuff in his pockets, are all he owns and it works out fine … or some such) and some characters carry a nice little Duffle Bag of Least Resistance, by whatever name (e.g., American Express®). Some keep all their necessary stuff where they live, in cabins or caves, palaces, apartments, or an upstairs room of the Startled Duck tavern. And some amid a hoard of things that might include a few boxes of floppy disks, some cartons of notebooks, dangerously towering stacks of paperbacks and hardcovers, and that’s just kitchen! . . . . . Based on your WIP or just off the cuff, write a scene of a character or characters URGENTLY needing some piece of gear, record of information, personal item, or other object — rather than narrate about it, show by dialogue (or internal monologue) and interpersonal or other action what’s critical about that object and where the character[s] would keep, find, or otherwise obtain it. Avoid magical acquisition — try instead to put some quasi-reality into the fiction. Or… . . . . . if you’d rather include magic, depict a writer on deadline freaking out about the electronic-file ms seeming to have “disappeared” and what frantic efforts may ensue to find it 😀 WriteOn boilerplate Calendar May 7 WO strawbale – – – – – – – – FWIP sagesource May 14 WO Aashirs Nani – – – – – FWIP mettle fatigue May 21 WO mettle fatigue – – – – FWIP mettle fatigue? May 28 WO [mf again] – – – – – -FWIP sagesource June 4 WO mettle fatigue – – – – – FWIP dconrad June 11 WO dconrad – – – – – -FWIP sagesource June 18 WO Aashirs nani – – – – – – FWIP dconrad June 25 WO strawbale – – – – – – FWIP sagesource July 2 WO ______________ – – – – – FWIP __________________ July 9 WO ______________ – – – – – FWIP __________________ July 16 WO ______________ – – – – – FWIP __________________ July 23 WO ______________ – – – – – FWIP __________________ July 30 WO ______________ – – – – – FWIP __________________ UPDATE: HELP WITH SCHEDULING A DIARY: by mettle fatigue for DK6Wordpress Community Tutorials It appears to work! 🙂 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/4/800048160/community/write-on-are-your-trunks-packed/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/