Last year, I had an idea for a project that I would use to test myself. It’s a writing exercise, really. Every month, I’d write a short story based on the new issue of Wired magazine. My first attempts to get this project off the ground got walloped by other work commitments, but it was for the best. Why start this sort of project in the middle of a year when I could start it in a January and do a nice, clean year?

The aim is to hone my short-fiction skills by writing something new and distinct every month. The hope is to attract some new readers and bring them along for the ride. I could do this project behind closed doors, just for myself, but of course another hopeful aim is to teach myself to finish and part with stories more readily. Having a monthly assignment—and deadline—for that? It helps.

Today, the project goes live with the first issue (or “issue”) of Wired Tales going live, and free, on this here Internet. Visit that link for more about the project or to download two free short stories, presented as a single PDF (1.2 MB). Then, as a loyal reader of this site, come back here and let me know what you think of them sometime. I’d really appreciate it.

I’ve already gained valuable experience points writing these stories. I’m excited to see what happens as the months go by and I learn not only to write them better but to squeeze in the time for them around other projects. Leveling up is fun!

It’s a film. It’s a game. It’s a “storyworld” made up of flash fiction, interweaving Twitter tales, an ARG-style play experience, and more.

Lance Weiler’s new Pandemic 1.0 experience is an unfolding transmedia narrative environment centered around a Mission Control outfit located at the Sundance film festival. I got involved with the project when writer and editor Chuck Wendig brought me and a few other writers on board to compose some short fiction and a slew of twitter narratives for the event. Right now, you can see our Twitter characters’ stories unfolding, along with many others, via the #pandemic11 hashtag. Sometime soon, I hope you’ll be able to read my short story online, too.

Pandemic 1.0 consists of many interlocking elements for you to interact with. Check out HopeIsMissing.com for the hub of the experience. Read what Wired’s Decode had to say about the experience. Read what story designer Chuck Wendig has to say about getting involved.

As Lance Weiler described it:

Pandemic 1.0 is a story R&D (research and development) project, the first step in a larger transmedia build that includes film, mobile, online, and real-world events. This transmedia extension is set within the same storyworld as a feature film that I co-wrote and will be directing called HiM – a [Lord of the Flies] tale about a strange sleep virus that only effects adults and leaves the youth fighting for their lives.

[via HopeisMissing.com]

Have you already been following Pandemic 1.0? What do you think of it?