Tag: fridayflash (page 1 of 4)

Last week’s challenge: “Write What You Know“

It’s the Game of Aspects, and you know the drill.

Grab a ten-sided die or click over to a random number generator.

Choose three random numbers between 1-10.

That corresponds to a subgenre / setting / element to include.

Those are now the parameters of your story.

(So, you might randomly get: superhero / Titanic / love letter, for instance.)

You have — well, let’s up the numbers a bit. You have 1500 words.

Due by next Friday, March 1st, at noon EST.

Post at your blog or online space. Link back here in the comments.

Now go forth and randomize!

Subgenre

1. Superhero
2. Erotic Fairy Tale
3. Sword & Sorcery
4. Slasher Horror
5. Bumbling Detective
6. Time Travel Romance
7. Zombie Apocalypse
8. Parallel Universe
9. Technothriller
10. Magical Realism

Setting

1. High school prom
2. On board the Titanic
3. In a vampire’s subterranean lair
4. At the gates of the Garden of Eden
5. A shopping mall
6. A Martian greenhouse
7. The capital city of a lost civilization
8. A king’s throne room
9. An amusement park after dark
10. In the home of the gods

Element To Include

1. Warring Families
2. A Love Letter
3. A Puzzle Box
4. Elves
5. A Talking Sword
6. Artificial Intelligence
7. A Mysterious Stranger
8. A Lost Painting
9. A Dream
10. A Magical Pocketwatch

Last week’s challenge: “Choose Your Motif”

The haiku.

Three lines in syllables of 5 / 7 / 5.

You’re going to use the haiku form to tell a story.

I’ll be nice: you can have three haikus to tell that story.

Hew to the 5 / 7 / 5 structure — yes, there are other permutations of the haiku form, but we’re going to go with the base level structure we all know and love from English class.

This week has a prize:

If you win, I’ll toss you a copy of each of my writing-related e-books. That’s both Penmonkey books and all four of my “lists of 25” books (starting with 250 Things).

You’ll get those e-books in PDF format.

You have till next Friday to post your three-haiku story in the comments below. That is to say, by February 8th at noon EST. You get only one entry, so choose well. (Multiple entries will disqualify all entries.)

I’ll choose my favorite the week following.

Now go forth and haiku the hell out of this place.

Or, rather:

The terribleminds

haiku challenge is now live

for you to conquer

EDIT: Winners!

THREE WINNERS, DECLARED. I know, I said one but c’mon. This was a very, very hard challenge to judge. Because so many good options. Sooooo many. Anyway. The three winners:

UrsulaV!

Valerie Valdes!

and…

Spenschwartz!

CONGRATS, HOOMANS.

Hit me up at terribleminds at gmail dot com, if you please.

— c.

Last week’s challenge: “Photos of Impossible Places.”

Motif.

What, is it, you ask? Besides someone explaining that they have plenty of chompers in their mouth? (Wait for it, you’ll get it. I’ll just stand here while you… ah, good, you got it.)

A motif is not a theme.

It is not a mood.

It is a recurring element. A repeated symbol or overarching image.

(Birds are a motif found in my novels Blackbirds and Mockingbird.)

So, today, I’m going to give you 10 motifs.

You will choose one. Randomly, either by d10 or by random number generator.

This motif will be a significant symbol or element in your story. Symbolically and/or literally.

I’ll also toss in two other categories: setting and subgenre.

Choose (randomly or otherwise) one from each.

You have, as usual, up to 1000 words. Post at your site, link back here.

Due by Friday, February 1st, noon EST.

Ready?

Motifs

1. Birds
2. Skulls
3. Blood
4. Eyes
5. Snakes
6. Swords
7. Water
8. Storms
9. Mirrors
10. The Moon

Subgenre

1. Dystopia
2. Erotic Fantasy
3. Noir
4. Paranormal Romance
5. Comic Fantasy
6. Cozy Mystery
7. Transhumanism
8. Ecothriller
9. Wild West (In Space)
10. Mythpunk

Setting

1. A train
2. A virtual reality world
3. A king’s bedroom
4. A labyrinth
5. Inside the mind of another character
6. An amusement park
7. A restaurant in space
8. A villain’s volcano lair
9. In the chamber of the gods
10. Route 66

First up, a little administrative work:

I picked the random winner from the last challenge, “The War On Christmas.”

BLUE LYNX is that winner.

Blue Lynx, contact me at terribleminds at gmail dot com. Kay? Kay.

With that outta the way, it’s time to BEGIN ANEW.

*dun dun dun*

Here’re the rules. I’m going to give you three categories. You will pick randomly from each category, maybe with a d10 or using a random number generator. From your choices, you’ll have 1000 words to write some flash fiction. Post this fiction at your online space. Link back here. Due by Friday, January 11th, at noon EST.

Here, then, are your categories:

Subgenre

1. Fairytale Fantasy
2. Post-Apocalyptic Horror
3. Superhero
4. Police Procedural
5. Military Sci-Fi
6. Kaiju
7. Dieselpunk
8. Conspiracy Fiction
9. Splatterpunk
10. Southern Gothic

Setting

1. An abandoned Wal-Mart
2. An underwater alien ship
3. The tropics
4. Limbo
5. A meth lab
6. The Golden Gate Bridge
7. On the surface of a comet
8. A Nevada brothel
9. Inside a virtual reality world
10. A nightclub in Hell

Must Feature

1. Talking animals
2. Magical foodstuff
3. A straight razor that never needs sharpening
4. One or several time-travelers
5. Mummies
6. Nanotechnology
7. A vigilante
8. A dead body
9. A blizzard
10. A mystery box

First up, a bit of administrative duties — for the last flash fiction challenge I was to pick a random participant to receive an Art Harder mug or e-book? The winner on that one was Ashley Lorelle. Ashley, you should email me at terribleminds at gmail dot com.

Now: time for the actual flash fiction challenge.

I love the concept of the “War on Christmas.” I don’t mean that I like the actual faux-bullshit “war,” I mean, I like that term.

I want you to use that term literally.

I want you to write a war about — or even against — Christmas.

Or, really, any winter holiday that tickles your fancy. Hanukah, Solstice, Kwanzaa, whatever. Hell, all of ’em wrapped up in one.

Interpret that as you see fit.

You’ve got the traditional 1000 words.

Post online, then link to it in the comments.

You’ve got one week: till Friday the 21st at noon EST.

I’ll pick a random participant to receive a… random holiday gift from yours truly.

Last week’s challenge — “The Body” — exists for your ocular and psychic pleasure.

I love the sub-genre mash-up challenges. Which, if you’re not familiar with them, is when I hand you a list of sub-genres and you take two of those sub-genres and smoosh them together like two different colored blobs of Play-Do, and from the monstrosity you create, a story of 1000 words or less is born.

Moo hoo ha ha.

Ah, but this time, there’s a little twist.

I’m going to give you a theme.

Just one theme. You cannot choose another.

This theme must apply to the story that you write.

(Not familiar with theme? Let me direct you to: 25 Things You Should Know About Theme.)

That theme is:

Love demands sacrifice.

Mmkay? Love demands sacrifice. There you go.

Story must be under 1000 words.

Due by noon EST on Friday, 11/16.

Write at your space. Post a link here.

Now, for your sub-genre mash-up, take two of the following and call me in the m… I mean, and mash them together. Or, if you want to randomly choose, roll a d10 twice or use a random number generator. Enjoy.

Political Satire

Dieselpunk

Alien Invasion

Urban Fantasy

Space Opera

Hardboiled

BDSM Erotica

Ghost Story / Haunted House

Wuxia

Spy Fiction