Last week’s challenge: “1667.”
Once again, time to write just the opening line to a new story.
No more than 15 words long.
Plop your opening line in the comment section below. Only one entry, please.
Then, the following week, it will be the task of other writers to pick one opening line that they will use in a new piece of flash fiction.
If you write the line that is most chosen by other authors, I’ll send you a signed physical copy of my new writing book, The Kick-Ass Writer. I’m not doing the picking, so your goal is to write a line that excites other writers enough for them to write a story using that opening line.
Tricky? Could be.
So, get to writing.
You’ve got one week — due by Friday, November 15th, noon EST.
(I’ll send the physical book and pay for shipping if you’re in the United States. Outside the country, you’ll have to front the shipping, I’m afraid, or be okay with an e-book copy.)
300 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: Another Opening Line Challenge”
“Jimmy!” Balingrud said, incinerating the God-parasite that escaped my pores. “Good to see you again.”
[…] current challenge is to write an opening line (15 words max), which other writers will then use to craft a tale for next …. Me, I’ve officially hied myself to the comments section of said current challenge and posted […]
In the darkness, I stretched my hand out across the bed. She wasn’t there. Again.
In the morning raw meat stuck between teeth didn’t taste as sweet as last night.
Shit. SHIT! The odds were better that I’d die in a freak vending machine accident.
My mother was right when she said not to tattoo a snake on my face.
“You amuse me, human,” the Dragon said, swallowing several thousand Smarties in on gulp.
Everyone knows The 7 Deadly Sins. Y’think the others are the good guys? Think again.
Ive never seen anything more beautiful; like a sick fish trying to breath fresh air.
Everyone knows The Seven Deadly Sins. Y’think the Virtues are the good guys? Think again.
{I apologize if this is posted twice. I posted it earlier but it didn’t seem to show up…so i’ve posted it again…}
I’ve been posing as human for so long, you’d think I’d know how to kiss.
Irresistible.
Yeah…I’m using this one!
The mist rolled in off the sea, cool and haunting as I dug the grave.
It was now or never; after all, he should have died ten minutes ago.
Only after the world exploded did Daniel figure out it was his fault.
[…] this week’s challenge over at terribleminds.com was a little less meaty than what I was looking for, so I decided to come […]
Someone once told me bourbon was great for removing blood stains.
This story begins as many do with tragedy and ends with…well you will just have to see for yourself.
Unlit staircases littered with glass eyes hinted at the despicable future of the child.
The first time I prayed I received an email in return; I gather that’s unusual.
“Why are Atheists always the first to cry out to the heavens for mercy?” sighed Victoria, one hand dousing the lifeless body with cheap vodka and and the other retrieving a packet of matches from her pocket.
It’s me and a flesh eating zombie monkey off to save the world. Again.
Events unfold a little differently each time. Despite this, I can never save them all.
She rode in on a dragon; or more accurately, clutched in its front claw.
Tak didn’t want to leave, but her time was up and the Warden insisted.
At the gates of Dina Balu, a guard stopped a lizard. This was his mistake.
Aaron’s boots sunk into the wet mud, deeper with every second step he took.
Could you turn that off?! I hate The fucking Smiths.
“Harold! Harold! Hurry, the eyes are back and they’re in the pantry!”
Xander’s trench coat billowed behind him, revealing the artillery strapped to his thighs.
Annoyed she stabbed him and finished her diner.
This is the winner for me!!!
To avoid anymore turmoil…was I wrong in assuming that you meant “dinner” and not “diner”? There seems to have been some discussion and I just wanted clarification. Thanks.
Yes I did “dinner” oeps but if anyone can figure a storyline with diner go for it!
Thanks for clearing that up for me. I just finished the story…I have gone about 157 words over the 1000 word mark. I hope to rectify that in the next draft. I also hope to do your line justice as it really spoke to me as a husband. I sometimes forget what a pain in the ass I can be. Thanks and as soon as I am done revising I’ll get it out there.
Happy Writing!!!!
I’m honored. This is my first year doing NaNoWriMo and attempt at writing. I started off scared but confidence is growing slowly…it’s not been an easy ride but still hanging in there!
Good Luck with NaNoWriMo…all the best. Also, just write, write, write!!. We are all in the same boat and with you on the journey.
BTW….here’s the story. I hope I did your sentence justice. Happy Writing.
http://taylormaderandomwrites.blogspot.com/2013/11/dinner-with-blind-hate-flash-fiction.html
Wow I did not see the twist at the end coming! Thanks for that. Is it bad that I was laughing halfway through… Let me know if you elaborate on the story. It’s begging for more.
Marley was not dead no matter what Scrooge said, and I doubted he would be.
[…] traditionally demands the publishing of whatever I’ve written for Chuck Wendig’s weekly Flash Fiction Challenge. Once again, possibly because of many of Chuck’s Legion of Disciples ™ are sweating […]
A small noise escapes my face, something between a snort and a laugh.
With the some Ketamine, silver wire, and a good friend, you can see the afterlife.
It’s been three days since my heart stopped beating.
There were no more bullets and no more excuses.
Penis meeting a mangle is how I meat my end. Sorry, I meant met.
I thought I was the only one? Needed on a T-Shirt.
Pay that man his money.
I’m hearing this spoken in the first person… by Bruce Campbell. Nice
Oops, Replies are being not posted after the relevant comment.
If you hit reply on the individual post next to the date it was posted, it should work.
“And I would have found big foot if those aliens hadn’t abducted me,” Zeke said.
“I swear to you. This is absolutely not what it looks like.”
I shouldn’t have been entranced, the fire holding the attention of my brain’s prehistoric parts.
[…] Last week’s challenge, I asked you to come up with an opening line for a story. […]
I sssooo wish this was 15 words somehow because I totally wanted to use this one! Blargh!
Okay my web browser sucks and decided not to reply to the past I was on . .
So, I’m a last minute Lucy, I’ve got two days. Bring it on…..
[…] opening lines have been spewed into the comments section of his blog (which you can find here, here, here, here and here). Some are better than others, but that’s still a lifetime’s supply of […]