Introduction to Project 20:15

In November 2004, about ten years ago now, I founded Animatron Studios, my own personal animation and gaming company. I was nine at the time. At the same time, I created Striker Man, my first character, and my first crude series of animated shorts (all since lost to the virtual wind). Striker Man became the first of what I now refer to as "projects": self-contained universes with their own unique worlds, characters and storylines. In the ten years since, my overactive imagination has produced project after project: the current total stands at 36, if not more.

Each of these projects is different. Some are uplifting, some are depressing. Some are serious while others are parodies. They straddle just about every genre and medium I can think of: video games, novels, anime, films and TV, action, thriller, comedy, romance, sports, drama...you name it, I've probably thought of it. But by and large, all these projects have one thing in common: I have done little to nothing with them. Striker Man has existed for ten years now, yet all you will find of him is a mediocre, out-of-character drawing I did of him in Flash. Many of my other projects have never seen the light of day at all.

That is about to change.

Project 20:15 is a creative writing challenge that aims to kickstart these projects and bring them to a wider audience. Every day, for the entirety of 2015, I will write and publish a short story (even just a few hundred words) centered around one of my existing projects. These will vary in length, composition and tone, but will usually be labelled as one of three categories:

• Canon: A short story depicting events that actually occur in that project, but not necessarily from the viewpoint of the protagonists. These will be used to highlight a project's narrative.
• Non-canon: A short story depicting other random events that do not occur in that project. These will be used to highlight a project's characters.
• Gaiden: A short story set within a project's universe, but featuring characters who do not actually appear in that project, a sort of "side-story" to the main work. These will be used to build up a project's setting.

This writing challenge has four main aims:

• To celebrate ten years of Animatron Studios, as well as my 20th birthday on January 6th
• To kickstart work on a number of projects that I have not started or have stalled on
• To improve my skills when it comes to writing within deadlines
• To generate interest in my various projects

All the stories will be labelled according to their category and the project they are part of, so if you like a story from a particular project, you can easily find other stories from that project.

Hopefully I don't have to point this out, but the project will begin on January 1st 2015 and run until December 31st, hopefully posting one new story per day. If I miss a day, I will try and make up for it by posting two stories the following day. If all goes well, I will have posted 365 short stories by the end of 2015, all of which will continue to be available on this blog for however long Blogger continues to exist.

For now, look forward to the start of Project 20:15. I hope it will be worth the wait on your part, and worth the effort on mine.

~Ryan Nurse