September 23

• I don't know to what extent looking at a new perspective can affect someone's life (no "hard" evidence). 

• I don't know if I should have the same structure for every story or change it. 

• I don't know my exact focus/goal throughout the stories (mental-health-oriented, to focus on the issue of a fast-paced world, philosophy, etc.). 

• I don't know how to format my short stories so they show two (or more) perspectives.

• I don't know if people are more open to new viewpoints now, in the past, or the same amount of "openness."

• I don't know how mental health affects the brain and if you can even see those effects physically.

• I don't know if I should look into works of philosophy relating to my topic to inspire new ideas. 

• I don't know how much I want to delve into the mental health aspect of my research (1 story or more than that). 

• I don't know the trends for attention span (increasing, decreasing, in the past, in the next 20 years).

• I don't know how to make people care about the issue of being detached to the point where we no longer understand one another.

• I don't know if I want to tie in personal life experiences and include a direct author's voice in the stories.

Many of my list of ten "I don't know" statements are vital in the beginning stages of writing the short stories. Although I hope to address them all over time, the best course of action would be to focus on how to format my stories (bolded above). I find this the most crucial because, to write short stories, I need to figure out how to display them so they are intriguing while still making sense. I figured out a few ideas over the summer but desperately need to test them. For example, I could write a story vaguely enough to be interpreted in two ways or about a person who used to be looked at strangely until changing other peoples' perspectives (yes, I have someone in mind). I also need to figure out if the format should include a short blurb from me as an explanation or leave it up to interpretation like a work of art. Before I can concentrate on my focus and specific goal, I want to write something broad to figure out which way I lean.