200 CCs - July 2016

the draw
The Ouroboros: a snake devouring its own tail,
beginning and ending in the same place, infinite
in its recursion. The ancient symbol has a lot of
significance and multiple meanings (don’t all
symbols, though?) but among them is that of
cycle.
Cycles are a standard aspect of life: calendars,
seasons, election cycles, daily routines. What I’ve
been thinking about a lot as we put to bed the
final issue in our first volume and begin the
process of starting (in some senses) all over again
with Volume 2, is that strange nexus point where
a cycle resets. The point where something could
be a start or it could, just as easily, be an end. If
you didn’t know which direction the camera was
facing on this month’s cover image, would you be
able to tell if it were sunrise or sunset, for
instance? Would it change the perception of the
image: one of maybe hope and optimism
versus reflection and closure?
In the 90s, a pop song repeated, “every new
beginning comes from some other beginning’s
end.” At the time, I thought it was particularly
poignant and insightful. But what I love about
Ouroboros is that you can so easily look at the
flip side. Every ending leaves an opening for
another new beginning. Two ways of saying
the same thing, but which is the hopeful and
which is the melancholy? Both. And either.
Round and round we go.
Ending the first six months of 200 CCs is a
time for reflection. Thirty-seven stories in six
months from thirty-five different authors. It’s
also time to look ahead. We’ve got sixty more
stories in the works to bring over the next six
months.
But what then?
Because here’s the thing about cycles:
they’re not the same as repetitions. They are
frameworks for similar but not identical
events. Volume 2 will be much like Volume 1. It
will still be edited by me, it will still feature
roughly 200 word stories collected monthly; there
Snake Eats Tail
4
will be holiday stories and ezine issues and
editorials. But cycles build off each other, and
create context for the next iterations. Volume 2
will be almost twice as large as Volume 1,
because we learned last month that double the
stories makes for better monthlies. Guest Editors
will be more involved because I learned through
trial and error that their contributions are not just
a favor from a friend but an invaluable resource.
That’s why it’s hard to predict beyond the next
turn of the wheel. I can say many of the things
that will probably be true of Volume 2, because I
know the context in which it will begin. But
inevitably some things will change during the
coming half year and recontextualize everything.
What will Volume 3 look like? I honestly don’t
have a good answer for that, nor can I even say
if Volume 3 will exist.
I’m passionate about 200 CCs and enjoy my
role as an editor. I love bringing stories to
readers and paying authors for great stories.
But this was always intended to be a yearlong
experiment with the future beyond that
very much in flux. For all the positives of
this endeavor, there is one critical negative:
the time I spend on 200 CCs is time I used
to spend on my own writing.
And that’s the core beauty of a cycle, isn’t
it? One day may look pretty much like the
day before or it may turn into a grand
adventure you never expected. Maybe you
don’t even notice the turning of the wakesleep-wake
cycle is sliding toward
something new until you end one day and
begin anew only to realize that without you
even noticing, nothing is as it used to be.
So we keep taking it one day, one
season, one ending and the very next
beginning at at time and we figure it out as
we go along. This month’s stories explore
cycles as well, and I hope you’ll
continue to come along for the ride.
—Paul A. Hamilton