Sorry, still in Oscar mode here.

The fact is, I have read all the submissions from the first week, pondered the various directions they might send our communal story, and picked the one I like best.

It wasn’t easy. Several were very good, and all of them demanded thought. This early work is key to setting up a story that will still be engaging our minds and emotions months from now. Participants should think beyond the actual pages they write to the situations they’re setting up and the possible resolutions to follow. In reading each of those submissions, I have to do the same.

That reminds me -- in the future, if your pages lay the foundation for some brilliant but obscure plot twist and you’re not sure I’ll grasp their depth, feel free to add a cover note; I’ll take it into consideration. No need to do this if you think the pages speak for themselves.

We’re still working out some formatting issues here and trying to get comments enabled so all of you, even those who don’t submit scenes, can help shape our story. I’ll get the second round of pages posted Wednesday, as promised, and we’ll go from there.