Last week’s challenge: “Must Contain…“
Cyberpunk. Steampunk. Dieselpunk.
The literary subgenre -punk contains, as I see it, a couple key features —
a) A world taken over by the technology or fuel source or by humans (often in an authoritarian role) attempting to control the utilization and implementation of that tech or resource.
and
b) Characters who represent an anarchic, rebel “punk” vibe in this world.
Certainly other definitions could apply, but this is the one I’m going for today. The Matrix works as cyberpunk because you have the authoritarian machine regime and also the radical activists who dress all bad-ass and work to break the regime and its system to itty bitty pieces. Is Star Wars spacepunk? Forcepunk? If you really wanted to be cynical, you might suggest that we — right now — live in an Oilpunk world. BUT I DETECT NO CYNICS HERE. Ahem.
Anyway.
Your job is to write 1000 words of fiction in a new SomethingPunk world.
Where [Something] is a noun (tech/resource, most likely) you choose.
Definitely no cyberpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk.
That said, if you’re feeling a bit daunted by this initial open choice, I’ve included ten options below that you could grab and use in order to write this flash fiction challenge. Grab a d10 or choose randomly. If you grab from the list, the interpretation you choose is entirely up to you. (Most of those can go several ways, I suspect.)
You’ve got one week, par usual — due by noon EST on March 21st (Friday).
Post at your blog or online space. Link to your story in the comments below.
SomethingPunk Possibilities
- Ghostpunk
- Hellpunk
- Cowpunk
- Bloodpunk
- Soulpunk
- Geopunk
- Godpunk*
- Beastpunk
- Dustpunk
- Germpunk
* originally written “godspunk,” which sounds like “god-spunk” instead of “gods-punk.”
109 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: SomethingPunk”
PsionPunk! Or possibly OrichalcumPunk. http://evathereseebert.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/somethingpunk/
Soulpunk complete!
http://growingasawriter.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/flash-fiction-challenge-somethingpunk-different-funerals/
I’m not sure how punk is it. It seems very character focused. Is first attempt. Maybe if I had more than a thousand words. Who knows. I still had a good time writing it.
Bloodpunk? Demonpunk? …Bloodpunk, if I wind up expanding this in the future, I think. Mmm, blood.
http://www.laylahhunter.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-crossing-the-scars/
http://www.darylrothman.com/
This is another development in my fruitpunk world – a little more punk than the last one. http://jemimapett.com/blog/2014/03/21/friday-flash-fiction-hijack/
Now I must go over and check out that Orichalcumpunk story 🙂
All right, here’s my offering. I picked Vaxxpunk.
“McCarthyism”: http://authorizedmusings.blogspot.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-mccarthyism.html
[…] After quite a few false starts, this was my submission to Chuck Wendig’s terribleminds blog in response to the flash fiction challenge, somethingpunk. The idea being to write something […]
Started off with a story set on an asteroid where Oxygen was a scarce resource…. ended up on Earth, with a totally different story. I than had to go back and determine what sort of punk I had stumbled upon. That is the beauty of flash fiction– no idea where the road will take you.
I give you: god-punk by way of my story, “The Idea that spontaneously leaps from the Subconscious fully formed” — 1000 words on the dot, oddly.
http://slip2break.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/the-idea-that-spontaneously-leaps-from-the-subconscious-fully-formed/
Interestingly dark. I like it. It worked as a short, but it definitely had promise as a longer story.
Thanks. Much appreciated!
this was dark but it captured my attention and imaigination. if this was a full book i would buy and read the hell out of it 🙂
After reading jbwhelan’s post (above) in the genre VeggiePunk, I was struck with the idea of BugPunk, because really, it’s a bloody miracle they haven’t taken over the world already.
http://wp.me/p44qkj-1a
The idea of big bugs is scary. Organised, efficient, deadly.
[…] done this week’s Flash Fiction Challenge once before, and I remember my contribution as not being my favorite. And it’s already […]
Being nibbled to death by ducks, feeling like there’s no time to breathe, so, so exhausted. Either a really good combination or a really bad one. I had been staring at the clock all night, calculating how much I had gotten done, how much I still had to do. Then at 22:45 I suddenly realized that I still had to write something tonight. It instantly seemed appropriate to write a “clockpunk” story, despite having NO idea what that might be. Fortunately, for better or for worse, my Muse had an idea.
http://pauljwillett.com/2014/03/20/flash-fiction-clockpunker/
“We-punk”? 🙂 And it’s a lipogram story too. So far only 500 words. I will see if I can expand it to 1000 words by the deadline. https://www.facebook.com/notes/mildred-achoch/we-sdom-a-we-punk-lipogram-short-story-that-omits-the-letter-i/10152020681786527
[…] Last week’s challenge: Somethingpunk! […]
Here’s mine. http://contrastsolution.blogspot.com/2014/03/make-your-own-steampunk.html
The d10 being a cold mistress, I rolled cowpunk.
At roundabouts 1500 words (and 87% lean), I give you…
Tipping the Balance: A Cowpunk Tale.
http://www.jdstoffel.com/2014/03/flash-fiction-cowpunk/
I liked this! What can go wrong with a ficlet that starts with the sentence “The mooing cut across the empty night.”?
You know, you’re right. Maybe I can build a career around starting all of my works that way.
“The mooing cut across the empty night. Which was also dark and stormy.”
…hmm, I’ll work on it.
Glad you enjoyed the story!
Hardboiled beepunk: http://thegirlwhotrodontheloaf.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/a-cigarette-in-one-hand-and-a-revolver-in-the-other/
Oh! I had fun with this. First one for a little while. Mine is a med-punk story. I’ve been reading a lot of crazy theories about vaccines, and this popped into my head.
It’s a sci-fi called Devolution. http://prose.smoph.org/2014/03/21/devolution-a-medpunk-story/
[…] or Steampunk. So here I have for you, what i call, ‘Dino-Punk’! (as in Dinosaurs). See the blog post for what the definition of the ‘something-punk’ challenge was. Not sure if i got it or […]
okay, okay i know this is super late. but it’s better late than never, right?! Right? anyways, here’s my ‘punk’ – dinopunk! not sure if i nailed the punk aspect but…here goes nothing anyway. comments welcome!
Very, very late to the party – but I rolled up soulpunk, and who could say no to that? It’s called, quite simply Number 17: http://chriswhitewrites.com/2014/03/26/number-17/ Let me know what you think!
[…] all the way down to this point, well… perhaps your time would be better spent checking out some of the other anything-punk stories. Go take a look, yeah? I’ll just be over here dreaming up new ways for cows to take over the […]
[…] also riffed off a challenge from several weeks back: SomethingPunk, for which I wrote the story “Borrowed Time“. This one’s more fun, less […]