Last week’s challenge — “Choose Your Own Setting” — demands your eyeballs, so click, go, and read.
This week I said something like, “Blah blah blah, writers lie to themselves a whole lot.”
And therein lies this week’s challenge.
No, you needn’t write fiction in which you lie to yourself, but you must write fiction in which the characters lie to one another. The deception is the thing, you see? Every story thrives on conflict same as yeast thrives on sugar and bears thrive on honey (provided it was first stuffed in the chest cavity of a fleeing park ranger). Your task today is to make the core conflict of the story based upon or orbiting around a terrible lie.
If your story features no such lie, you will be ejected from the airlock and forced to fight space sharks.
There you go.
Other details?
Genre: Do as you will.
Length: 1000 words.
Due by: Friday, April 6th, noon EST.
Post online (not in the comments). Link back here.
That’s it. Go and write, my little lie-monkeys.
48 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: A Terrible Lie”
Hmm I might actually try this if I remember reading it when I wake up tomorrow (I don’t know about you, but it’s past midnight here and I’m not good at retaining information when it’s given this late…) Sounds like this could be a lot of fun :3
[…] though-provoking comment on the mythical nature of themes in literature. Far from it, this is a Chuck Wendig challenge to… “make the core conflict of the story based upon or orbiting around a terrible […]
Here’s my entry. Lots of lies in here.
Hope y’all like it, and feel it’s worthy for a little old comment or two.
http://www.thezombiechimp.com/2012/03/30/flash-fiction-lie-machine/
Thanks
[…] settings is a Fairy Tale Forest. Of course, it’s Friday again, which means he has another challenge up. Because he’s a sick twisted bastard that way. No, you needn’t write fiction in which you […]
This overlaps with the last day of working through the settings from last week, so a few lies, and a shocking number of truths, told in a fairy tale forest.
http://www.dlthurston.com/blog/2012/03/30/flash-fiction-week-among-the-trees/
[…] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/03/30/flash-fiction-challenge-a-terrible-lie/#comments […]
The Big Lie
http://darlene.underdahl.net/?p=142
A lie pertaining to space sharks. Got it.
I did a completely shoddy job of promoting myself and Blood on the Quarter on the pimp circus post. I hope you guys will forgive me long enough to take a look at this week’s flash fiction blended with last week’s setting challenge. Featuring a character from Blood on the Quarter and the horrible little secret her father has been keeping from her for a very long time.
http://rjkeith.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/the-clock-makers-doll/
No angels this week!
Featuring two characters from my upcoming novel, Shaman.
http://swsondheimer.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/lie/
This is NOT my entry (which I’ll try to achieve over the next day or so).
But I couldn’t help linking to this poem by Wilfred Owen, which could have been written for Chuck’s challenge : http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est/
A 16-year-old boy with a lock on his bedroom door. Yep, there’s some lyin’ goin’ on up in here. 😉
http://corsairharbour.blogspot.com/2012/03/accomplished-liar-terrible-minds-flash.html
My offering: http://lesannberry.com/2012/03/the-man-in-the-black-suit.html
[…] This entry is part of a Flash Fiction Challenge by Chuck Wendig. […]
Well, let’s see what a cartload of lies can do.
http://misoskop.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/liar/
Is the 1000 characters restriction optional? Most of you seem to be around 4200.
Can anyone join this party?
http://amandagrein.com/12101.html
I took a tangent on terrible in the terrible lie challenge. And I forgot to name my flash fiction. But I did come in under 1,000 words.
[…] “A Terrible Lie” over at […]
“I’m not calling you a liar… just don’t lie to me.”
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2012/04/02/flash-fiction-liars/
A Brotherhood of Lies:
http://imaginedrealms.typepad.com/writing/2012/04/a-brotherhood-of-lies.html
Handi Girl
http://columbibueno.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/handi-girl/
Lies, but not such terrible ones.
http://razorwiretightrope.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/the-sweetest-lies/
[…] terribleminds.com Flash Fiction Challenge terribleminds_lie Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. 1 Comment […]
http://mediamentalist.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/terribleminds_flashfiction_lie/
http://faeanddragons.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/confession/
In which the making of a sandwich becomes the last calm before the storm.
http://amandalyngordon.blogspot.com/2012/04/flash-fiction-challenge-ala-chuck.html
http://clublockdown.blogspot.com/2012/04/liar-liar-flash-fiction-for-terrible.html
Ack. I have this great idea/outline for a story, but I’m currently doing the A-Z Blogging Challenge where you have to post a topic starting with a different letter of the alphabet every day (except Sundays). Rawr. I guess I’ll have to find a way to work the title in somehow…
I don’t know what’s wrong, but I finished like a day early.
http://robynettely.blogspot.ca/2012/04/flash-fiction-challenge-pinocchinose.html
Ah nuts, I missed this one. Forgot to follow Chuck;s blog, situation remedied!
[…] following story was written in response to a prompt on Chuck Wending’s blog: tell a story about a lie. Or, at least, a story with a lie in it. I love flash fiction because I […]
Here’s my contribution: http://sarahhans.com/2012/04/05/a-terrible-lie/
http://questionableexclamationpoints.blogspot.com/2012/04/omg-followers.html
Well…I wrote the story, and am kind of horrified at myself for what came out. I will definitely not be sharing it on my blog. BUT I did do it. Thanks for the prompt!
Had a story with a lie in it, decide to pump it up a bit to Terrible rating – http://www.ravensview.ca/ravens/2012/04/a-terrible-lie.html
If you want to make a new friend, start playing solitaire in a public place.
Then again, be careful what kinds of friends you make…
http://www.candicerobinson.ca/2012/04/05/solitary/
[…] Behold last week’s challenge: “A Terrible Lie.” […]
That was interesting.
I’ve read all the pieces presented here and left comments where it was possible.
It’s amazing how many different takes there are on one theme.
Here’s mine Soul Mates http://wp.me/p1BAlV-2K
http://blackbirddarling.com/out_of_sight_out_of_mind.txt
http://scottweberwriter.wordpress.com/
A terrible lie needs a terrible person to tell it to…..
Aww hell, just noticed that I accidentally posted this on the wrong week’s blog! I swear I had this done in time… no really! Check the timestamp.
Well anyway, since I missed the last 2 weeks’ challenges, I decided to mash-up all three challenges together for this week’s story. I give you: “The Fire Of The Gods” – set on a Lunar Base, with the characters all lying to each other.
http://corpse-to-be.blogspot.com/2012/04/fire-of-gods-flash-fiction-challenge.html
http://sarahlwilson.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/lying-to-ourselves/
My contribution for this week.
[…] current prompt is to tell a story where the characters lie to one another. The previous prompt I missed was to […]
I know I didn’t meet the deadline, but…
http://www.ellenmgregg.com/2012/04/flash-fiction-two-for-one.html
I know this is kind of weird, but I spent the entire week last week trying to come up with a story involving a terrible lie, but came up dry.
Then Chuck’s challenge for the current week (just the first line) and a photo from the Google+ Flash Fiction Project combined to create this story, which meets the Terrible Lie criterion. Gosh, I don’t know!
http://narratorium.com/2012/04/08/the-winter-garden/
[…] for Chuck Wendig’s Friday Flash Fiction Challenge “A Terrible Lie“. This week, Chuck challenged us to write a short story where the conflict revolves around […]
[…] challenge from Chuck Wendig at Terrible Minds. This week, then, I’ll be fulfilling both last week’s challenge, and this week’s challenge. The latter will be significantly shorter than the […]
[…] challenge from Chuck Wendig at Terrible Minds. This week, then, I’ll be fulfilling both last week’s challenge, and this week’s challenge. The latter will be significantly shorter than the […]