Flash Fiction Challenge: Must Contain This Sentence…
Last week’s challenge: “Behold Your Theme.”
Here, then, are three random sentences:
“The borderlands expire thanks to the hundred violins.”
“A poetic pattern retains inertia.”
“The criminal disappears after the inventor.”
That’s it.
I generated them randomly, online.
You will choose one of these three sentences and include it in a piece of flash fiction, maximum of 1000 words. (For bonus kudos, use all three sentences in one story. Ooooh.)
Due by this Friday, the 16th, noon EST.
Post at your blog.
Drop a link to it here so we can all see it.
Go forth and write!
May 12, 2014 @ 1:55 PM
seems pretty doable, hope to get a quickie story out today. BTW where do you go to generate these random flash thingies?
May 12, 2014 @ 2:02 PM
Can’t do this one. I’m actually socially over-loaded this week.
You ?
Yeah me ,really!
May 12, 2014 @ 3:55 PM
Was looking for this over the weekend! Gah. I think I can make it happen.
A Call of Vengeance | Dark Perceptions
May 12, 2014 @ 4:03 PM
[…] week’s Chuck Wendig Challenge. This is somewhat familiar ground for me. It would probably be considered a tad adult, so the usual […]
May 12, 2014 @ 4:04 PM
http://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/a-call-of-vengeance/ I went with the second line.
May 13, 2014 @ 3:59 PM
Nice use of the challenge! I really liked your grasp of this genre. The story was fun and thrilling to read. Well done!
May 16, 2014 @ 10:20 AM
Nicely worked, very enjoyable.
May 16, 2014 @ 10:24 AM
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
May 19, 2014 @ 2:19 AM
Properly dark, with a nice trajectory back to the beginning.
May 19, 2014 @ 6:15 AM
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Flash Fiction | Kristine McKinley's Blog
May 12, 2014 @ 6:16 PM
[…] have never written a piece of flash fiction but for whatever reason the challenge posted by Chuck Wendig inspired me. Hopefully I did it right. Here goes […]
May 12, 2014 @ 6:17 PM
I was an over achiever and went with all three. http://blog.kmckinley.net/2014/05/12/flash-fiction/
May 19, 2014 @ 2:29 AM
The really cool thing about this super-short form is that there’s no time to explain backstories; you just take them for granted and roll with it, and this is what makes this piece work.
May 19, 2014 @ 12:42 PM
Thanks! I’d never written any flash fiction so I found it fun to write a scene in the middle of a story
May 12, 2014 @ 6:32 PM
Wow. This was hard. I managed to work in 2 of the 3 lines, but I’m not sure what I worked them into is actually a story. It might just be a 700-word infodump. It also contains spoilers for a book I haven’t written yet, so… there’s that. I am preambling too much. Here it is: http://jpjuniper.com/from-the-journals-of-dr-douard-bliveau-aug-2nd-1915
May 13, 2014 @ 1:09 PM
This line: “History crawls across the dead cities of Mars, darkens their tunnels, rides their manufactured winds like a dandelion seed.” This is perfect. I loved your whole story, marveled at it, but that line gives me chills. Awesomeness! I am struggling with this challenge, and now, I feel ridiculously inept to follow this.
May 13, 2014 @ 2:17 PM
Thank you! I really, really, really (xN) struggled with this one too. I didn’t finish it so much as give up on my ability to make it make any more sense. Then this morning I realized that the last line should be “Where is her Vesuvius?” instead and I was … well, I ate an entire piece of cake with my tea, that’s what I was. A giant piece of cake eater. And I’m still kind of mad I couldn’t get that third sentence in.
May 13, 2014 @ 2:22 PM
Of the three, the only one I couldn’t manage to squeeze in was the violin line. It seems to me like it SHOULD fit the proem-thing I made, but I just couldn’t get the rhythm right, even with some tweaks. I might find that lightning will strike later and cause it to behave for me.
May 16, 2014 @ 11:02 PM
Very cool piece!
May 19, 2014 @ 2:21 AM
Pitch perfect, period-correct, and culturally specific, all of which is pulled off with the special effect of language. I want a whole collection of pieces like this. (And I want to eat all the cake, too.)
May 12, 2014 @ 7:00 PM
Got all three in! Wooooo! Load Balancing –
May 19, 2014 @ 2:24 AM
OK, upfront I must confess this one hits all my kinks: clever hackery, management that underestimates the intelligence and ill-will of its underlings, revolutionary endgame … oh yes, and just plain weirdness. Great job with the alternating viewpoint, with complete confidence that we’d follow — because I did.
May 28, 2014 @ 11:47 PM
I am so glad you said *something* – thank you for the wonderful praise. Can live on it for weeks. *spikes ball*
May 12, 2014 @ 10:06 PM
I’m a bit dumb, so I included all three! At ~950 words, I present:
Songs of Dust
http://www.jdstoffel.com/2014/05/songs-of-dust/
May 19, 2014 @ 2:27 AM
Nightmarish, constantly shifting landscape — that’s the aftertaste here, and of course the eerie music of the violins.
May 12, 2014 @ 10:18 PM
Woot! I managed all three! 😀
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/political-caresses.html
May 16, 2014 @ 11:05 PM
That’s terrifying!
May 20, 2014 @ 12:34 PM
That one’s a trip to one of the nastier suburbs of dystopia.
A Mysterious Star | Under a Starlit Sky
May 12, 2014 @ 10:18 PM
[…] to be put up on Friday, but didn’t post. This time, the challenge was to choose one of 3 randomly generated sentences and use it in the story. I chose the 3rd sentence, ‘the criminal disappears after the […]
May 12, 2014 @ 10:23 PM
Here’s mine:http://underastarlitsky.wordpress.com/ I titled it the same as my blog…it seemed appropriate. I just used one sentence (the 3rd). comments welcome/ appreciated!
May 20, 2014 @ 12:38 PM
Steampunk surrealism, or surrealist steampunk … anyway, some kind of genre-rendezvous is going on here. Very entertaining.
May 20, 2014 @ 12:45 PM
Why thank you! Steampunk surrealism (or surrealist Steampunk) – I like that description! And might just use it to describe my other steampunk stuff!
May 12, 2014 @ 11:08 PM
I continued a project Rob Sadler and I are working on from the Cooperative cliffhanger challenge from about seven months ago. I used the second line.
http://article94.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/my-son-part-4/
FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: The poetic and the pragmatic | Writing and other forms of suffering
May 13, 2014 @ 12:06 AM
[…] am beginning to resent Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenges– they’re making me stretch. A lot. And my joints aren’t as limber as they once […]
May 13, 2014 @ 12:09 AM
Failure–
http://douglasdanieldotcom.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/flash-fiction-challenge-the-poetic-and-the-pragmatic/
May 20, 2014 @ 12:52 PM
I like the calm, ceremonial dialogue — with the sense of really dark things moving under the surface — and the radical twist at the end.
May 13, 2014 @ 1:05 AM
Inspired by TWO sentences from the challenge. Oh yeah, I’m all about overachieving, baby. Sat down at the typewriter and (literally) banged this sucker out almost immediately after reading the e-mail.
http://writingcyborg.blogspot.com/2014/05/untitled.html
This one is fiction in the way that some of the postmodernists are fiction. More of a…rumination? No…characters, per se. Maybe one. But hell, isn’t Chuck all about breaking those rule-things? Hopefully it works. This is a first draft, so I’m sure I’ll tweak the crap out of it.
May 13, 2014 @ 12:01 PM
I enjoyed that, very thought-provoking!
May 13, 2014 @ 2:23 PM
Thanks, Alex! I think it’s a “proem.” I’m calling it a “proem” now. That’s a thing, right?
May 20, 2014 @ 12:54 PM
I like going on Trips — why else read, or write? and not enough fiction is written about the ultimate Trip that is reading.
Overture/Finale (With Cannons) | just a fever dream
May 13, 2014 @ 11:02 AM
[…] For this flash fiction challenge. […]
May 13, 2014 @ 11:55 AM
I chose the first one:
Overture/Finale (With Cannons)
http://justafeverdream.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/overturefinale-with-cannons/
May 20, 2014 @ 12:56 PM
REally twisty self-justifying narrator (I think this one takes a few steps beyond “unreliable”) and I have really serious questions about the motives of the human star-warrior, which all adds up to a really strong aftertaste.
May 21, 2014 @ 8:52 AM
It’s good that it made an impression!
Flash Fiction Challenge, this week from Chuck Wendig… | Woegman's World of Witty Wonder
May 13, 2014 @ 2:00 PM
[…] the terrible mind of Chuck Wendig comes this week’s Flash Fiction challenge: a story of no more than 1000 words, incorporating […]
May 13, 2014 @ 2:01 PM
Alright, here’s my go at it…all three sentences used. http://wp.me/p4AFse-39
May 20, 2014 @ 1:01 PM
An entire epic-picaresque novel packed into a thousand words. At the usual exchange rate of 1K words = 1 picture, you’ve painted quite a canvas, with the most exciting bits implied just beyond the frame.
May 20, 2014 @ 1:10 PM
I am beyond flattered by your praise! Thank you so much for your compliments – I can’t tell you how encouraging they are from a writer of such excellent caliber!
May 13, 2014 @ 9:04 PM
Went with all four for a short short piece found on my ancient dA account, because why not?
Mechanical Spirit: http://tinyurl.com/nj9aomn
May 20, 2014 @ 1:12 PM
the opening pulled me in with its intense absorption in details of the craft – and then events took off wildly from there. I am still wondering what the heck happened, but in a really good way, as in “must reread this.”
May 14, 2014 @ 5:38 AM
Couldn’t resist! http://wp.me/p43Qpz-O
Love your work.
May 20, 2014 @ 1:21 PM
“Gorgon-glaring teenagers” wins my part of the internets, and the story just gets better from here. Yours is the first entry that takes the prompts as hilarious (and occasionally disturbing) translation errors. Whether you’re writing from first-hand experience or well-researched intuition, you’ve nailed the dynamic here.
May 14, 2014 @ 10:00 AM
For some reason that first sentence gave me something to run with:http://mainewords.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-borderlands-expire-thanks-to.html
May 20, 2014 @ 1:28 PM
An exquisitely hideous little study in compartmentalization, where all the worst things are implied via flashes of detail.
May 14, 2014 @ 11:49 AM
So I tried to get all three…but alas the creator and inventor didn’t really fit what flowed out of my head….here you go.
http://orderneedschaos.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/flash-fiction-challenge-must-contain-this-sentence/
May 14, 2014 @ 7:18 PM
http://mirrorknobdream.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/poetikinesis/
May 14, 2014 @ 8:31 PM
Managed to get a story written this week – it’s very short, I used the sentence “The criminal disappears after the inventor.” and was inspired by the one hundred violins, too.
Nasty, Brutish and Short
http://chriswhitewrites.com/2014/05/15/nasty_brutish_short/
Let me know what you think!
May 16, 2014 @ 12:28 PM
Interesting blend of prose and poetic elements.
May 15, 2014 @ 8:20 AM
Here’s mine. http://contradictionparadox.blogspot.com/
May 15, 2014 @ 11:59 AM
Ok, I cheated and grabbed a random trope too.
http://lauralibricz.blogspot.de/2014/05/friday-flash_15.html
May 15, 2014 @ 3:06 PM
Very enjoyable, and great how much POV can affect the reality of a story. 🙂
May 16, 2014 @ 4:05 AM
Especially if he’s a writer 🙂 Thanks for reading Mark
May 15, 2014 @ 6:32 PM
Took the opportunity to provide some more of Pete and the Swede’s story – my Orichalcum Miners…
It’ll be online in about 40 mins… I’m off to bed now 😉
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2014/05/16/friday-flash-fiction-the-gallery/
May 16, 2014 @ 5:57 PM
Jemima is evil 😀
Flash Fiction Challenge: The Stock Photo What-The-Palooza « terribleminds: chuck wendig
May 15, 2014 @ 9:02 PM
[…] Last week’s challenge: Must Contain This Sentence. […]
Flash Fiction: Poetics | E. P. Beaumont
May 15, 2014 @ 11:57 PM
[…] This week’s flash fiction challenge from Terribleminds. […]
May 15, 2014 @ 11:59 PM
Same universe as last week’s story, but a completely different set of characters.
http://epbeaumont.com/2014/05/15/flash-fiction-poetics/
May 16, 2014 @ 12:03 AM
Whoa. Being late seems to have cost Chuck a lot of story-posters! Here’s mine. . . I’ll try to get back to read others. . .migraine tonight and this is about all I can look at the computer.
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/05/flash-fiction-friday-power-of-poetry.html
May 16, 2014 @ 12:29 PM
Really enjoyed your story! Love the first contact idea.
May 16, 2014 @ 5:58 PM
Thanks!
A little taste of London | Free Jack Klugman
May 16, 2014 @ 1:05 AM
[…] week, another flash fiction challenge from Chuck Wending over at Terrible Minds. The challenge was to compose a short piece using one […]
May 16, 2014 @ 1:10 AM
Mine turned out slightly Victorian. You can find it here: http://freejackklugman.com/shorts/victorian/
And for any Ripper fanatics out there, you’ll have to forgive me for exercising a little artistic license with the geography of Whitechapel.
Enjoy!
May 16, 2014 @ 11:45 AM
Well written.
Flash Fiction: Nuntius | We Love The Stars Too Fondly
May 16, 2014 @ 3:27 AM
[…] week, my Flash Fiction Challenge entry is posting very, very early Friday morning instead of in the usual Thursday time slot, […]
May 16, 2014 @ 3:29 AM
Damn, it’s late. Damn, I’m tired. The idea came quickly, the execution more slowly, with multiple drafts before it hung together a bit better and fit under the 1,000 word target. Enjoy!
http://pauljwillett.com/2014/05/16/flash-fiction-nuntius/
May 16, 2014 @ 11:10 AM
Very nice twist! The first paragraph had me thinking that the main character might actually be a dog, lol. I was picturing a golden retriever for some reason. Did you ever consider that?
May 16, 2014 @ 4:05 PM
Didn’t see the golden retriever scenario, but now that you mention it, it does fit the first paragraph, gave me a good laugh! I’ll keep the “canine POV” idea in mind for one of these weeks.
May 16, 2014 @ 10:01 AM
I didn’t think I was going to write anything, but then… this happened. I’m not even sure what it is. It’s 350 words, and mildly surreal: http://jennwritesstories.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/terribleminds-flash-fic-challence-fire/
May 16, 2014 @ 10:44 AM
Very nice! I’ve written some more abstract stories before and enjoyed them. This one was funny too and I liked where it went with the fusing of electronics and man. A modern Dr. Frankenstein.
May 16, 2014 @ 10:53 AM
Yeah, I didn’t even realize how Frankenstein-y my main character was until I was almost done. Thanks!
May 16, 2014 @ 11:45 AM
Great job. I like the slightly surreal, which the prompt this week kind of lends itself to.
May 16, 2014 @ 10:15 AM
Here’s my entry – Senselessness in Suburbia. My first thought when I read the challenge was an alien whose translator was malfunctioning but then my brain said aphasia. http://melorajohnson.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/senselessness-in-suburbia-a-flash-fiction/
May 16, 2014 @ 11:41 AM
Finally finished my entry – Beyond Borderlands – which has all three phrases: http://www.andreablythe.com/2014/05/friday-flash-beyond-borderlands/
May 16, 2014 @ 11:51 AM
Kept it short this week. But I’m enjoying playing with these two characters.
http://contrastsolution.blogspot.com/2014/05/friday-flash-fiction-don-johnagain.html
The second that time forgot | inkoherent
May 16, 2014 @ 5:39 PM
[…] Chuck Wendig Flash Fiction Challenge from 12 May […]
May 16, 2014 @ 5:43 PM
Here’s my effort – “The second that time forgot”. I used all three sentences, but I did go slightly over the word limit… Glad to see lots of people went for all three sentences 🙂
http://inkoherent.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/the-second-that-time-forgot/
May 20, 2014 @ 12:49 PM
Read it and it works well as a stand-alone – the kind of passage that will get you to read the novel.
May 20, 2014 @ 1:23 PM
aaargh.. hit the wrong button or something. this reply belongs with Doug Daniel’s entry.
the hundred violins (FLASH FICTION STORY) | Imaginarium
July 3, 2014 @ 9:27 PM
[…] Recently, I was perusing the writer-webs and came across Chuck Wendig’s blog (http://terribleminds.com/). I found that weekly he invites writers to participate in a Flash Fiction Challenge, ranging anywhere between 1000-1500 words. Although, I totally missed the deadline I nonetheless took part of the challenge. In the future I’m hoping to be a bit more punctual! Below is my story in correspondence to this prompt: Chuck Wendig’s Challenge […]
July 3, 2014 @ 9:34 PM
I am late at below atrocious-with-the-devils-fecal-swiping’s levels on this challenge. Life has a way of plucking you out of the writers stream of time and you have to be courageous enough to dive back in (excuse?). I wrote this story for this particular challenge and wasn’t able to get back to actually posting it on my blog (absent of life, lol) or linking it back here, lol. I’m hoping to be a bit more punctual in the near future!
http://storiesarewords.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/the-hundred-violins-flash-fiction-story/