Flash Fiction Challenge: A Game Of Aspects
Last week’s challenge: Sci-Fi/ Fantasy Open Swim.
A couple days ago I said something hasty and insane about “killing genre,” and in there I hit on something I really quite liked — giving fiction aspects or elements instead of genres. So, instead of searching for “epic fantasy,” you can search for stories that have “fantasy” and “politics” together. Or “jetpacks.” Or “detective / mythology / death in the family.” Whatever.
So, that’s (er, kinda) what I’m doing here, today.
I’m going to give you three columns.
You have to pick one from each column.
And from that, write a 1000-word story.
In addition, I’ll pick three random winners from this pile of participants and give away some free e-books. I don’t know what, yet, so let’s just say it’ll be a surprise. Kay? Kay.
As always, the details remain the same. You’ve got one week (due by noon EST, Friday the 14th). Post at your blog, and link back here so we can all swing by and have a look-see.
(If you really want to get crazy, roll a d10 or pick random number between 1 and 10 from this Random Number Generator. In other words, let fate pick your choices in each category!)
The three columns (pick one from each) are:
One (Subgenre)
Noir
Erotica
Dystopian
Steampunk
Mythology
Detective
Sword & Sorcery
“Weird”
Body Horror
Romantic Comedy
Two (Element To Include)
Dinosaurs
Serial Killer
Gladiators
Insects
Climate Change
Hotel Bar
Geology
Graveyard
Surgery
Terrorism
Three (Theme / Motif / Conflict)
Love Triangle
Revenge
Divorce
Childbirth
On The Run
Fated To Die
Man Versus Himself
Addiction
Imprisoned
Ticking Clock
September 7, 2012 @ 9:16 AM
Definitely getting something in for this week. I can’t help but love random or good ol’ d10s so I rolled for it. Now to craft something involving: steampunk climate change and divorce
September 7, 2012 @ 10:20 AM
I used the generator and got weird, hotel bar and childbirth. Thankfully not erotica and childbirth that’s a mash-up that only leads to an FBI list of some sort.
Anyway, here is my entry: Construction by Design
http://www.thezombiechimp.com/2012/09/07/flash-fiction-construction-design/
Flash Fiction: Construction by Design - | The Zombie Chimp
September 7, 2012 @ 10:21 AM
[…] Fiction: Construction by Design September 7, 2012Posted by Jim Franklin This week’s flash fiction challenge at Terribleminds.com we were asked to select one item from each of the three ideas lists and to […]
September 7, 2012 @ 10:32 AM
Been incredibly busy as of late with my return to school and graphic novel project, but I’ll definitely be taking a stab at this one sometime this week.
September 7, 2012 @ 10:57 AM
Did the number generator, although I rerolled the last one. Let’s write this baby.
September 7, 2012 @ 10:58 AM
OK, according to the random number generator, I’d be writing in this genre – “Weird” Dinosaurs Love Triangle. Errr, OK…. *picks up pen and pad*
September 7, 2012 @ 11:06 AM
So, I’ve got Steampunk, gladiators, love triangle. Gonna have fun with this.
September 7, 2012 @ 11:39 AM
Steampunk / Dinosaurs / Ticking Clock for the win. Could be interesting….
September 7, 2012 @ 11:40 AM
I rolled 1/6/3 initially, but Noir/Hotel Bar/Divorce was a bit too cliché to be interesting so I re-rolled.
Mythology, Insects and Childbirth it is. That should provide enough grist for my mill – I can feel the crushing weight of some ideas already.
September 7, 2012 @ 12:07 PM
Well, I accepted your challenge and used the RNG. 2,2,5. Let’s see….
Erotica, Serial Killer, On the Run.
Holy crap. That should be interesting.
A Pale Revenge | Darlene's Stories
September 7, 2012 @ 1:22 PM
[…] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/09/07/flash-fiction-challenge-a-game-of-aspects/#comments […]
September 7, 2012 @ 1:30 PM
A Pale Revenge:
http://darlene.underdahl.net/?p=182
Flash Fiction Fridays, “The Venom Club” |
September 7, 2012 @ 3:13 PM
[…] to practice your craft as well as show off some of your work, Chuck’s prompt for this week is here and open until noon EST, Friday the 14th. I’m going to be participating in as many of these […]
Flash Fiction Challenge – A Game of Aspects | My Blog
September 7, 2012 @ 4:35 PM
[…] cowboying up and taking on this week’s Terrible Minds Flash Fiction Challenge. Using a random number chooser, I chose three words from three columns: subgenre, element to […]
September 7, 2012 @ 4:37 PM
I used the random number generator and got Sword n’ Sorcery, Climate Change and Addiction.
Take a hit of this….
http://www.barelyok.com/flash-fiction-challenge-a-game-of-aspects.html
September 7, 2012 @ 5:12 PM
Erotica, Insects, Revenge.
I think I’m re-rolling.
September 7, 2012 @ 5:38 PM
My mouth is watering already….
September 7, 2012 @ 5:52 PM
I’ve been looking for a reason to pull the trigger on strange.
My lucky combo just squeezed my finger.
This one will be fun.
September 7, 2012 @ 6:23 PM
Great concept, both for this challenge and the whole “aspects of fiction” – my first randomly generated numbers were too obvious when combined, a detective story, in a hotel bar about revenge (although I may write that one as well.) Back to the random machine!
September 7, 2012 @ 7:10 PM
Using the random number generator I got – erotica, gladiators, on the run… bwahaha
September 7, 2012 @ 10:21 PM
Sword and sorcery, surgery and ticking clock. Hmm, think can do something with that 😉
September 7, 2012 @ 11:11 PM
I’ve made a spreadsheet (using Excel 2003) to help you:
http://RandMPublishing.com/downloads/RandomTopics.xls
Just press the F9 key and generate three new random topics/themes.
If you want to replace the 30 topics with your own, then you can do that too.
Have fun!
September 8, 2012 @ 2:21 AM
Ok Chuck,
Romantic Comedy/Graveyard/Addiction
Love, or Something Like It
Enjoy!
September 8, 2012 @ 3:23 AM
Brevity is the soul of wit and laziness is the mother of frankness. I chose ‘Romantic Comedy’, ‘Serial Killer’, and ‘Addiction’.
575. Still there’s no reply…
http://ultravioletandinfrared.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/bewitched.html
September 8, 2012 @ 3:41 AM
http://amgray.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/flash-fiction-challenge.html
DONE
but title free – thinking…
erotica/gladiator/on the run
September 8, 2012 @ 8:30 AM
Noir, serial killer, love triangle elements, how could I resist? My entry’s at: http://rhyllbiest.com/2012/09/08/chuck-wendig-flash-fiction-challenge/
September 8, 2012 @ 10:38 AM
Got dystopian, surgery and divorce. Halfway done.
September 8, 2012 @ 10:38 AM
Originally started this for last weeks challenge, but was too late. So here for Mythology, Climate Change, and Ticking Clock. But to be fair, I’ll do another, randomly, with Yikes, I got Sword/Sorcery, Surgery & Love Triangle. Nice, I’ll be back…
FFF: Thunderthroat - Priceless
September 8, 2012 @ 11:40 AM
[…] I was originally going to post a 1000 word short I wrote after reading this week’s Flash Fiction Challenge from Chuck Wendig of Terrible Minds. By the by, I love his lists and have […]
September 8, 2012 @ 12:24 PM
Helps if I put the link in here:
http://wp.me/p2GNTh-x
Sorry, new here.
September 8, 2012 @ 12:34 PM
I chose Erotica, Terrorism and Ticking Clock.
The result is Tick Tock:
http://www.TheRandomBlogger.com/fiction/tick-tock
September 8, 2012 @ 1:16 PM
I asked my husband if he knew where his D10 was, and went to his computer bag, pulled out a ziplock, and handed me his whole set of dice, the picked a random one for me to use.
Steampunk/terrorism/fated to die. This could get cliche really quickly, so I’m going to have to be creative…
September 9, 2012 @ 1:13 AM
I chose Noir/Gladiators/Fated to Die.
The result: A Short Memoir of a Gladiator South of the Border
Hope you dig.
http://erikwilliams.blogspot.com/2012/09/flash-fiction-short-memoir-of-gladiator.html
Flash Fiction Challenge from Terribleminds: A Game of Aspects | DevinHarnois.com
September 9, 2012 @ 2:17 AM
[…] at Chuck Wendig’s blog Terribleminds, he’s running a flash fiction challenge. Writers pick one item each from three columns and […]
September 9, 2012 @ 2:23 AM
Sounds like fun! I used the random number generator and got 3, 8, 7. Dystopian, graveyard, man vs himself.
I let it rattle around for a bit and came up with “The Job”:
http://devinharnois.com/2012/09/09/flash-fiction-challenge-from-terribleminds-a-game-of-aspects/
September 9, 2012 @ 11:53 AM
It’s been months since last posted a Friday Flash on your blog, great prompt, Here is
Little Madame Brest’s Last Cigarette
http://brooksbymemoirs.blogspot.fr/2012/09/little-madame-brests-last-cigarette.html
Flash fiction « On the Edge of Infinity
September 9, 2012 @ 1:32 PM
[…] Again for this. […]
September 9, 2012 @ 1:35 PM
Here we go…
http://ontheedgeofinfinity.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/flash-fiction-2/
L
New Flash Fiction « Musings, Mutterings, and Acts of Mental Mayhem
September 9, 2012 @ 9:44 PM
[…] This week’s TerribleMinds inspired fiction: […]
September 9, 2012 @ 9:55 PM
Almost wussed out and re-rolled ’cause steampunk isn’t usually my bag, but hey, it’s good for me to write out of my comfort zone once in a while.
steampunk/terrorism/fated to die
http://swsondheimer.wordpress.com/this-just-in/storm/
» Flash Fiction: In The Pits Blue Ink Alchemy
September 10, 2012 @ 7:25 AM
[…] For the Terribleminds Flash Fiction Challenge, “A Game of Aspects.” […]
September 10, 2012 @ 7:26 AM
Steampunk. Gladiators. Imprisoned. Enjoy.
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2012/09/10/flash-fiction-in-the-pits/
September 10, 2012 @ 7:51 AM
I went for Steampunk – Hotel Bar – On The Run and I got “Run FourE3t”
http://philnorris63.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/flash-fiction-short-run-foure3t/
September 10, 2012 @ 10:25 AM
My bit is Weird fiction set in a hotel bar and about addiction.
http://christopherkobar.com/post/31270504928/a-few-small-changes
September 10, 2012 @ 10:49 AM
Here’s mine, managed to land the detective angle, I think. Let me know what you think:
http://chriswhitewrites.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/fresh-dug-grave-new-jacket/
September 10, 2012 @ 3:20 PM
I got “Dystopian”, “Geology” and “Addiction”. I give you, “Geology Addiction”: http://geekonablog.blogspot.com/2012/09/story-geology-addiction.html
September 10, 2012 @ 4:31 PM
Got “Romantic Comedy/Surgery/Love Triangle” on my first roll, so I re-rolled to avoid getting stuck with Grey’s Anatomy…
“Weird”/Surgery/Revenge it is!
September 10, 2012 @ 9:59 PM
Steampunk + noir + serial killer + hotel bar + fated to die + ticking clock = Doomsday.
Respectfully yours,
http://knotachance.tumblr.com
Terribleminds Flash Fiction Challenge: Noir, dinosaurs, and — childbirth? | Outwardbounder
September 10, 2012 @ 10:50 PM
[…] authorial sage and all around penmonkey, Chuck Wendig is hosting a literary throwdown. Titled “A Game of Aspects”, he asks his fellow monkeys to come up with a piece of flash fiction that combines several strong […]
September 10, 2012 @ 10:59 PM
Hey Chuck. Great idea you have there! Taking a blender to the “genre/theme game” as you’ve done is pretty liberating. I’m loving the stories that are coming out of this.
Here’s my entry. Noir/Dinosaurs/Childbirth
http://outwardbounder.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/terribleminds-flash-fiction-challenge-noir-dinosaurs-and-childbirth/