Work in Progress (No It’s Not)

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Seriously, man? You couldn’t even bother filling the main content of the story with actual words and meaning? Woah, woah, woah. Don’t come at me for not being able to find the right words. Heck, what have you written so far in this whole chapter? What have I written? Uh, huh. Well, uh...for starters, I have written the entirety of chapter two; remember that? The one part of the story about the Minotaur, and how the protagonist’s future lies in the hands of his supreme courage, how his words shape the soul of a society, how his sword cuts through not merely skin, but the filth of his enemies...and how-

I will have to stop you there. You are going on way too much about how proud you are of your own work. Remember, this is our work, isn’t it? You couldn’t even figure out what to name or make of the main villain figure in this story. A Minotaur? Really? That sounds like a ton of bull-crap, no pun intended.

Hey, don’t you make fun of the half-bull, half-man figure that threatens not only the main character’s life but also the lives of his loved ones. This story is about courage and getting up and continuing to fight when times are dire, and, and...uhhhhhhhhhh, yeah, see? Can’t even finish your sentence in real life; how do you want to finish the countless lines of this novel? How about we skip the content for a while? We are definitely not getting anywhere. At this point, let’s shift our attention to something we can actually work on together. Like for exampl-

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BULL-MAN?

CAN YOU PLEASE STOP YELLING?

Sorry. Jesus. I told you not to use your tabs lock for any part of the story, unless there is accentuation and emphasis. There definitely was some emphasis. Yes, I felt that. But direct it towards your “bull-whatever.” Not towards me. Now, back to what I was saying. We could focus our attention on...for example- Get it over with. I am trying, if you would not interrupt me. Okay, go on. Yes, thank you. We should focus on the title. The title? Yes, that’s exactly what I said. I paraphrased. No, you did not. A paraphrase means...

...ɿɘwoɿbiᴎǫ ɒ ƚɘxƚ oɿ ꙅqɘɘɔʜ ƚo ʞɘɘq ƚʜɘ oɿiǫiᴎɒ| mɘɒᴎiᴎǫ wʜi|ɘ uꙅiᴎǫ biʇʇɘɿɘᴎƚ woɿbꙅ ɒᴎb ꙅɘᴎƚɘᴎɔɘ ꙅƚɿuɔƚuɿɘꙅ. Iƚ ʜɘ|qꙅ mɒʞɘ ɔomq|ɘx ibɘɒꙅ ɔ|ɘɒɿɘɿ oɿ ʜɘ|qꙅ wɿiƚɘɿꙅ ɒvoib ɔoqyiᴎǫ ƚɘxƚ woɿb-ꟻoɿ-woɿb.

Uhm, I think you were looking the wrong way. What? The text, it’s mirrored. Can you repeat tha- Oh, I see what happened. Here you go:

...rewording a text or speech to keep the original meaning while using different words and sentence structures. It helps make complex ideas clearer or helps writers avoid copying text word-for-word.

Ah, I see now. Thank you for the info, I guess. See, that’s your issue. You always guess. I don’t even think you have any original ideas distilled into the very crevices of this page. It is always a matter of guessing or hoping or stealing or, in this instance, paraphrasing (wrongfully so). Are you through with your anger? Not even the Minotaur deserved this much hatred and agony. Can you stop with your bull****? Hey, this is a novel aimed at teens. No cursing. I didn’t curse. I saw that. I censored it. Did you now? Yes, see line 35. Oh, wow. I can’t with you. Get back to what you were saying. You are not in any position to demand anything. Anyway, I was talking about the TITLE. Yes, yes, I get what you’re saying. Did you just interrupt my flow, my verse, my line?

Sorry, pal, we’re in this together. That means we do things together. Albeit a bit different at times.

If you so willfully want to take the shackles off your writing expertise and honor your pen on this very page in spite of you not grasping any form of explanation (mine or other), please continue and aid me in the decision and placement of words for the very title of this novel. Chill, bro. Don’t call me that. Alright, how about..

“The Minotaur”? Too basic.

“The Fight for Freedom”? Too cringe.

“The Painstakingly Obvious Hero Showcasing His Glamour and Warding off the Evil”?

Oh god, what? This is not a Japanese light novel. Also, why do you love adding a “the” at the beginning of each title? It adds emphasis. No, it does not. Okay, Mr. Smartypants, you figure out a title then.

Oh...I am but ten steps ahead of you.

“Cicero”. That is not the name of the main character. Ugh.

“Collapse”. Very demotivating. What happened to our audience of bright and hopeful teens? Ugh (second time).

“Calamity”. Okay, you need to go outside more and look at a rainbow or something. Ugh, ugh, UGH.

Hey, I thought no shouting. You really do not like anything, do you? Well...the things you like don’t seem to be any better. Alright, fine. We leave the title for later. That’s what we planned in the beginning anyway. I tried shifting tracks. It didn’t work, did it? Stop it. Nothing works with you. Wow, that is a deep cut.

Your knowledge is a deep cut. Your work is so brittle, you could injure it with a paper cut. But I suppose no blood would come out of it. Otherwise, it would symbolize even an ounce of humanity oozing out.

You might have none left.

Damn. I- okay. I see. That did hurt. But I have a book to write. We have a book to write.

Alright, so it is decided. The title is “Work in Progress”. No, it’s not.*

*The rest of the story is unfinished, and the authors have not added any explanation. - Ed.