Flash Fiction Challenge: Choose Your Own Setting
This past week I said some nonsense about how writers can and maybe should deal with setting.
Which means, the topic of today’s challenge shall be: you guessed it, setting.
Behold last week’s challenge: “FIRE OF THE GODS.”
I’m going to give you five whacked-out settings.
You may choose one, and set your story within that space.
What five settings?
Here goes:
Lunar Brothel
Abandoned Amusement Park
The Bottom of the Ocean
Penthouse Apartment during the Apocalypse
Fairy Tale Forest
There you go.
Interpret as you see fit.
The key is, when writing, to never abandon the setting — do not go outside of it. Further, make sure that the setting helps to drive the story. The setting should almost be a character in its own right.
Bring it to life.
You have — drum roll please — 1000 words.
Story due in by Friday, noon (EST), March 30th.
Do not put your story in the comments below — place it online (somewhere, don’t care, long as we can read it) and provide us with the link so that we can go and ogle your pulsating brilliance.
Now get to penmonkeying, penmonkeys.
March 23, 2012 @ 9:03 AM
*drool* My love for abandoned amusement parks knows no bounds. You just had to say it.
March 23, 2012 @ 9:30 AM
Lunar brothel? Oh my. Away we go!
March 23, 2012 @ 1:15 PM
Ohhhh, sweeeeet! I’m on it… 😀
Fairy Tale Forest | Darlene's Stories
March 23, 2012 @ 1:48 PM
[…] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/03/23/flash-fiction-challenge-choose-your-own-setting/#comments […]
March 23, 2012 @ 1:49 PM
Bottom of the ocean. Freakin’ A.
March 23, 2012 @ 2:00 PM
My version of:
Fairy Tale Forest
http://darlene.underdahl.net/?p=138
March 23, 2012 @ 3:32 PM
“Piglet”–>Lunar brothel
http://refractionsofself.blogspot.com/2012/03/piglet.html
there’s my story. It’s not my usual style or subject matter, but its good, I think.
March 23, 2012 @ 7:36 PM
Here’s an attempt: Lust & The Clown
An Abandoned Amusement Park Story.
http://lindsaymawson.blogspot.ca/2012/03/flash-fiction-challenge-37-choose-your.html
Enjoy…
March 23, 2012 @ 8:26 PM
Calling it a “challenge” was kind of a misnomer this week; it was way too much fun. 😉
Here’s “Descent”.
http://corsairharbour.blogspot.com/2012/03/descent-terribleminds-flash-fiction.html
March 24, 2012 @ 3:04 PM
Thanks, Chuck. That story’s been waiting to be told for some time. 🙂
http://www.loveandlightstories.com/2012/03/flash-fiction-bottom-of-ocean.html
March 24, 2012 @ 7:55 PM
I was trying to break away from the whole angel thing, really, I was…
http://swsondheimer.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/penthouse/
March 25, 2012 @ 12:27 AM
I can imagine some pretty wacky stories coming from these settings. Of course by wacky, I mean awesome 🙂 Perhaps I shall attempt… possibly… maybe…
March 25, 2012 @ 2:58 AM
For your reading (and commenting, please) pleasure: Forbidden
http://rebeccabarray.blogspot.com/2012/03/forbidden.html
Zombie Apocalpse « isleofbooks
March 25, 2012 @ 1:53 PM
[…] was inspired by this prompt from Chuck Wendig’s site, Terribleminds. (If you aren’t familiar with Wendig, I highly […]
March 25, 2012 @ 3:20 PM
The penthouse one….
http://columbibueno.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/blade-and-bride/
March 25, 2012 @ 8:50 PM
http://innocentsaccidentshints.blogspot.com/2012/03/terrible-minds-challenge-marianas.html
March 26, 2012 @ 12:37 AM
I managed to break the only two rules that were set for this assignment. Oh well. http://isleofbooks.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/zombie-apocalpse/
» Flash Fiction: Dyson’s Questions Blue Ink Alchemy
March 26, 2012 @ 8:24 AM
[…] Chuck listed Lunar Brothel as a setting, I couldn’t resist the urge to do a sequel to Hart’s […]
March 26, 2012 @ 8:25 AM
A return to dystopian sci-fi territory.
Dyson’s Questions
Not sure if I’ve done a direct sequel to a previous challenge before.
Flash Fiction Week: First Times « DL Thurston
March 26, 2012 @ 11:30 AM
[…] doing something a little different this week. A little more…masochistic. The current Chuck Wendig challenge is to write a story set in one of five provided settings. I also tend to max out at […]
March 26, 2012 @ 11:31 AM
Five settings. Five weekdays. ONE story? Who wants to join me in going an extra mile (or four) and telling a story for all five settings?
First up, lunar brothel and the story “First Times”:
http://www.dlthurston.com/blog/2012/03/26/flash-fiction-week-first-times/
March 26, 2012 @ 1:07 PM
“You must never go into the enchanted Nebelwald. The mist will pluck out your eyes, and you’ll wander blind, forever alone.” That was what Katharina’s mother always warned her.
http://www.amanforallseasons.ca/2012/03/26/flash-fiction-the-nebelwald/
March 26, 2012 @ 9:27 PM
http://questionableexclamationpoints.blogspot.com/2012/03/determinationand-stubborness-like-ox.html
March 26, 2012 @ 10:00 PM
http://faeanddragons.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/makebelieve/
Makebelieve « Words, Stuff, and Nonsense
March 26, 2012 @ 10:00 PM
[…] week’s challenge gave us the setting for the story. Actually, Wendig was kind enough to give us 3 choices for the […]
March 26, 2012 @ 10:02 PM
Sure I guess I’m up for a short story. Can I e-mail it to you?
March 27, 2012 @ 1:33 AM
Abandoned amusement park? I had to go with it. There is a park here in Utah that is a massive anomaly. Strangely run, still independently owned, and damned creepy when it’s closed. I worked there for years and it rather clearly influences the story. Enjoy as I present you with Familiar Features (need a better title though)
http://sparky29252.blogspot.com/2012/03/familiar-features.html
Flash Fiction: A Man's Gotta do... - | The Zombie Chimp
March 27, 2012 @ 8:24 AM
[…] Gotta do… March 27, 2012Posted by Jim Franklin It’s time for another Chuck Wendig Flash Fiction Challenge. He’s chosen our title; he’s chosen our key words, this time he’s choosing our […]
March 27, 2012 @ 8:27 AM
I chose Lunar Brothel and this is my entry (he he he, entry), where I introduce you to the world of nipple-digglers, rump-spanglers, and carnal-callisthenics.
Making the setting a pseudo-characater was way more difficult than I thought it would be though. I hope I achieved it.
This is ‘A Man’s Gotta do…’
http://www.thezombiechimp.com/2012/03/27/flash-fiction-mans-gotta/
Enjoy!
March 27, 2012 @ 8:29 AM
I did of course mean pseudo-character not ‘characater’. Sorry.
Characaters are the small monster’s that crap fluff into your belly button by the way.
Flash Fiction Week: Ride The Time Vortex « DL Thurston
March 27, 2012 @ 12:17 PM
[…] two of the settings challenge takes us to an abandoned amusement […]
March 28, 2012 @ 1:54 PM
Following through on my threat/promise of doing all five…
Ride a Time Vortex (abandoned amusement park):
http://www.dlthurston.com/blog/2012/03/27/flash-fiction-week-ride-the-time-vortex/
Finding a Way (bottom of the ocean):
http://www.dlthurston.com/blog/2012/03/28/flash-fiction-week-finding-a-way/
Flash Fiction Challenge: Choose Your Own Setting | temporary periods of joy
March 28, 2012 @ 2:12 PM
[…] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/03/23/flash-fiction-challenge-choose-your-own-setting/ Share or Print this:ShareFacebookStumbleUponEmailDiggRedditPrint […]
March 28, 2012 @ 2:16 PM
That one above is me. I do so dislike the way wordpress deals with trackbacks.
March 28, 2012 @ 2:40 PM
And here’s mine. I picked the abandoned amusement park, since I had a specific setting for that. http://eileen-alphabet.livejournal.com/20126.html
Tranquility Station « The Endless Immensity of the Sea
March 28, 2012 @ 2:45 PM
[…] for a while, so when ‘bottom of the ocean floor’ was included in Chuck Wendig’s latest flash challenge, it seemed an obvious fit (fortunately, he didn’t specify which ocean). That said geeting […]
March 28, 2012 @ 2:47 PM
Tranquility Station (set On the Bottom of the Ocean (although not precisely Earth’s ocean))
http://endlessimmensity.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/tranquility-station/
Flash Fiction: Good Seats | Defy Augury
March 28, 2012 @ 5:52 PM
[…] Wendig over at TERRIBLEMINDS runs a weekly flash fiction challenge. This week, the challenge was to work with a given setting, and I chose “Penthouse Apartment during the […]
March 28, 2012 @ 6:03 PM
It’s hard to resist an Apocalypse prompt. Enjoy, or something!
Good Seats
http://jenntharp.com/2012/03/good-seats/
March 28, 2012 @ 9:51 PM
It was going to be “Abandoned Amusement Park” coming and going for me — after all, I live in the retirement hub for circus folk (Sarasota, just south of us, has the *Ringling* Museum of Art…). Over south of Tampa is a large contingent — a whole town, actually — of retired circus performers.
Still, I went with Lunar Brothel. Because, hey. Moon. And… brothel.
http://warnerkirby.blogs.com/clintonaut/2012/03/red-base-7.html
Tough one, Chuck. Thank you.
March 29, 2012 @ 12:19 AM
I started a blog just so I could participate in these. Here’s my first entry: http://1000aday.tumblr.com/post/20102915346/flash-fiction-choose-your-own-setting
March 29, 2012 @ 4:34 AM
Running late with this one, and it’s over length, sorry, at 1,100 words.
It’s called “View from the Top” and it’s in The Narratorium here:
http://narratorium.com/2012/03/29/view-from-the-top/
March 29, 2012 @ 9:30 AM
Here’s my version of “Penthouse Apartment During the Apocalypse.” It’s called “Quetzalcoatl’s Apartment.”
http://philipoverby1.blogspot.jp/2012/03/story-time-quetzalcoatls-apartment.html
March 29, 2012 @ 12:26 PM
There’s nothing like stumbling in at the end…my offering: http://lesannberry.com/2012/03/i-t-o-l-d-you-so.html
March 29, 2012 @ 12:53 PM
Here’s mine.
Dance, Baby, Dance http://wp.me/p1BAlV-2G
Writing this story was hard at first, but then the mojo came back and it was exciting and fun.
*Snaps Chuck and all the surrounding writers a Salute*
March 30, 2012 @ 2:14 AM
Just under the wire…here is The Stardust Palace.
http://katherineowens.blogspot.com/2012/03/stardust-palace.html
March 30, 2012 @ 2:24 AM
Sliding in under the wire…here is The Stardust Palace
http://katherineowens.blogspot.com/2012/03/stardust-palace.html
March 30, 2012 @ 6:55 AM
ACK! Sorry for the double posting. I don’t operate on all cylinders after midnight.
Flash Fiction Challenge: A Terrible Lie
March 30, 2012 @ 7:36 AM
[…] week’s challenge — “Choose Your Own Setting” — demands your eyeballs, so click, go, and […]
March 30, 2012 @ 8:09 AM
At the Gates of Heaven: a story of one man’s journey home.