Writing About My Generation

  Writing About My Generation

By Leslie D. Soule

  Today, I'd like to write about a subject that is both dear to me and extremely awkward at the same time - my generation. Born in 1983, I just barely missed the cutoff point for Generation X. I could have belonged to the "slacker" generation, a generation witha  really cool name. Instead, I was born into Generation Y.

 

  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the symptoms of Generation Y-ers, look for people who have worked full-time while going to college, unemployed people holding Master's degrees, and jaded retail workers scraping to get by. Generation Y is actually "Generation Why?" as its members are forced to wonder why it's so hard to survive in today's society.





  Well, I wrote a short story back when I was in college, taking a full load of courses. I was also working full-time and experiencing first-hand the difficulties of belonging to a generation that I have dubbed "The Abandoned Generation". My short story "The Devil's Bidding" features a couple of model Generation Y-ers. The "hero" of the story, Tom Harper, is still living with his parents as he goes to college. His girlfriend, Brenda, is a dispirited retail worker. Disillusioned with his life, Tom makes a mistake that costs both he and Brenda dearly. His mistake is so big that Satan himself has to get involved, and even the Lord of the Underworld himself is revealed to be plagued by the addictions of modern times.

  While this story can be read solely for its entertainment value, it is also a commentary on the Y Generation and its strange, terrifying, lonely struggles. Can technology save my Generation Y-ers from a primordial evil?

  Thanks for joining me here today to ponder the struggles of Generation Y. One lucky commenter will receive a free ebook copy of my short story "The Devil's Bidding".