Steven Scrawls
Sunday Scrawl #2: Mimicry
Sunday Scrawl #2: Mimicry
The knock comes at 3:31 AM, the metal bunker door reverberating with
two...
7th Dec 2025
Sunday Scrawl #2: Mimicry
The knock comes at 3:31 AM, the metal bunker door reverberating with
two sharp raps, and I shake myself from slumber and check the
monitor.
Tammi’s face. But then, it’s always Tammi’s face. I unmute the
connection.
“The summer after graduation,” I say....
Steven Scrawls
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning Not to Know
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning
Not to Know
When my parents sat me down in the living room the night...
30th Nov 2025
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning
Not to Know
When my parents sat me down in the living room the night before I was
supposed to leave for college, I thought they were going to tell me they
were getting a divorce. At the time, it was the most terrifying upheaval
I could imagine.
Instead,...
Steven Scrawls
Space to Play
Space to Play
I remember childhood as the slow advance of a great laboring
Seriousness. When I was...
26th Feb 2025
Space to Play
I remember childhood as the slow advance of a great laboring
Seriousness. When I was in middle school, an awareness began to settle
on me that great beings known as “colleges” watched from afar; by high
school I understood that I ought to order my life to be...
Steven Scrawls
Care doesn't scale
Care Doesn’t Scale
I met a social worker whose job was to look after four orphaned
children. She’d...
24th Oct 2024
Care Doesn’t Scale
I met a social worker whose job was to look after four orphaned
children. She’d alternate with her coworkers spending 24 hours at a time
living with the kids, effectively acting as their parent. The children,
unsurprisingly, had a lot of trauma and so her job...
Steven Scrawls
Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort
‘Small
Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at
Caribbean...
8th Aug 2024
‘Small
Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at
Caribbean Resort
Gabriel Martinez, a 35-year-old confectioner living in the Cayman
Islands, thought he was posting a simple promotional photo when he
snapped a picture of his ‘cocoa-banana-surprise’ and...
Steven Scrawls
Not As Giants Love
Not As Giants Love
Short story, ~2000 words
A week ago, when I asked you if you still loved me, I...
4th Jul 2024
Not As Giants Love
Short story, ~2000 words
A week ago, when I asked you if you still loved me, I thought the
most painful thing you could’ve said was no. I don’t know if you
remember, but when you said “Of course I still love you” and asked if
I still loved you, I started to...
Steven Scrawls
Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction
Easy
Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction
In Part 1, I examined a few
common tropes in...
6th Jun 2024
Easy
Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction
In Part 1, I examined a few
common tropes in stories and suggested that some stories might explore
certain questions not because those questions are interesting, but
because engaging with those questions allows the story to...
Steven Scrawls
I want to love fiction
I want to love fiction
I want to love fiction.
I want to love both reading and writing fiction. I...
14th Apr 2024
I want to love fiction
I want to love fiction.
I want to love both reading and writing fiction. I want to obsess
over the craft of fiction, to pore over characterization and structure,
to create stories that radiate color and humanity and hope.
I want fiction to be a tool for...
Steven Scrawls
Easy Questions, Part 1: Introduction
Easy Questions, Part 1:
Introduction
What if our stories explore questions not because those...
20th Mar 2024
Easy Questions, Part 1:
Introduction
What if our stories explore questions not because those questions are
interesting, but because those questions are easier to respond to than
the alternatives?
Trope: The Chosen One
What’s the shallow, wish-fulfillment version of...
Steven Scrawls
Doomr
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the...
14th Feb 2024
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the website for this one.