I love it. It basically mashes up a couple-few idioms into something new and very possibly inane, and very possibly wise. (Example: “God shouldn’t cross the bridge till you come to it.” What does that mean? I don’t know! But damnit, I like it.) It forms the backbone of today’s fiction challenge.
Click it. Get a fake mash-up idiom you like. (Re-clicks are fine, obviously.)
Then use it in a story.
That’s it.
Length: ~1000 words
Due by: Friday, September 2nd, noon EST (holy shit, it’ll be September soon, you guys)
Write it at your online space, link to it in the comments, and voila.
thelma says:
the idiomatic? ? is that like the automat? ? ? ? I don’t have a roll of nickles handy.
August 26, 2016 — 12:44 PM
iwritedumbshit says:
“Good fences weren’t built in a day.”
I’m all over this one.
August 26, 2016 — 12:50 PM
Beth says:
“Boys breed contempt.” On the first try.
You can’t make this shit up.
*starts writing*
August 26, 2016 — 1:20 PM
thedancingsandwich says:
OMG. I just played with this for like half an hour. AMAZING! – THanks Chuck!
– YUP — “The squeaky wheel should do as the Romans do.”
August 26, 2016 — 2:10 PM
lwall6710 says:
This one’s going to be tough!
August 26, 2016 — 2:53 PM
Carol J Forrester says:
I’m pretty sure this story proves that I lost my mind at some point today. I ended up cramming a few in. I love this thing.
https://caroljforrester.com/2016/08/26/free-write-friday-nonsense-from-the-other-side-of-the-table/
August 26, 2016 — 3:46 PM
Skye says:
This actually made me laugh out loud. I thought you were maybe doing a Doctor Who thing right until the end.
September 1, 2016 — 11:32 PM
iwritedumbshit says:
I did the thing.
https://iwritedumbshit.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/the-good-fence
August 26, 2016 — 3:56 PM
Christine Frost says:
Hell wasn’t built in a day.
I’m in. This is genius! Thanks, Chuck!
August 26, 2016 — 5:17 PM
iwritedumbshit says:
Approve my comment, Chuck! RaaaaAAArrrRRgh!
August 26, 2016 — 5:31 PM
iwritedumbshit says:
Thanks, Chuck.
August 28, 2016 — 1:43 AM
Kristin Mireles (@kristinmireles) says:
“Procrastination will inherit the earth.” This is TOTALLY going on my tombstone!!!
August 26, 2016 — 8:31 PM
Rebecca Douglass says:
LOL! Mine too!
August 29, 2016 — 1:27 PM
curleyqueue says:
Oh my gosh that’s beautiful!!
August 29, 2016 — 2:36 PM
Kristin Mireles (@kristinmireles) says:
http://mireles-musings.blogspot.com/2016/08/procrastination-will-inherit-earth.html
August 29, 2016 — 7:49 PM
Kristin Mireles (@kristinmireles) says:
I got another good one: “Stupid rules the world.” Aside from the ableist language, it’s hard to refute this one.
August 30, 2016 — 6:37 PM
Kristin Mireles (@kristinmireles) says:
Or, “Faith is stranger than fiction.” Or, “Life costs lives.” Or, “An elephant has a fool for a client.” Or, “Blood happens.” I just might write more than one entry for this week!
August 30, 2016 — 6:58 PM
Anton says:
“Youth is another man’s poison”
Beautiful
I got a few ones later on that seemed quite normal
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is human,”
And:
“The bottom line is money”
August 27, 2016 — 3:08 AM
Mozette says:
I picked out ‘Great Minds Can Start A Great Fire’… I got well under the 1,000 words…
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/fire-starter.html
August 27, 2016 — 8:16 AM
Wendy Christopher says:
Hmmm… first one I got was “One man’s meat blames his tools” and then the second one was “Handsome is a shepherd’s delight.”
I think this site is trying to get me to write porn…
August 27, 2016 — 8:29 AM
Kristin Mireles (@kristinmireles) says:
I got one that’s right along those lines: “One swallow is a penny earned.”
August 30, 2016 — 6:29 PM
Fred G. Yost says:
I got a good one, but I clicked on it a few more times anyway, and now I have too many choices.
“A golden key can serve two masters.”
“The road to hell is a girl’s best friend”
“What can’t be cured can open any door.”
August 27, 2016 — 2:27 PM
jacob thorne says:
i got hindsight calls the tune
the course of true love makes the heart grow fonder
the man does not fall far from the tree
erring is stranger than fiction
August 27, 2016 — 9:10 PM
Kristin Mireles (@kristinmireles) says:
That’s poetic AF!
August 28, 2016 — 4:38 PM
poppylike says:
First try: “Lost time is sweet” — ouch, how profound.
But the one I want printed on a T-shirt for my sister, who probably could qualify as a fishwife: “Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he talks.” (about fishing)
August 29, 2016 — 3:19 PM
Eva Therese says:
“Hindsight is a shepherd’s warning”. The story is influenced by me doing Zombies! Run! and a headline I saw about a girl who was sent to gay “conversion therapy” and came home with a girlfriend. https://evathereseebert.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/behold-the-idiomatic/
August 30, 2016 — 7:22 AM
Ethan Asplin says:
I cycled through it a few times and ended up picking one that wasn’t exactly the most exciting. “No news is ever done.” But the second I saw it an idea came straight to my head.
https://beginimaginingblog.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/flash-fiction-the-idiomatic/
August 30, 2016 — 8:12 AM
Sertysh says:
“A drowning man is an island”
I’m getting a Swiss Army Man vibe, here.
August 30, 2016 — 1:46 PM
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter) says:
Hatred Loves Company: A semi-fable inspired by gay penguins http://www.mdflyn.com/hatred-loves-company-semi-fable-inspired-gay-penguins-original-flash-fiction/
August 30, 2016 — 4:59 PM
Vicente L Ruiz says:
I got two and used both of them. OK, I clicked several times, but the two first ones appeared too related not to use them together. I even left the second one as the title:
“The pot burns a hole in your pocket” and “Fortune can be deceiving”.
https://medium.com/@VicenteLRuiz/fortune-can-be-deceiving-c037734bd68e
August 31, 2016 — 2:51 AM
SamKD says:
I love the mashed-up idioms. Here is my story using some:
http://samkdsonlinepace.blogspot.com/
August 31, 2016 — 2:59 PM
Christine Frost says:
Ideas for “Hell wasn’t built in a day” took me in so many directions, but a trip to the ER with a savage case of weretonsils gave me time to think about the story in a very different style than my usual stuff…
http://www.herravendomain.com/2016/08/the-idiomatic-flash-fiction-challenge.html
August 31, 2016 — 4:16 PM
Kaleiyah-P says:
Here’s mine: http://wp.me/p29Hv8-CG (Not sure if the link will work right away, since I scheduled it to post on Friday, but worth a shot.)
My idiom, thanks to the amazing Idiomatic (thank you, Chuck, for showing us this <3), was: "The apple is the measure of a woman."
Constructive criticism welcome.
August 31, 2016 — 7:29 PM
Sam Phillips says:
Here’s mine – took a couple of goes but “All the World is not Gold” seemed to strike a chord in my mind so I went with it. Turned out kind of weird!
http://idreamofgypsies.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/chucks-idiomatic-flash-fiction.html
September 1, 2016 — 2:07 PM
spitfire511 says:
Okay Chuck – your challenge is taking someone fully out of their comfort zone.
I’m an infrequent blogger, former thespian and not-at-all fiction writer. It may be awful – but it IS – I wrote. Fiction! That’s exciting to me.
Even if it’s painful to read, thank you, Chuck, it was fun!
“Practice killed the cat”
https://spitfiresliberation.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/playing-along/
September 1, 2016 — 2:28 PM
SamKD says:
Not painful at all – a fun read. Liked your interpretation of “cat” particularly. Keep writing!
September 2, 2016 — 8:16 AM
Sertysh says:
Thanks for introducing Idiomatic. Here is my attempt at “A drowning man is an island” ~ https://hikelylads.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/flash-fiction-fluid-fathers/
September 1, 2016 — 4:38 PM
JBencomo says:
Hi guys! I got “The devil begins with a single step” which immediately made me want to write something. I thought I was lucky getting one that I liked but most of the ones I’ve seen you guys working with are pretty great too, can’t wait to read some of them.
Anyway, here’s it is http://inkdew.blogspot.com/2016/09/flash-fiction-devil-begins.html hope you enjoy.
I would call it a Legal Thriller about a guy sitting outside the courtroom.
September 1, 2016 — 9:32 PM
Fred G. Yost says:
Few, got mine in under the wire. I ended up going with “The road to hell is a girl’s best friend” which of course meant post-apocalyptic inspired mood fiction, or something.
https://fredgyost.com/2016/09/01/ffc-good-intentions/
September 1, 2016 — 11:01 PM
Skye says:
I got “Opportunity is the new black” and came up with the story during my run today. Just in under the wire! http://runnerskye.ca/flash-fiction-challenge-the-idiomatic/
September 1, 2016 — 11:23 PM
Rebecca Douglass says:
I sat all week on “All that glitters speaks louder than words,” but I got the story done at last:
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2016/09/friday-flash-all-that-glitters.html
September 1, 2016 — 11:53 PM
Jemima Pett says:
Nearly forgot to add my story… Fair exchange is wasted on the young. Thanks for ‘the idiomatic’, Chuck – a great resource for new flash stories 🙂
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2016/09/02/fridayflash-fiction-fair-exchange-is-wasted-on-the-young/
September 2, 2016 — 5:21 AM
shyandretiring says:
Pigs are the Devil’s Tools.
Yet another confession. I didn’t see that it was a link (wrong glasses, not reading properly, too keen etc) and made one up! Read it properly today and clicked desperately to get the above mash-up to appear, but in vain. So apologies but this is it am afraid.
http://www.shyandretiring.weebly.com/pigs-are-the-devils-tools
September 2, 2016 — 6:37 AM
Martin says:
I got “Give a man enough rope and he is a friend who cares.” and wrote my story here (still in time?) http://mywrite.martinperlin.com/2016/09/fiction-challenge-idiomatic.html
September 2, 2016 — 9:07 AM
True story. Really. says:
My mix-and-match idiom was A Change is Lost. I didn’t use the exact phrase in the story – and it didn’t feel right for the title, but it definitely inspired the story.
http://truestoryreally.wordpress.com/2016/09/02/weeding/
September 2, 2016 — 9:45 AM
Rodney's Saga says:
Not the assignment & past the deadline, but I thought you might wish to see what you hath wrought: https://rodneyssaga.com/2016/09/03/thats-terrible/
September 3, 2016 — 6:17 AM