Chuck Wendig: Terribleminds

Flash Fiction Challenge: This Time, I Pick The Lyric

Okay, last week, you got to pick a song lyric you really liked, and you wrote a story based on that bit of song poetry. Right? Right.

Cool.

This week, I’m giving you the lyric.

It’s from Sza’s “Drew Barrymore.”

(Lyrics here. Video here.)

The lyric in question is this line, the opening line the song:

“Why is it so hard to accept the party is over?”

The song has a lot of great lines, but that’s the one we’re going with. Take from it whatever inspiration you choose. Base a theme on it. Make it literal or figurative. Any genre will do.

Length: ~1000 words

Due by: Friday, January 26th, noon EST

(Note: I’m gone next Friday so there may not be a flash fiction challenge. Lately I’ve been getting a WordPress error when I try to schedule posts, and they don’t actually show up when they’re scheduled? I assume a variety pack of gremlins is to blame.)

Post at your online space.

Give us that sweet sweet link.

Go write.

terribleminds

50 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: This Time, I Pick The Lyric”

    • It may be over the count, but awesomely so! I think it’s great how well your writing had developed… and I thought you were an amazing writer back when we were finishing each other’s flash fiction prompt stories! 😮 Don’t mind saying that I’m a little envious of that first chapter you have there. It’s slick and polished to perfection. And the way you establish the character’s back-story… it’s like I’ve read it in a novel already!

      Reply

      • Thanks, TUS. I’ve had my share of being envious of you work too, so let’s keep writing and improving! As an aside, Score of Silence (the first novel in the series,) will be out the first quarter of this year, published by Amber Cove! Shoot me an email if you’d like to read an ARC.

        Reply

    • I’m sitting over here in Alabama watching our democracy fall apart. Democracy works in theory, right? But does it work in real life? And what if it’s not a true Democracy like ours (Democratic Republic). I think our Democracy is tainted the most by capitalism. Praise to the almighty dollar. I loved your piece. Thanks for posting. I wish I could respond on your actual blog but I have a problem with my Medium account!

      Reply

    • Great story! I tried to clap you, but Medium doesn’t like me. In fact, yours is the only Medium-hosted story I’ve been able to access, so far. I really enjoyed the mystery and the suspense, and the whole secret society vibe. You should make this into television!

      Reply

      • Whoa, thank you. I don’t know that I’d be able to pitch this (or anything else!) as a TV series of any kind… 😉

        I think Medium requires you to sign in If you want to clap or answer. It also has audience settings; it’s easy to hit the wrong button and set a story as private instead of public.

        Reply

      • So glad you enjoyed it. I found it to be very challenging to have the narrator and audience, but not the character, realize that the party was over. I really liked the way you tackled that aspect as well. Cheers.

        Reply

  24. […] Howdy!  If you’re an aspiring author, like me, you should definitely check out author Chuck Wendig’s blog TerribleMinds.  I typically peruse through it when I’m at work, tired of mindlessly doing paperwork.  Last Friday he posted a flash fiction challenge in which the writer must compose a flash fiction story (1,000 word or less)  based on the Sza’s lyric, “Why is it so hard to accept the party is over?”. Check out the challenge here. […]

    Reply

Speak Your Mind, Word-Nerds

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: