These Tender Thorns

Hello there,

I know I am not yet a prolific writer (that yet seems to promise a breakout that I am sure will not come) and so I am sure I do not need introductions. If you are somehow at a loss as to which of your friends this is, however, allow me to assist you a moment:

My name is Isaac Thornton and this is the website where I will work on my OCD: the disease of the mind that rears its head when I sit down to write.

I imagine it has not been so obvious, that one would need to examine each line in thorough detail in order to understand how those three letters are at work in these words. So let me shed further light on this tiresome affliction, and bare the thoughts that have cost me countless hours in front of blank screens and untouched notebooks.

Here it is:

When I write, I write with the same rules in mind at all times:

1. Letters that fall under the line (like the lowercase p) must either be absent from each line or be paired with another like it.
2. Proper nouns (those that need to be capitalised) should be coupled as well.
3. Quotation marks and commas should not be next to each other.
4. Punctuation should sit outside of brackets, not inside them.
5. Sentences should (at most times) include words that start with the same letters.
6. Under no circumstances are there to be contraptions, unless in texts, in which case contraptions have to be coupled as well.

These are the rules that affect all of my written work—from my texts to my emails, both at work and at home. I wish I could say that these rules have softened since I first became aware of them, that I have worked on them and seen success, but I fear they have become far worse than ever before. I have lost hours to them. I have, at my lowest, almost lost my love of literature to them. I cannot afford to lose more.

That is where this website comes in.

Here I will write with reckless abandon—I will not look back on my words, nor think about whether they make sense. I will write and write and as I do I will cut these rules, these thorns, from my side and I will hold them out for any who wish to look at them. If you have come here with the idea that you will be treated to fine literature or sensical stories, you will find you are mistaken. There will be no such stories here, none that are worth the time it takes to read them. However, if you have instead come to see your friend free himself from his torment, one terrible tale at a time, then you are in luck.

So come, find a corner and some tea and take a seat. There will be times where this hurts, times where it will hurt us both, but what wounds heal without a bit of hurt?