This week, we return to a classic. I will give you 20 subgenres. You will pick two from the list either using a d20 or random number generator (or use tea leaves or falcon guts or something), then you will write a short story that mashes up those two subgenres. (So you might get Kaiju Noir, or Superhero BDSM, or Parallel Universe Whodunit!)
This time, you’ll get 1500 words.
This is due by next Friday (2/12), noon EST.
Post at your online space.
Link to it in the comments below. So we can all read it!
THE SUBGENRE LIST:
- Kaiju
- Cli-Fi (Climate Change Fiction)
- Southern Gothic
- Zombie
- Weird West
- Mythology
- Body Horror
- Grimdark Fantasy
- Whodunit?
- Military Sci-Fi
- Comic Fantasy
- Technothriller
- Superhero
- BDSM Erotica
- Heist / Caper
- Magical Realism
- Parallel Universe
- Noir
- Time Travel
- Alien Horror
115 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: The Subgenre Tango”
If I could only do one of your challenges for eternity, it’d be this. Providing, of course, I actually get it done. I got:
15 – Heist/Caper
18 – Noir
Lucky…
The random number generator gave me 10 & 11. (Yes. it did) Turns out it was harder to hit that BDSM erotica number than I thought. But I’ll play by the rules. 🙁
It gave me 11 and 12, which, I’m pretty sure I’m not qualified so I re-rolled for 5 and 15. I’m reading A Rope of Thorns right now so that’s pretty close to where my head is anyway, but 1500 words is going to be a challenge. Thinking on it.
Any other Beths roll an 11?
Really, it’s the cosmos that determine which numbers we are given. The idea that any of this is random is purely hegemonic. It was your fate, as BDSM + Body Horror is mine. I’ve written some tawdry stuff before, but believe me, I giggle like a little schoolgirl every time I write a racy scene. But apparently, it’s my lot in life! o_0
Agreed on cosmos determination.
My dreams of a Kaiju Erotica were dashed by getting15/19, but I’m down for a Time Travel Caper.
I don’t know you Jonny but I feel like we’d get along.I was hoping for Kaiju BDSM too
There’s no reason it can’t be done. In fact, I might have to try it. Especially as I completely forgot about my Time Caper!
I have eight and ten. So military sci-fi grimdark fantasy. Not my usual, but I could do do this.
Alien horror BDSM erotica… I was gonna re-roll, but no, I can work with this…
Cli-Fi Noir. That’s either impossible or brilliant.
Weird West Alien Horror. I’m so down for this.
using my MDT Tarot deck and only the trumps, I pulled le diable and L’emperatrrise. For those who don’t know, that is 15 and 3. Heist/Caper I know, but WTH is Southern Gothic? Could someone tell me?
Merci….
Moira
Fabulous idea by the way. I love this.
Here’s a link that goes into it. But, basically horror like stuff in the south.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic
Southern Gothic, read some Flannery O’Connor. You’ll be glad you did.
Flannery O’Connor is one of my writing muses.
I will. Thank you!
Hot dam, I didn’t know Southern Gothic was a thing and I’m working on a Southern Gothic novel!!!
I have a mood board for my story https://www.pinterest.com/acre8tiveli0760/hunting-party-mood-board/ that may or may not be of use to you. Good luck.
http://study.com/academy/lesson/southern-gothic-literature-definition-characteristics-authors.html
I rolled a 3 too.
Going to give this a try~!
I got comic fantasy alien horror. Oh no… how am I.. ? I guess I’ll figure it out?
I’ve never heard of Cli-fi. Lol. I ended up with Magical Realism/Cli-fi. Here goes….something.
I got heist/caper and Whodunit? I’m excited and concerned that I can’t pull it off which just makes me more excited. See you soon with a finished product!
I got Time Travel + Zombie. All the tropes to play with!
Said the voices in my head pick Mythology & Body Horror, pick Mythology & Body Horror. Shut the F*up I screamed from my alien parallel universe
“Shut the F*up I screamed from my alien parallel universe”
I do that all the time. Sadly, the humans never listen.
Messed up and missed last week’s deadline. Posted anyway.
I shall try to make sure I don’t miss this one.
Randogenerator gives me:
Technothriller + BDSM Erotica
Well. Alrightythen.
Weirdly I wrote that book. And then I had to go back and cut all the sex. And then the whole book.
I’m down to Mythology/Technothriller.
I got 10 and 18 … hilarious.
I got Southern Gothic Technothriller. Sounds fun? I think? Should be interesting, at the very least.
Body Horror and Noir. Ok, as soon as I finish up last weeks challenge I’ll try to figure that out.
Neither of these genres are something I normally read, things related to it, but not these. But, I do these challenges to stretch my writing muscles. I actually took a very fantasy bent to all the whole thing, so its pretty much three genres, rather than two. It was fun to do, though Body Horror seriously grosses me out.
Warning: There is some gross violence done to unicorns, because I’m a bad person.
http://www.fatmaalici.com/2016/02/07/the-beast-inside-out/
I think I managed to squeeze in three of the genres by accident… you guys be the judge. 😀
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/the-mark.html
Blogger’s being douchey about letting me comment there, so:
You always come up with the best ideas! 😀
Southern Gothic and Parallel Universe. Yes. I got this.
Alien Horror + Heist/Caper. Ideas, I have none. Shall sleep on it and see.
Cool! I got Cli-fi/Magic Realism. I’ll put it up tomorrow after I’ve got a chance to re-read without having the bleariness of baby-induced sleep deprivation…or just having had some caffeine.
https://lilliangordontaylor.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/polar-bear/
Ah! I could totally see this as a children’s picture book 😀
I got Mythology and Alien Horror I’m excited, terrified and completely blank right now
YOU DIDN’T TELL ME THE FALCON WOULD DIE!!!!!!
And I think that’s my title.
I got Mythology and BDSM/Erotica the first roll, but that sounded kinda like the gods on a good day, so I rolled again and got Mythology and parallel universe. Which is what I’m writing anyway, with time travel thrown in. Hmmm.
Weird West + Mythology… Sounds like that could generate something interesting. Need to think on it some
Body Horror
Comic Fantasy.
I don’t even know where to begin with that.
But I am ill and just past feverish, so hopefully a touch of fever dream will give me something.
I first rolled a 2-3; Southern Gothic Zombie. After doing a little research as to what exactly goes into a Southern Gothic tale, it sounds to me that there might a lot of redundancy between the two. There is plenty of wiggle room to play with, and it might be something that might evolve into something bigger. Just in case, I rolled again and got a 19-10.
Time Traveling Military Sci-Fi… Could think of nothing by Stargate Fan Fiction.
Went with my first roll. Time to go exploring.
I got 14 – BDSM Erotica
and 7 – Body Horror
This should be interesting!
Sorry this was late; it’s been a crazy week. And I’m way over the word limit.
The Cost of Flying Too High
http://mireles-musings.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-cost-of-flying-too-high.html
Magical Realism and Mythology. Yessssss.
This ought to be interesting: Weird West Kaiju. bwuahahahaha.
I give you, NIOBARA!
http://www.casondrabrewster.com/?p=2784
[…] My response to a flash fiction challenge posed by Chuck Wendig here. […]
I got Superhero and Noir on my first roll. I tried, I really tried, but it sucked and I couldn’t get myself motivated to write more than 300 words.
I rerolled Grimdark Fantasy and BDSM Erotica – not entirely sure the final product is a mash up of these genres (especially as I had to look up Grimdark Fantasy to even see what it was), but it was fun to write.
https://betheredragons.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/sirens-song/
Very cool – I also had no idea what grimdark fantasy was, but it pulled me right in. Nice characterization on your main three characters.
I’m a fan. You could keep writing about these folks, and I’d keep reading!
So, I got Southern Gothic and BDSM Erotica. This is gonna definitely be interesting. I’m kind of excited though
lots of swamps and hoodoo magic.
18 and 12. A Noir Technothriller… Cyberpunk?
[…] Gods is my answer to a new challenge from the terrible minds of Chuck Wendig. The challenge was roll a random number generator and get two sub genres and mash them up into […]
I got technothriller and mythology. I’m not entirely sure I actually nailed either of those genres but I tried?
http://insani-x.com/2016/02/07/false-gods/
Interesting take on the two genres – I was drawn in by the opening scene, especially the “outfit,” which was an awesome visual to start the gears turning.
I liked the set-up and the premise of the story; it read like a sort of twisted Percy Jackson story. My one critique would be about the ending. It seems a bit rushed, but certainly that could be fixed in a format longer than flash fiction.
I was really trying to keep it tight so I had to keep going back and editing down the start to make more space for the ending.
Definitely loved the opening; fantastic setup and premise. I think you could’ve used a solid 2K more words with ease, because the ending was a little too rushed for me, but I still loved it.
Great stuff, Mariah. The techno part of the techno-thriller was mild but then you can’t do too much with bleeding edge techno junk in 1500 words. I think you handled it superbly. Well done!
Weird West and Magical Realism. (I was hoping for BDSM Erotica, too)
Parallel Universe and Alien Horror…
Eeeek! 4 and 12. A Zombie Technothriller. What the hell, I’ll give it a shot.
[…] Chuck Wendig Challenge, wheee! This one is a genre mashup, you get two lists and you roll to see what you gotta write. I […]
[…] week’s Flash Fiction comes to you courtesy of Chuck Wendig’s random genre mash-up. My genres: Cli-Fi (Climate Change Fiction) and […]
Here, then, is the Cli-Fi Noir masterpiece: The Cloud Conspiracy.
http://accidentallyinspired.com/2016/02/08/the-cloud-conspiracy/
AAAAAAA, PAVO! I *love* this! 😀 You could do this as a whole damn book!
That thought had occurred to me. Stupid Chuck’s challenges. Spawning all these ideas for books I will never have enough time to write.
[…] Challenge courtesy of the lovely and very bearded Chuck Wendig. […]
9 and 10, Whodunit? and Military Sci-fi. I know next to nothing about the real military, but I know a little military sci-fi if stuff like Mass Effect and Caiphas Cain counts, so I tried to emulate that. https://evathereseebert.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/the-subgenre-tango/
that was great. I had my doubt on the mystery when there were only three people but then when it was all revealed i couldnt have been more surprised.
This would make a great full length story.
Thanks! I think it could be fun to write as a longer story, with more time to do research and come up with proper complicated clues.
Nicely done! I echo the sentiments of ‘ooh, make it longer!’ because everyone loves a good ‘whodunit’ 😀
I know, right! 😀
[…] This week’s challenge: a subgenre mash-up. Lucky, lucky me ended up with Weird West (wich I have done before) and BDSM erotica (which I haven’t). The scale is more heavily weighed to the former than the latter, but then I had around 1500 words to work with and I went a bit over by about 100 words. […]
Right, okay. I got a 5 & 14. Admittedly leaning more toward the 5, here’s my Weird West/BDSM Erotica.
https://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/paid-in-blood-a-chuck-wendig-challenge/
I don’t know as I’ve ever read Weird West, but I definitely liked it!
[…] Chuck Wendig’s writing challenge week of Feb. 8—my roll got me a combo of time travel and mythology—herewith, a famous TV host […]
Time travelling and mythology. Welp, this one had me thinking for a while. Haven’t done one of these writing challenges in months! Herewith, “Hafvilla,” wherein an unsuspecting TV host seeking adventure finds himself at a tavern owned by Odin–and he thinks it’s a movie set. http://www.herravendomain.com/hafvilla/
Ahh! Poor Lex 😀 This was a really fun read.
Thank you! I really got into that one… 🙂
Heist/Caper x Grimdark Fantasy
It’s called Shoremont Keep
https://dcxli.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/shoremont-keep/
Please enjoy and leave feedback.
Oh man. I love a good heist! Your merry band of caperers seemed like fun; I’d have loved to be able to read more of this.
Hokay. Mine’s written, but I’ve scheduled it for Thursday, since today’s is already up, and tomorrow’s #140 of Deathwatch. You know, I think I rather enjoyed this one. Half tempted to make it a lot bigger.