One of the most entertaining classes I have ever taken was “Science Fiction” last fall. Every week, we would read great short stories by authors like PKD, Ursula LeGuin, and John Crowley. Each week there was a journal writing assignment, where we were given three options: either to write about the stories we read, write as if we were continuing them, or to write our own short stories. Frequently, the professor would read latest his favorite journal entries to the class, sometimes reading entire short stories that students had written a week prior.

After two weeks or so of writing conventional critiques of the readings, I caught on that writing short stories was where it was at. Every week or so for the next 6 weeks, I’d pound out a 1-2 page science fiction story the night before it was due. Then the next week, I’d receive it edited and commented upon by both our teacher and his assistant. It was an absolutely wonderful experience, and their comments motivated me to write some of my favorite things I have ever written.

I’ve considered posting these stories online for a long time, but haven’t up until this point. There’s something a little scary to me about releasing some “real” writing of mine this way. I feel like it’s much more subject to critique; much more fallible than a simple blog post, since there’s an implicit claim that it uses English better than one. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed writing these short stories, and hope you enjoy them too. I would love to read your comments on them.

The following is my favorite story that I wrote for the class. Here’s “A New World of the Aesthetic,” written on 11/13/07.
Read “A New World of the Aesthetic”