My Scareuary 2024, Entry 1: The Coppe's Webbe & "Star"

My Scareuary 2024: The Coppe's Webbe & "Star"

Welcome to the first in a series of daily updates regarding my Scareuary experience on this first year of the writing challenge! If you'd like to know more about what Scareuary is and how you can participate, check out this blog post. 

This challenge spans the month of January. There are no word count goals, no daily writing requirements - just a range of prompts and the challenge to write at least one story throughout the month. If that sounds like something you'd want to take a shot at, you are invited to do so!

MY SCAREUARY CHALLENGE: THE COPPE'S WEBBE

In this series of daily updates, I'll be sharing my process and achievements as I go through my Scareuary 2024 challenge of choice: The Coppe's Webbe. 

I almost didn't pick this one, because it's the only challenge that asks you to write at least 4 short stories for the month of January. On average, that's a story per week, which doesn't sound too bad. We don't have any word count goals, so the stories can be as long or as short as you'd like. You could even try some scary flash fiction!

I went ahead and used the random word generator today, and the first word I got was "star". I didn't like it right off the bat. The temptation to keep refreshing until I found something I liked was strong. But I kept it. So, that's my word prompt for The Coppe's Webbe. 

 

A little heads-up! If your randomly-generated word was also star, read ahead at your own risk. I recommend reading this after you generate your own ideas and decide on the stories you want to write about, so that you don't have to worry about getting influenced by me. If you're not bothered by that, read on!

INITIAL STAR RESEARCH & THOUGHTS

Already, I'm considering phrases that use the word, like star-crossed, lucky star, stars in your eyes, star-struck, shooting star, rock star, starlet, written in the stars, etc. 

There are so many - and most of them don't have a negative connotation. The pentagram star gets a pretty bad rap, but I don't want to go for the low-hanging fruit.

A little research shows me that:

• the Egyptian hieroglyph for 'star' was a five-pointed star
• in Mesopotamian cuneiform, it was an eight-pointed star
• Star lore is what you call mythological stories related to stars (like how the Ancient Greeks had the story of Orion the Hunter)
• there are a whole bunch of country flags that feature a star
• Barnstars are a decorative feature in some American buildings
• the Hollywood Walk of Fame... stars... film stars... 
• Starfruit could become an invasive species in some areas where it grows
• In WWII, the British used Starfish sites as decoys for German night bombers
• In the 1960s, the US conducted a high-altitude nuclear test called Starfish Prime
• the nautical star represents the north star and is presented in the style of a compass rose
• the 8-pointed star was the most common symbol for Ishtar, along with the planet Venus
  
• slaves of the temple of Ishtar were branded with the 8-pointed star

 

INITIAL STORY BRAINSTORMING 

There's probably a lot more out there, but taking from what I've got so far, here are some story ideas I'm considering:

• a character working in a museum late one night removes a star seal from a life-sized statue of an obscure deity, unleashing a monster...😱
• a spaceship travels to a rare and unique extrasolar system, featuring four planets orbiting a giant star; unfortunately, they come to realize that while the planets are habitable, they orbit something completely different - not a star, but a gigantic organism never before seen... 👽 (maybe some Lovecraftian space horror?)
  
• a star chart discovered on Earth may hold the answers to humanity's desperate search for a new home amidst the imminent destruction of their planet, but once they arrive, they realize they have traded in one horror for another... 🪐
  
• a shooting star falls somewhere off the coast of Angola; soon after, strange life-forms begin to wash up on the shores of the African country, and scientists are baffled... 👾
• a young woman's dream of stardom is within grasp, but the closer she gets, the deeper she is dragged into a world of ruthless corruption, until the young starlet is faced with the greatest demon of all 👿
• a rock star is given a second chance to mend his deteriorating image when a mysterious donor sends him a new guitar guaranteed to make him great again; soon, he realizes all those who hear him play become obsessed with him - dangerously so... 🎸
   

For now, that's enough! I think they're pretty varied... right? Okay, okay. So, out of the six, two are about fame (stardom/starlet and rock star), three are about space-related phenomena (shooting star, star chart, giant star), and one is about an ancient evil unleashed (star seal). But hey - it's a good start!

I'm not sure if I'll write all of these ideas. I don't know if I'll have the time. I might even think of a few more in the coming days and decide on other stories completely. But this is what I've got after today's brainstorming and research session!