Flash Fiction Challenge: Now Choose Your Title
Last week, I said, “Come up with a title.”
And you did. Over 400 of them.
Now, your job is to go into the comments section of that post and find a title you like. Then, write a story (under 2,000 words, we’ll say) to fit that title. Please do not choose a title you came up with. The challenge is to pick up something new!
You have one week — due by Friday, October 2nd.
Post the story on your online space and link to it in the comments below.
Please give credit to the person who came up with your title. Credit is good.
Go. Pick. Write. Enjoy!
September 25, 2015 @ 12:28 PM
Courtesy of Carlywrites (betterwithapenblog.com), “The First Apology.”
“Somebody had screwed up. Mia thought it was the new guy in Protocol. I suspected Britt. She’d always rubbed me the wrong way….”
http://mjdiedrich.com/2015/09/25/the-first-apology/
September 27, 2015 @ 4:16 PM
I lied this. Feels very unique. Nice world-building!
September 28, 2015 @ 11:05 AM
Many thanks! I really enjoyed yours as well, especially its overall premise and the…collegial relationship depicted towards the end.
September 29, 2015 @ 3:57 PM
I really like the worldbuilding here, too. I like the idea of this whole workforce that exists just to communicate with these complicated alien beings! I would have liked to see the Mars First movement be at least mentioned in passing earlier in the story. I’m also a little confused how Britt contrived to have all the people that would have worked for her or translated her work out at the same time? But mostly I really liked the setting and the setup here!
September 30, 2015 @ 9:37 AM
Thank you for both the kind words and the useful feedback. Much appreciated! I loved your use of imagery and detail in “Under the River,” especially the significance of color, to convey both tone and detail. The way you set up and paid off the dull white really worked for me.
September 30, 2015 @ 12:53 PM
I really liked what you’ve done here. You took a somewhat vague title and created a complex and compelling world. I really enjoyed it.
October 1, 2015 @ 5:08 PM
Thank you! I look forward to seeing more of the adventures of Arden and Snorts from your story.
September 25, 2015 @ 2:10 PM
I went with Penquillity’s title, The Charge of the Fright Brigade. A lot of fun to write! Here it is:
https://wormholelesstraveled.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/the-charge-of-the-fright-brigade/
September 28, 2015 @ 12:47 AM
Wow! Fantastic opening, and the fun just kept on coming. Is this part of a larger universe or just a one-off, because the detail was amazing.
September 28, 2015 @ 1:10 PM
It was supposed to be a one off but it’s gotten such a nice response that mayhaps I will make it into a larger universe. Tentative title: the “Spookyverse”. Thanks for the read Anna 🙂
September 25, 2015 @ 2:46 PM
I’m double-dipping on this one–today and next Friday. For today, I used AKDrees’s title, “How the Rain Gets In”.
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2015/09/friday-flash-fiction-how-rain-gets-in.html
Now to pick another for next Friday 🙂
September 27, 2015 @ 1:40 PM
Loved it!
September 28, 2015 @ 11:23 PM
Thanks!
September 29, 2015 @ 4:03 PM
Nice description – I liked the creeping sense of dread and the inexorable onset of the rain.
October 1, 2015 @ 8:41 PM
Followed up this week with “Weather Permitting,” which just sort of naturally had to continue the story!
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2015/10/flash-fiction-weather-permitting.html
October 2, 2015 @ 2:02 PM
They had me worried there!
October 4, 2015 @ 12:46 PM
We may never know if they make it out okay. But they are going to enjoy the journey.
September 25, 2015 @ 4:16 PM
Great idea! 🙂 I did something similar with my family. We all tried our hand at writing catchy opening lines for stories then we switched them around and everyone wrote a short story with someone else’s opening line.
September 25, 2015 @ 6:10 PM
I close Mozette’s title. https://article94.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/muffled-silence/
September 26, 2015 @ 8:04 PM
I like this one… this is a story I can see as a novella or a short series of books – depending on which way you take it. 😀
Thank you for picking my really vague title. 🙂
September 26, 2015 @ 10:28 PM
Thanks, Moz! If you’d like to read more: https://article94.wordpress.com/tag/victorious-maiden/?order=asc
October 2, 2015 @ 2:05 PM
Ah! It did feel like a fragment. Very atmospheric!
September 25, 2015 @ 8:07 PM
Here’s mine with a special to J.T. Wilibanks.
Not quite fiction. Not quite fact.
The Fine Art of Becoming Nothing
We have become the monsters under the bed waiting for the bare feet and supple ankles to hit the floor.
September 30, 2015 @ 8:59 PM
I highly recommend this as piece of higher thought reading. I can’t say I completely grasped every nuance, but if you are all about the nuance and subtleties of language, then this one’s for you.
September 25, 2015 @ 8:13 PM
I took zer_netmouse’s title, for a quick and dirty piece of revenge noir. I may double dip as well. http://andreaspeed.com/2015/flash-fic-challenge-rage-walks-beside-me/
September 28, 2015 @ 1:13 PM
I liked this, especially your descriptions. Very vivid, and I liked the way they flow (like the way you used the sea and shore imagery, for example).
September 29, 2015 @ 3:33 PM
Very good ! I loved your descriptions, firm and tight!
September 30, 2015 @ 9:04 PM
Dirty, gritty, with some very vivid analogies. Might have gone a knife too far describing the throat-slitting scene. Either that, or I am a squeamish pansy. I think you may have liked killing the bad guy just a tad too much. Might need to seek therapy for that. Otherwise, great piece of work.
September 25, 2015 @ 8:13 PM
From Aaron Jeffries: A Message from Her
September 26, 2015 @ 8:32 PM
Your link didn’t show up… did you forget to put it in?
September 26, 2015 @ 8:39 PM
My mistake…I don’t know what I was thinking, that we should say which one we chose before writing. But I guess I did that already on the first blog post. No, I have not written it yet.
September 26, 2015 @ 9:57 PM
Aahh… looking forward to it. 😀
September 25, 2015 @ 9:23 PM
I chose Tabitha Beth’s title… 😀
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/i-am-not-alice.html
Enjoy!
September 26, 2015 @ 9:04 PM
Wow I didnt not expect yor story to go in the direction that it did. Well done
September 26, 2015 @ 9:44 PM
Thank you… actually I didn’t expect it to take me there either. I don’t plan my stories, they take me along for the ride as much as they do for you – so both you and I were surprised the same way. 😀
September 28, 2015 @ 11:51 PM
Great story!
October 2, 2015 @ 8:18 PM
Thank you Rebecca and Curtis… I know some of it was a big vague, but I did my best with it. 😀
September 26, 2015 @ 4:14 PM
Here’s mine. I’m borrowing Gordo’s “The Crack in Lucy’s Eye.” This one turned out pretty weird, even for me…
http://strangeandcuriousthings.blogspot.fi/2015/09/terribleminds-challenge-borrowed-title.html
September 27, 2015 @ 8:06 PM
I really enjoyed your story. Great imagery.
September 27, 2015 @ 10:07 PM
Nice.
September 28, 2015 @ 10:15 AM
Nice job!!
September 28, 2015 @ 1:15 PM
Thanks, guys:)
September 29, 2015 @ 11:08 AM
LIke!
September 29, 2015 @ 4:11 PM
What a cool idea! I really liked this title but couldn’t think of an idea to do it justice, which you definitely did. Really like the personification (demonization?) of these maladies.
September 30, 2015 @ 9:17 PM
You have a light touch with weird and a delightful take on what you might see if you too had a crack through which to view the true cause of much human misery. Maybe you need to explore your dark side more often?
Flash Fiction Challenge 2: H is for Hammer Time, title by Nick | Madda's Half of the Whole Story
September 26, 2015 @ 6:25 PM
[…] am making this short story as a reply to the Flash Fiction Challenge: Now Choose your Title: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/09/25/flash-fiction-challenge-now-choose-your-title/ I chose the title “H is for Hammer Time” by Nick. I hope it does… kinnov a […]
September 26, 2015 @ 6:45 PM
Hello 😀 I chose Nick’s title: H is for Hammer Time! I took a more gamerly approach to it rather than murdery… because I am more about human interaction than horror.
Here it is:
https://maddashalfofthewholestory.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/flash-fiction-challenge-2-h-is-for-hammer-time-title-by-nick/
September 26, 2015 @ 8:23 PM
I chose Joshua M. Neff’s title: The Man from the Ministry of Fog
http://study-in-ink.tumblr.com/post/129949695055/the-man-from-the-ministry-of-fog
This was quite fun! Nice break from my usual work.
September 30, 2015 @ 9:15 PM
I liked it. Felt like it really belonged to that title.
September 30, 2015 @ 9:22 PM
You have a very good grasp of character voice. I could truly picture the cantankerous old woman and the much put-upon ministry agent. I have to say, though, they sounded suspiciously efficient for government agents. They must have a better infrastructure in your fictional world than they do here.
October 2, 2015 @ 4:20 PM
Holy cats, I absolutely LOVE that! Honestly, that’s very much the kind of story (in tone, if not in setting) that I had in mind when I came up with the title.
September 26, 2015 @ 9:48 PM
I appropriated Mark Davis’s “The 2nd Street Writing Syndicate.” I haven’t had this much fun writing a story in a while. I hope you like it too.
http://accidentallyinspired.com/2015/09/26/the-2nd-street-writing-syndicate/
September 27, 2015 @ 7:17 PM
Fun, funny, original, and just the right amount of snark-loved it!!
September 27, 2015 @ 8:42 PM
Glad you did!
September 28, 2015 @ 10:22 AM
That was awesome. No “prosometer” necessary.
September 29, 2015 @ 9:06 AM
Right on! Sometimes you think up something that just NEEDS to be in the real world…
September 29, 2015 @ 12:30 PM
Loved it!
September 29, 2015 @ 10:56 PM
I took that title too. I challenge you to compare our separate visions: http://wp.me/p4K3CH-cf
September 27, 2015 @ 5:32 AM
From mrdugdarley, the title is simply:
Greetings.
October 1, 2015 @ 8:42 PM
Be sure to add the link when the story is written!
September 27, 2015 @ 1:43 PM
I picked “Gold Like Your Blood,” courtesy of erimeh.
Flash Fiction Challenge: Cornbread and Cognac | Read Write Repeat
September 27, 2015 @ 9:35 PM
[…] story is brought to you by FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: NOW CHOOSE YOUR TITLE at Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds. I mentioned that msshonnerz’s suggestion of […]
September 27, 2015 @ 9:37 PM
Here’s my entry, inspired by msshonnerz’s title of “Cornbread and Cognac”.
http://fredgyost.com/2015/09/27/flash-fiction-challenge-cornbread-and-cognac/
October 1, 2015 @ 2:32 PM
I really enjoyed this. Great work!
October 2, 2015 @ 8:49 PM
Thanks!
October 1, 2015 @ 9:20 PM
This was awesome! Really enjoyed it. Reminded me a bit of the comic Southern Bastards.
October 2, 2015 @ 8:48 PM
Ooh, I’ll have to check that one out. Glad you liked it!
Turbulence and Sunshine | edge of center
September 28, 2015 @ 2:09 AM
[…] is another Chuck Wendig Friday Flash Fiction challenge, but in a way, it’s a story I’ve been writing for years. It is set in the world of, but […]
September 28, 2015 @ 2:35 AM
I chose Leigh Statham’s wonderfully evocative “Turbulence and Sunshine.”
Greetings | Modern Authors
September 28, 2015 @ 8:00 AM
[…] is yet another entry for Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenge, found here. This week, we had to pick someone else’s title and build a story from it. Simple, right? My […]
September 28, 2015 @ 8:01 AM
Well, here goes. Greetings looked interesting so that is what you have. https://modernauthors.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/greetings/
September 28, 2015 @ 11:23 AM
I apologize. My title was GREETINGS from mrdugdarley.
September 29, 2015 @ 8:40 AM
well that was eerie. i love it!
September 29, 2015 @ 6:52 PM
Thanks! To be honest, I was a bit worried about this one.
September 30, 2015 @ 12:59 AM
Well I’m glad you pushed through.
I loved it
September 29, 2015 @ 6:16 PM
Thoroughly enjoyed that. The sense of powerlessness was quite apparent.
September 29, 2015 @ 6:55 PM
Thank you. I hope I’ve done your title justice.
September 29, 2015 @ 10:30 PM
Well done! I loved its creepiness… and how weirdly polite it was.
September 28, 2015 @ 12:26 PM
Here’s “Beers of the World After” – thanks NinjaGW:
http://cubiclemonster.weebly.com/writings
September 30, 2015 @ 11:27 AM
Very fun. I wish every job had demented magic beer……..
October 1, 2015 @ 11:52 AM
Thanks, boundbeautifunk! I work part-time at a brewery, so it was kind of cathartic for me to write!
October 1, 2015 @ 2:33 PM
I suspected something similar. There’s only so many times you can answer the same question. “Boy cows don’t give milk? Wow, I never realized that before,” says a middle aged man with children……
September 28, 2015 @ 8:20 PM
I’m going with “The Sound of Fire” by Russell (NLN), the story for that one just popped out. If nothing else, this has forced me to create a blog to post stories on, which will probably lead to creating a website. Dammit Chuck, you’re costing me money here!
September 28, 2015 @ 9:33 PM
I used Angélique Jamail’s title : “Farce Macabre”
Many many thanks !
https://impulsedevice.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/farce-macabre/
September 29, 2015 @ 8:03 AM
loved it
September 30, 2015 @ 12:53 AM
Very dark but it definitely kept my attention. Great job!
September 28, 2015 @ 10:39 PM
I appropriated “Cobblestones of the Road” from maddaandhalfofthewholestory.
This is my first Flash Fiction attempt, seeing as I am rather new to this whole writing thing, so I would greatly appreciate any feedback, complimentary or brutal.
https://dcxli.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/cobblestones-of-the-road/
September 29, 2015 @ 8:52 AM
But what was in the chest!?
loved it, i imagine there is a lot more here than meets the eye,
September 29, 2015 @ 9:35 AM
That is indeed the question, my friend. I’m glad you liked it!
September 29, 2015 @ 9:58 AM
I took thenotebook183’s title, “Under the River” and came up with this!
http://aimee-ogden.tumblr.com/post/130131859011/terribleminds-flash-fiction-challenge-under-the
September 29, 2015 @ 2:39 PM
Beautifully worded. It reads like a song. =)
September 29, 2015 @ 4:29 PM
Thank you! 🙂
September 29, 2015 @ 6:36 PM
I did missalimcd’s The Mysteries of Her Head
https://cheesywriterblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/the-mysteries-of-her-head/
September 30, 2015 @ 9:26 AM
Good one!
September 30, 2015 @ 11:25 AM
Thank you! Showers have such good ideas in them….
September 29, 2015 @ 6:53 PM
Thank you. I hope I’ve done your title justice.
I Literarily Have an Offer You Can’t Refuse… | TheDustSeason
September 29, 2015 @ 10:54 PM
[…] MY Original Fiction – Title suggested by David Marks from Chuck Wendig’s Epic Battle […]
September 29, 2015 @ 11:00 PM
I went with ‘She Never Dies Quietly’, contributed by nkharrold (https://freelancefedora.wordpress.com/). your title took me to a dark place… I hope that I did it justice. 😉
http://writingaboutreading.com/writing-about-writing/ffc-wendig-title/
October 1, 2015 @ 12:04 AM
I’ve seen some people posting the opening sentence(s) of their stories, so I’ll do the same… perhaps it will draw interest some of you. 🙂
“She screamed when I killed her for the last time. Of course she had. She always did.”
October 1, 2015 @ 8:53 PM
Really a chilling tale! Well done.
October 2, 2015 @ 12:15 AM
Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment! 🙂
September 29, 2015 @ 11:01 PM
Courtesy of David Marks’ Title: The Second Street Writer’s Syndicate.
“I tell you, Boss, Dewey’s got to be remaindered.”
https://kirisalazar.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/i-literarily-have-an-offer-you-cant-refuse/
Of Those in Shadow | Princess of Dragons
September 30, 2015 @ 7:08 AM
[…] Chuck set us his weekly challenge. That week, it was to come up with a title for a short story. This week, he then challenged us to pick one of those titles and come up with a story about it. I choose […]
September 30, 2015 @ 7:08 AM
I picked ‘Of Those in Shadow’, which was created by Anton. this is what I wrote for it:
https://princessofdragons.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/of-those-in-shadow/
September 30, 2015 @ 9:08 AM
I decided to double-dip, and this time I choose Lee Langtom’s title: The Hand Drawn Man. Enjoy!
https://dcxli.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/the-hand-drawn-man/
Flash Fiction Challenge: Now Choose Your Title | Sarah Spelbring
September 30, 2015 @ 11:01 AM
[…] Now Choose Your Title Title: Kilara (via lightningstarlight) Word Count: 271 […]
September 30, 2015 @ 11:58 AM
My Attempt:
https://sarahspelbring.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/flash-fiction-challenge-now-choose-your-title/
September 30, 2015 @ 1:04 PM
Okay, I decided to do another one, and use Dustin Miller’s title: https://article94.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/the-rocks-above/
September 30, 2015 @ 3:52 PM
Tobias and the Seven Dwarves? I really enjoyed it. It seems like a world ripe for the exploring.
September 30, 2015 @ 6:40 PM
Thanks! If you’d like to know more: https://article94.wordpress.com/brass-automaton/
How to Sing Butterflies | Thomas Diehl Dot E U
September 30, 2015 @ 1:49 PM
[…] following is the result of this week’s Flash Fiction Challenge at Chuck Wendig’s blog. The challenge last week had particpants come up with a title (without […]
September 30, 2015 @ 1:57 PM
Well, that was very different from my usual stuff (not only because it’s in English), certainly my weirdest yet. 373 words grown from Medina’s “How to Sing Butterflies” http://en.thomasdiehl.eu/?p=126
September 30, 2015 @ 5:57 PM
Hi,
I really liked writerchick’s title, Banjo and the Wormhole. Thanks Anita.
http://wp.me/p1MxFw-3H
Neon Sky (A Chuck Wendig Challenge) | Dark Perceptions
October 1, 2015 @ 9:57 AM
[…] week’s challenge, take a title by someone else and turn it into a story. I went over by about 400 words on this one, […]
October 1, 2015 @ 9:58 AM
Courtesy of David Benson: Neon Sky. (And only 400 or so words over)
https://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/neon-sky-a-chuck-wendig-challenge/
October 1, 2015 @ 11:55 AM
I chose to write a flash fiction story for the title “The Wolf of Banderville Moor”, title by Matthew J Daniels..Here is my web address:
https://patriciaruthsusan.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/the-wolf-of-banderville-moor/
October 1, 2015 @ 1:24 PM
“Cut + Paste” got my imagination working. Here’s what it came up with.
https://grahamwrites.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/flash-fiction-cut-paste/
October 1, 2015 @ 1:26 PM
By the way, thank you Adan Ramie.
October 1, 2015 @ 3:40 PM
Great action and I loved Sunny
October 1, 2015 @ 4:21 PM
Guess that was for me? Thanks!
October 1, 2015 @ 6:28 PM
I used Sodmikail’s The Shipping List. It’ll be live in about 30 minutes.
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2015/10/02/friday-flash-fiction-the-shipping-list/
October 2, 2015 @ 9:26 AM
I always enjoy your work.
October 2, 2015 @ 1:23 PM
Thanks!
October 1, 2015 @ 8:33 PM
Got my title from Jemima Pett, and made a continuation of last week’s story. Weather Permitting:
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2015/10/flash-fiction-weather-permitting.html
October 16, 2015 @ 4:56 PM
Without anything for today, I picked your Walking Backwards into Hell. So, it’s too late for this challenge….
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2015/10/16/friday-flash-fiction-walking-backwards-into-hell/
October 1, 2015 @ 9:16 PM
I chose “Showdown at Evermore” by JQ Davis. It came in just under 400 words. A part of me wants to keep writing the story to see what happens next.
http://www.matthewmarchitto.com/blog/2015/10/1/flash-fiction-challenge-choose-your-title-edition-showdown-at-evermore
(Spoiler (sorta): I like to think Marda fought her way to the center of the Evermore.)