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Reflectivity

I only write beginnings and I never finish my stories.  There's no reason for it, it just happens that way.  I'll think of a snappy, eye-catching start to my tale, something that really grabs your attention and makes you curious, but inevitably, I'll run out of steam before the end.


(That, by the way, is a disclaimer.  This story is no exception.)


If I had to put a number, I'd say that I make it past the halfway point about a third of the time.  Those odds aren't great, I'll admit.  It gets worse after that.  In the next quarter, I stop writing the rest of my stories.


Here's a dialogue I designed for our mutual convenience to explain further.


"What sorts of things do you like to write?" Johnathon, or maybe Alexandra asked.  We're either sitting in a trendy cafe, waiting for our coffee to cool, or in a loud retro diner, fiddling with the straws and napkins before our food arrives.


"I only write the beginnings of stories," I replied.


"Just the beginnings? What happens?"


"I don't know, I just lose interest.  My desktop is a graveyard of introductory paragraphs."


They sit for a second on my weak metaphor, like a beleaguered hiker resting on an uncomfortable tree trunk.


"Well," they say after that, smiling a little uncertainly with the knowledge of their provocative question, "How do you know you aren't done when you stop writing them?  There's no rule about how stories have to end."


I'm nodding along by the time the finish their sentence because I've heard that one before.


"Imagine you were eating a slice of pizza, and then, a few bites in, someone grabs it from you.  I don't think you'd find that a very satisfying answer."


"Hm," they say, because there's not much else to say.  Before the pause becomes awkward, they break in with another question.  "What do you usually write about?  For your beginnings, I mean?"


"Whatever comes to mind, honestly." I say earnestly.  "I don't think ahead.  Maybe that's why I can't finish my stories."


Then the food comes, or the coffee cools, or I decide that I've written enough.


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