And that's how this article was born! [#TomoshibiCup6thEntry]

I'm Sumire Akino!
This time, it's an article for the private contest "Tomoshibi Cup 6th"!

As some of you may know, the common theme for the Tomoshibi Cup is "Cheers to the writers". This is my third time participating, so (even though there are individual themes for each tournament) it means I'll have written an article on the same theme three times.

Hehehe...

I'm all out of ideas...

Could there actually be people who have perfect attendance at the Tomoshibi Cup!? At the very least, I can think of a few people who participate quite frequently... honestly, that's incredible...

At the very least, Akino was completely out of ideas, so I was thinking of skipping the Tomoshibi Cup for a while... but.
I've had some thoughts recently, so I decided to try and write down my honest feelings right now.

By the way, the current time is 10:00 PM on 3/31. Akino is the type who shines when the deadline is approaching, so I'll probably be fine! Anyway, back to the topic!

Now then. This was just two weeks ago. My room was a total mess, so I was reluctantly cleaning it up.
When I opened the Rollbahn notebook left on my desk, I found a few pages of notes and sticky notes.

It was a plot and setting collection for a short story. It had a rough storyline, character settings, world-building, and themes all summarized, and it was in a state where I could turn it into a novel as is if I wanted to.
I was really surprised when I saw this.

...I have absolutely no memory of writing this??

It's not a scary story or anything. I simply completely forgot the fact that I had written it. I probably just jotted down notes when I was busy and even that fact slipped my mind...
As I reread the plot and tried to trace my memory, I started to vaguely remember what I was thinking, like "Oh, I think this is what I wanted to write about," or "I was thinking this because of that thing that happened back then."

And then it hit me. "-- Can't I write this now?."

That's why I'm currently in the middle of creating a short story based on the plot I dug up.
I'm in the process of digging up memories from back then and refining the settings, so it'll take a little longer to get it into shape...

However, at the same time, I thought something. This plot is (though it might be a strange way to put it) an incredibly lucky plot, I thought.

You see, I have a terrible habit of resetting. I can't stand having abandoned writing, half-finished plots, or poorly made works left behind. Usually, I just discard them completely.

Even this abandoned plot only remained by chance. Normally, I would have deleted it in an instant.
Conversely, there must have been heaps of good things among the pieces I've already deleted. If I had kept them, they might have been useful for something.
......Now, I regret having deleted them.

――Returning to the topic of the Tomoshibi Cup here. The individual theme this time is "Celebration".
Everyone, do you remember the thumbnail image for this article?
Yes, it's the picture with the "Happy Birthday" balloons floating. Akino is about to try to wrap this up nicely by tying it into a birthday celebration――!

......Jokes aside.

Celebrations often involve when you have achieved something, like entrance, graduation, or passing an exam, don't they?
Compared to that, I think birthday celebrations are unique. You don't have to achieve anything.You just celebrate the fact that you were born and that you still exist in this world.
But well, that's obvious, isn't it? Of course, achieving something is wonderful, but people often say, "Just being alive is an achievement in itself!"

If only we could view writing in the same way, it would be much easier.
"It's meaningless if you don't finish it," "It's meaningless if it doesn't get across to the reader," "It's meaningless if you don't leave results." I think people have various things they want to achieve through writing, but that doesn't mean the writing that failed to do so becomes worthless.

There is goodness in half-finished plots, sometimes scribbled words can move the heart, and it's often the case that writing that hasn't won any awards is super interesting.

......That's what I thought, so I hurriedly put it into this form.
After all, it would be counterproductive if I thought about all this but missed writing it down and forgot it!
Even if I feel embarrassed about it later, I definitely won't delete it! Promise!!

So, that's all from Akino, sent with nothing but honest feelings!
See you!!

――By the way.
Exactly one year ago, I wrote my first article for this Tomoshibi Cup.
This article here↓↓

Today, this article celebrates its 1st birthday.
Reading it back makes me feel a little ticklish, but I'm glad I put it into words and gave it form.

Happy Birthday!!

I am participating in this project↓↓