The Roommate Chronicles

My favorite way to quiet my mind from going into dark places it has no business wasting time in is to create new stories.

Writing is a form of mental health for me.

Lately, I’m considering writing a book about roommates.

I’ve had more than 28.

That’s just the roommates I’ve had as an adult.

If you count my childhood roommates, it’s more.

I’m still looking for the thread that weaves these roommates together, besides me.

What is the theme?

How do I go from living with roommates 1,2,3, &,4, living my first year in Boulder, CO as a 19-year-old, to living with roommates 26,27,28 as a 33-year-old?

Do I count family as roommates?

Cause if so, that number will be higher.

Do I wrap each chapter in a pretty bow?

Do I leave gaps?

Do I tell the story from each roommate’s perspective? That would be hard, but a fun challenge.

I like a challenge.

How much time do I want to commit to these short stories?
Do I choose one main story from each house?

The houses are characters too.

So many different spaces, odd rooms, a community kitchen, and living room living.

Maybe I will write first impressions.

That’s my favorite part of finding a new roommate.
The feeling that this person, this home, feels safe, and I can see myself stepping into the unknown there.

I can show the first time I went to Boulder and toured four very different houses and met three completely different environments.

Add in a couple of scenes.

Roommate is exploding about the dishes.

Roommate is infuriated by other roommates’ stiletto heels waking him up in the middle of the night.

Roommate me—listening and observing these fascinating humans, feeling grateful for the company.

Me living in my dream of a sitcom, surrounded by interesting people, life drama, and new days.

Does this sound interesting to you?

If you have been thinking about writing.
DO IT!
Pick a house you remember and draw it out.
Pull one memory from the house.
Start there and write

Let your imagination go wherever it goes.

This is the joy of creating for creation's sake.

Art for art’s sake.

All my love.