My site, Polycat.net, has been without a focus for a long time now, as my pathetic excuse for a blog has been the sole purpose it has been serving since... well, it's existence.

The time for change is now.

In the coming week(s), I will be working on a new system to support the new focus on short stories. Once the system is in place, I will be writing a new short story every week, and releasing it on the site (I will also update this blog, on JoeUser, with news of the release) every Monday. This formula seems to work well for webcomics, a joy which I partake in on an almost daily basis, so I'll steal it for my own purposes. My reasoning for choosing a short story for a weekly release, rather than a comic or something similar, is twofold: A) I love writing short stories, and I have absolutely no artistic talent (See: the current site logo).

Here are the details about the stories that, for the most part, are fairly concrete:

• There will be only one reoccuring character: the narrator (if the story is told from a 1st-person perspective), or simply the main character (if from the 3rd-person perspective). This character's personality will remain constant throughout the stories, even though the events from story-to-story may not. And though this character will be reoccuring, he (yes, he) will not necessarily be a part of every story.
• The stories will not necessarily follow any sort of linear narrative or chronological order. Some stories may appear as a continuous "series," but for the most part, each story from week-to-week may be completely different.
• There is no set length for a story. The minimum length will probably be 3-4 pages (Measured in Word with a 12-point font, and 1.5 line spacing between lines). Most will probably be 6-10 pages.
• There will be three versions of each story available for reading: the entire story as an in-site page (most likely following the site's design), a DOC file, and a PDF file. Both of the latter will be available for download.
• There is no set genre. Most will probably actually have no definable genre, as my writing style tends to lean that way. There should be something for everybody though.
• There will be a wide spectrum of content in each story. What I mean by this is that some stories will appease even the most moral and sqeaumish reader happy, while some will send that same person into shock. I will try to post a kind of "warning" if certain stories should be skipped for the light of heart.
• There will be some kind of way for readers to comment on each individual story on the site. Somehow.

That's really all I can think of at this point in time. Once the system for managing the stories as a whole (as well as a week-to-week basis) is in place, I'll upload a few of my stories from the last year: Retribution, Brown-Haired Girl, and Jack and Jill as a means to test out the system. After this has been done, the newest story, which I'm working on now, will be posted on that following Monday.

This whole idea is on a trial basis (which will probably last a few months) before I decide whether or not this idea will stick, but I'm definitely going to give it my full effort. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, leave them as a comment here.