Last week’s challenge: “Another Roll Of The Dice“
Given that earlier in the week we talked about tropes and in particular the infinitely-entertaining website known as “TV Tropes,” well…
Here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it.
Go to TVtropes.org.
In the top menu bar is a button called random.
I want you to click that button.
You’ll get a trope.
You will use this trope as the basis to write your flash fiction this week.
(Identify the trope for us so we can see your pick, please.)
Now, sometimes you’ll click it and you might get something specific to television or film, and okay, it’s totally fine to click a few times to get something that actually suits a ~1000-word piece of flash fiction. Nobody’s watching. Except me, in your ceiling.
You’ve got one week to write your story on your own online space and link back here — due by July 5th, at noon EST. Now to get tropey, willya?
Ashley R Pollard says:
You are officially Evil Mr. Wendig. 🙂
June 28, 2013 — 7:38 AM
jreinmiller says:
‘Fifteen puzzle’ it is. That should do nicely. Now to plan the puzzle.
June 28, 2013 — 7:39 AM
Rick Cook Jr says:
“Ceiling Chuck Watches You Masturbate”?
June 28, 2013 — 8:08 AM
Dan Thompson says:
As if anyone going to TVTropes is going to get any writing done in the next week. Thanks a lot, Chuck.
June 28, 2013 — 8:22 AM
Jim Franklin says:
I tore myself away from the site with…
“The Hero has burst into the scene, has saved the girl, and is holding the villain at sword/gun-point. The villain, bewildered, demands “Who are you?” The hero responds with a Badass Boast. ”
Nice. Thanks Chuck.
June 28, 2013 — 8:45 AM
Jim Franklin says:
Here it is.
I call it ‘First Day’ for want of a better title (that it probably does need) Anyway, I hope it’s ok. I’m happy to receive any (well most) comments.
http://www.thezombiechimp.com/2013/07/01/flash-fiction-first-day/
Cheers
July 1, 2013 — 11:47 AM
Rob Sadler says:
Very funny. You hit that whimsical, superhero comic book vibe very well. I saw the ending coming, but it was still very satisfying when my suspicions were confirmed.
July 2, 2013 — 9:26 PM
Jim Franklin says:
Thanks, I can’t help but have a soft spot for a good ‘ol villain.
July 3, 2013 — 9:45 AM
Paul Weimer (@PrinceJvstin) says:
Using TV Tropes for a flash fiction challenge. Evil, Mr. Wendig. Pure Evil.
June 28, 2013 — 8:59 AM
D. W. Coventry (@DWCoventry) says:
I was lucky with this one, got genre-blindness. Well-played, Senor Wendig.
http://dwcoventry.com/fiction/2013/6/28/random-trope-challenge-love-blind-and-stupid
June 28, 2013 — 9:02 AM
jdsfiction says:
You had me laughing at this one. Funny, like seriously, you know. The end line is great. 🙂
Good job man!
June 29, 2013 — 5:08 AM
D. W. Coventry (@DWCoventry) says:
I lucked out with an easy one. I’m eager to see how people handle some of the trickier tropes.
June 29, 2013 — 10:53 AM
jreinmiller says:
Great use of the draw on this one. Funny and a good twist at the same time.
June 30, 2013 — 8:30 PM
Jim Franklin says:
I think a lot of places could do with one of those tests.
July 1, 2013 — 11:55 AM
Fatma Alici says:
I definitely cracked a few grins. I agree with some others the last line is pretty awesome.
July 3, 2013 — 12:59 AM
Matt Gomez says:
I got Ensign Newbie. *cracks knuckles, puts on thinking cap, looks out for Ceiling Wendig*
June 28, 2013 — 9:14 AM
crow365 says:
I got the White Stallion (note: that’s *not* “Wyld Stallyn”, sadly). We’ll see what ferments.
June 28, 2013 — 9:20 AM
jdsfiction says:
“Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes!”
June 28, 2013 — 1:06 PM
Daniel R. Davis says:
Too much fun. Aaaaaand I get, oddly (ironically?) enough, Walking Tank on my first click. My finished sci-fi novel showcased Battle Suits. Hrmm…
Still, I clicked on and other cool things came up that I think I’ll write too. 😀 Maybe this’ll give me the kick in the ass I need to get back to work.
June 28, 2013 — 9:42 AM
Cameron Mount says:
Standard Establishing Spaceship Shot – how to turn that into a story? I think “Spaceballs” already did it better than anyone else. Might have to reroll that one.
June 28, 2013 — 10:26 AM
alexanderthesoso says:
Run the establishing shot as descriptive prose, and placed AFTER the story, so that you tell a big junk of the story through showing the aftermath.
June 28, 2013 — 1:51 PM
absentmemory says:
After skipping a few generics (Guns, yeah a little too broad there) I got The Can Kicked Him… which may be just stupid enough to work 😀
June 28, 2013 — 11:21 AM
baneofkings says:
World of Silence, here. Interesting…
June 28, 2013 — 11:41 AM
Libby says:
Oh ye gods… I got fauxlosophic narration.
June 28, 2013 — 12:56 PM
Libby says:
Yeah… Failed. Failed miserably. But the attempt has given me a Byronic hero who might be useful in a parody of some sort at a later date.
July 5, 2013 — 4:31 PM
jdsfiction says:
Interesting… I got “We Can Rebuild Him.” It smells like sci-fi…
June 28, 2013 — 1:56 PM
Daniel R. Davis says:
Or if you write YA, teen spirit sci-fi! 😉
June 28, 2013 — 2:11 PM
jdsfiction says:
Load up on pom-poms, bring your friends… 🙂
June 29, 2013 — 5:10 AM
jdsfiction says:
Now that life has gotten out of the way, the story is done. I give you: The Truth About Hoover Phillips. Enjoy. 🙂
http://jdsfiction.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/flash-fiction-june-28/
June 29, 2013 — 4:17 AM
jreinmiller says:
Hah, I really liked this one. I thought it was funny and written with a strong voice.
June 30, 2013 — 8:36 PM
jdsfiction says:
Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate the comment. 🙂
June 30, 2013 — 8:42 PM
thesexiestwriter says:
When I first read that, I thought you wrote “We Can Rebuild Ham.” I was hooked.
July 2, 2013 — 10:48 AM
jdsfiction says:
If we rebuild ham to make it better, it would be called bacon… *drool*
Thanks for reading! 🙂
July 2, 2013 — 2:23 PM
Wanderer says:
All Along You’re Just… http://secondstaronther.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/another-brick-in-the-wall/
The trope(s) I used are listed at the bottom of the post.
June 28, 2013 — 2:38 PM
jdsfiction says:
Dog’s bollocks, I say again! 🙂
(that’s like the bees knees or the cat’s pajamas)
June 29, 2013 — 5:12 AM
Wanderer says:
I do remember seeing that one, thank you!
July 1, 2013 — 9:28 AM
jreinmiller says:
Nice, very nice. Both Death by Origin, and Origin by Death as it were. I thought the accents and colloquialisms were well used and came through clearly to give a strong feeling of the locale.
June 30, 2013 — 8:45 PM
Wanderer says:
Thank you so much! I wanted to try to spin the trope, and that was what I came up with. I’m glad the accents and colloquialisms worked out—I had to do a bit of research.
July 1, 2013 — 9:38 AM
David says:
I got Sex is Evil. Might end up taking a reroll on this one.
June 28, 2013 — 3:28 PM
tpeterr says:
I decided to double-roll and came up with a combination of Splash Panel and Surprise Creepy. I already have a quick scene/plot in mind and this is going to be fun!
June 28, 2013 — 4:30 PM
tpeterr says:
My first roll was for Scenery Porn, but that didn’t titillate me. If someone else wants it, feel free to appropriate.
June 28, 2013 — 4:33 PM
Kefirah says:
I’m having too much fun looking up everyone’s picks (the ones that I didn’t know already, that is). Stuck in Trope-land! woohoo!
June 28, 2013 — 5:20 PM
alexanderthesoso says:
I got http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SorryToInterrupt
which actually gave me a new turn to add to a piece i was doing for a round robin competition anyways, so here it is!
http://www.bookcountry.com/Community/Discussion/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=8589935425&page=2
June 28, 2013 — 7:05 PM
terribleminds says:
Test!
June 28, 2013 — 8:15 PM
Alexander The So So says:
Reply!
June 29, 2013 — 1:06 AM
jdsfiction says:
The answer is: C.
June 29, 2013 — 5:15 AM
Kurt Bali says:
I got Stabbing the Scorpion. A little cliched, but I did my best. More impressed with the fact I was able to cut almost 500 words off it.
http://sixgunwizard.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-terrible-minds-flash-fiction-tropes.html
June 28, 2013 — 9:15 PM
jdsfiction says:
Good times and great job man! Don’t worry about cliche, it’s going to happen when the challenge topic is trope/ cliche. The story makes me not feel bad about this king-size Hershey’s almond bar I’m about to destroy- this one’s for Bob. 🙂
June 30, 2013 — 12:05 AM
jreinmiller says:
Great development of character in such as short piece. I felt like I had a strong sense of Bob throughout and even if the trope was cliched, I still thought you played it well.
June 30, 2013 — 8:58 PM
S.W. Sondheimer says:
Right. “Redemption Earns Life.” How to avoid sappy drivel…
Make sure to end with cussing.
http://swsondheimer.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/flash-fiction-down-the-tv-tropes-rabbit-hole/
June 28, 2013 — 9:15 PM
dagdha says:
“Big Red Button” mashed together with a painting by friend and collaboration partner –
http://www.pendemon.com/dimensional-rift/
June 28, 2013 — 9:17 PM
jdsfiction says:
Very fun! Where can a guy get a bike like that without going into the nether realms?
June 30, 2013 — 12:16 AM
dagdha says:
The Germans are probably working on something similar, though I dread to think what the insurance bill on something like that might be.
June 30, 2013 — 1:20 AM
thesexiestwriter says:
Really great, now I wish I knew how he got himself into this spot…Hellhounds on my trail!
July 2, 2013 — 11:45 AM
dagdha says:
Thank you very much. 🙂
July 3, 2013 — 1:51 PM
Mozette says:
Hell? Hell Hounds? Your description of them is pretty spot on and in line with Supernatural 😛 Are you a fan of the show? 😀
And I’d love to have a go on that bike! 😀
July 2, 2013 — 11:42 PM
dagdha says:
I’ve actually never seen Supernatural, but I’ve heard great things about the show. Maybe I’ll have to check it out!
July 3, 2013 — 1:50 PM
andreaspeed says:
Oh boy! I got “Do-Anything Robot”! Can’t wait to write this one.
June 28, 2013 — 9:33 PM
bradellison says:
“Only the Worthy May Pass.” This will be interesting.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnlyTheWorthyMayPass
June 28, 2013 — 10:27 PM
entrebat says:
Challenge accepted, Chuck!
Mine: One-Paragraph Chapter
Chapters
Enjoy!
June 29, 2013 — 11:32 AM
Jason Sandeman says:
Looks like I’m doing BloodSport. Nice!
June 29, 2013 — 12:31 PM
jreinmiller says:
Well I got a ‘Fifteen Puzzle’, not sure how trope-ish that is (yes, I just made that up) but I went with it.
So here you go:
http://www.jqpdx.com/2013/06/29/the-puzzle/
June 29, 2013 — 1:40 PM
Laura W. says:
I got “Third-Person Person” — someone who only ever refers to him or herself in the third person. This is going to be fun.
June 29, 2013 — 10:10 PM
Paul Baughman says:
I trolled around and picked two: Sex Sells and Super Slave Market. I give you Gun Show.
This one actually came in under target for a change: 899 words.
Enjoy!
June 29, 2013 — 11:22 PM
Francesca Carrillo says:
Rolled Band Wagon Technique. Had fun writing this horror flash fic! The Curse of the Winged Fatty
June 30, 2013 — 12:43 AM
andreaspeed says:
Okay, her’es my Do-Everything Robot Story, Mr. Fix-It – http://andreaspeed.com/2013/flash-fiction-challenge-mr-fix-it/
June 30, 2013 — 3:11 AM
Uri Emram says:
Hello everybody!
So I got: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
And here is your story:
http://uriemram.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/perspective/
This is the first I have written fiction since high school. Feedback is strongly encouraged.
June 30, 2013 — 2:54 PM
absentmemory says:
Here’s my terribly named look into The Can Kicked Him, Water: http://incarnatememory.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/a-damp-friday-flash/
Enjoy!
June 30, 2013 — 3:53 PM
rebeccadouglass says:
I got the death course. A whole gauntlet of booby-traps for the hero. This seems like it would fit nicely with the chap from last week’s story. Not sure if I’ll make it by Friday–I’ll try!
July 1, 2013 — 1:12 AM
rebeccadouglass says:
Got it! A little skimpy by my standards, but I didn’t have much time.
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2013/07/tv-tropes-challenge.html
July 5, 2013 — 12:09 PM
SamCuddleston says:
I got Saving Christmas, so I wrote a story called Saving Christmas! I really enjoyed writing this one. I just made this wordpress, by the way, so it’s kind of (okay, very) rough around the edges right now.
http://samcuddleston.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/flash-fiction-saving-christmas/
July 1, 2013 — 6:36 AM
Josh Loomis says:
‘Amusing Alien’ plus a contest over at Geekadelphia yielded the following hot slice of robot combat action:
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2013/07/01/flash-fiction-fenris-and-the-pilot/
July 1, 2013 — 10:55 AM
thesexiestwriter says:
I got “loss of identity” which worked almost perfectly into a story I wrote in my head while on the beach last week. It’s so weird, playing with your children in the surf, and having a story absolutely plant its footprint right in your forehead, I’m glad this challenge made me write it.
http://criticalsexualmass.wordpress.com/
July 1, 2013 — 5:26 PM
Shelly Tennyson Taylor says:
I got “Conspiracy Theorist”…..Here is my contribution!
http://oldmomsunite.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/they-are-watching-me/
July 1, 2013 — 6:13 PM
Mozette says:
Bullets Dodge You… The Matrix kind a deal. 😀
Here’s my contribution 😀
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/abby-and-whistler.html
July 1, 2013 — 9:46 PM
Lani Gerbi says:
Couldn’t resist. 😛 There’s a link to the trope on my post as explaining it first would give the game away. Cheers!
http://lanigerbi.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/fiction-marooned.html
July 2, 2013 — 1:32 AM
Lani Gerbi says:
Bit (read: completely) new to this whole flash fiction gig, so if anyone has any thoughts on the story I’d love to hear them. No, seriously, I would love you forever. 🙂 Thank you!
July 6, 2013 — 5:28 AM