Hello, demons and debtors!

I’ve got a question for you. What is the worth of a soul? Can it be measured out? Because if the answer is yes, I’m already beginning to see all kinds of fun business opportunities. Apparently the rest of the community feels the same. That’s why…

This week’s prompt is:

 

The Soul Industry

 

RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!

This week we’ve got a very strange question to ask ourselves: how do you industrialize the soul?

Well, that depends on the nature of the soul. Is it an actual, physical item that can be manipulated in time and space? Can you extract it and put it in a bottle? Or is it transcendental, a collection of thoughts and memories within a person? 

In one case, you’ve got a commodity. A good, to be traded, sold, manufactured, hoarded. And then you’ve got to think of the commodity’s purpose. Why are people interested in it? Is it a luxury item? Are there demons out there buying bottled soul to get drunk on at parties? Is it a necessity? Do hollow holes in space pay some astral currency to be filled with the essence of life? 

In the other case, you’ve got a service. An effort to exert on someone else’s behalf. Is there a factory somewhere out there in the void where nether-beings are paid some meager living wage to assemble thoughts and feelings into the seeds of human souls? Do psychopomps make tips, like cab drivers, for driving you over to the next life?

However you slice it, we’re finding a way to reduce that animating force behind consciousness into something a little less abstract, and then finding a method of traffic. Not as grand a task as it might seem. Some examples of this already exist, in fact. War, for instance, you could think of as an industry of souls. People selling off their ethics and humanity, for the greater good, or nationalism, or protection, or money.

As long as you’re exploring what happens to souls when they become a thing within an infrastructure of handling and exchange, you’re on the right track.

Now, go make some ethically-compromised business decisions.

 

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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.

Tune into the stream this Friday at 7:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!

The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit, and get ready to help each other improve their confidence in their writing, as well as their skill with their craft!

 

Rules and Guidelines

We read six stories during each stream, three of which come from the public post, and three of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected from among the top ten most-liked of each post, so be sure to share your submissions on social media and with your friends!

• English only.
• Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
• One submission per participant.
• Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
• Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
• Submissions close at 4:00pm CST each Friday.
• Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name).
• Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
• Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
• Write something brand new (no re-submitting past entries or stories written for other purposes).
• Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
• Please format your submission as “Submission Title” by Author Name and be sure to separate paragraphs. (Example Submission)
• No fan fiction without explicit permission from the source’s owner, and no spoilers for the source material if you are writing a fan fic.
• Original art may be included in your submission, but is not guaranteed to be shown on stream. Only .jpeg format images shared via a direct link will be accepted. (Example Submission) (Information on “Direct Links”)
• No additional formatting (such as italics or bold text) will be applied to the text of submissions. Symbols or instruction indicating such formatting may render your submission ineligible.
• You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible, and your reviews must be at least 50 words long. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review.
• Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or attributions are guaranteed.

Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.