Monday, November 30, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-22




Welcome back as we jump into December with both feet! If you've just completed NaNo: CONGRATULATIONS!!!! YOU ARE FINISHED!!! Whether you're a 'WINNER' or you just wrote a few words: I'm proud of you! Words toward a goal are to be celebrated. My personal goal for the month was somewhere around 30K or when I've finished the novel. Right now I'm just under 25K for the month with a day to go and a scene and a half to write (I think...). (I've passed 50K for the novel.) So my goal is certainly within the realm of possibility. Anyway, let's keep the good writing vibes going through the month of December! Go check out today's prompt and write something amazing!



If you haven't read the full version of the rules, go here. Otherwise, here's the short version:

Rules:
1. Start with the given first sentence. (Allowable alterations listed below)
2. Up to 500 words (exclusive of title)
3. Keep it clean (nothing rated R or above)
4. Optional Special Challenge
5. Stories submitted must be your own work, using characters and worlds that you have created. Sorry, no fanfiction.
6. Include: Twitter/email, word count, Special Challenge accepted
7. The challenge is open for 24 hours on Tuesday EST
8. Only one entry judged per round. If you write/post more than one story, you need to indicate which you would like judged. If you fail to indicate, it will be the first one posted.
9. Winner judges next round.



Oh, and feel free to change pronounspunctuationtense, and anything in brackets to fit the story/pov/tone. I'm not going to be TOO picky... Our judge however...


Our Judge today is Catherine Custard. Read her winning tale from last week here! Find her on Twitter @cat_custardCatherine is a mother of three teenagers who teaches English riding lessons and leads fourth graders on Civil War/Civil Rights tours in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. She’s just discovered flash fiction which is a welcome distraction from the mystery novel she’s dangerously close to finishing!



 Your first sentence for FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-22 is:



Officer [desperate plea], I can explain!
Desperate plea is optional; you may fill the bracket or leave it out as you see fit.




 Your SPECIAL CHALLENGE from the judge is:



Reference 3 human body parts AND include at least 3 of the following words:

cat
blue smoke
hair
winding staircase
putrid
snout
hose
fog horn
hot chocolate
trifecta



 
AAAAAAAND WE'RE OFF!!!








Saturday, November 28, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-21 - RESULTS!




Sorry this post took a little while. I hope you all had a spectacular few days, and didn't fret over the lateness of the post. If you missed any of our entries this week, go read them here. Otherwise, here's what the judge had to say:




A heart-felt thank you to everyone who responded to the plea for entries this week. They were all interesting and varied responses to the prompts.


‘Not Ordinary People’ by Sal Page

Due to your advancing years, Sal, I overlooked the missing words in the opening sentence prompt. ;-)

I liked the use of ‘It happened one night’; it seems very natural after the opening sentence. (Perhaps adding ‘... in the heat of the night’ would have been a step too far, although the story is set in a summer holiday resort.)

I was beginning to be irritated by the repetition of ‘she said’, ‘I said’ until I twigged that this was to emphasise that they were BOTH compulsive liars. (Six months to live but planning to go to university? does not compute!)

It’s a very intense piece, nicely broken up by the explanation of the MC’s pathological fibbing. It took a few readings to appreciate everything that was going on, but in the end, I really liked it.
@
The film titles were incorporated in a natural manner. But I counted EIGHT Oscar winning films. Unless I missed one, I assume you’re counting ‘Ordinary People’ in the title. Alissa’s full rules says the Special Challenge is a prompt to be included ‘in your story’. I take this to exclude the title, since word count does so. [Alissa, can you clarify this point in the full rules, please?] Yes, and done. Special Challenges are the sole discretion of the judge. That said, this particular issue has never come up before, and while the title is very much a part of your story, it isn’t included in your word count and so not eligible for Special Challenge inclusion.

Even if the title is allowed, you mention ‘Ordinary People’ in the story; mentioning the same film title more than once definitely doesn’t count - Steph includes ‘Marty’ NINE times!

Hang on… Looking back, I see that you say “One is two words split.” If you mean ‘Annie’ (second para)… ‘hall’ (end of fourth para), that’s a little too creative - even for me!

(It’s a good thing that @FlashDogs volunteered me to ignore typos, otherwise I might have been compelled to point out that it should be ‘redcoat’ and ‘Brasenose’...)


‘Special Delivery’ by Stella

A potential punch-up and shotgun wedding, turns out to be a marriage made in heaven. ‘Good ale wasted was not on our to do list’ tells us a lot in a few short words about the characters involved and their environment.

[ Sorry, Stella, but I couldn’t let ‘anymore’ slip by: it’s an adverb, meaning ‘any longer’. What you needed was ‘any more’. Oh, and ‘Marilyn MONROE’... ]
@
The Special Challenge was films that won Best Movie Oscar, not nominees. I assume that ‘Black Swan’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘The Colo(u)r Purple’ are included as movie titles - they were all nominated, but did not win. I counted seven correct references - a goodly number.


‘Just Friends’ by Lauren Greene

A gentle tale of watching one film (The Graduate), while its plot explores the premise of another (When Harry Met Sally). The MC’s misuse of ‘December-February relationship’ and her failure to pick up the implication of the expensive cologne indicate that she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I like the phrase ‘not the kind you wear when you’re schlepping on your friend’s couch watching an old movie’ and the description of the ‘classic movie move’. I haven’t seen ‘The Graduate’ for years, but the bewildered question “Is he in a swimming pool?” brought the opening scene flooding (no pun intended) back to me.
@
You didn’t say that you accepted the Special Challenge, Laura, but I found five film titles scattered throughout the story. If you did accept the challenge, I have to point out that none of them are Oscar winners for Best Film, not even ‘The Graduate’ which you say did! Perhaps you mistook the challenge to include all films nominated for best movie, but two of them don’t fall even into that category!

(Also, the idea was to use the movie titles in a creative way - not simply to refer to the movies themselves. Perhaps that was my fault for not stating it explicitly.)


SPECIAL CHALLENGE CHAMPION: 
‘Elixir of Youth’ by Steph Ellis

A light-hearted but darkly humorous take on the prompt.

I liked the use of ‘No Country For Old Men’ as a contrast to the ‘cult of youth’, and ‘We can make a killing’ is a chilling omen.

‘...led her across the carpet in a bizarre tango’ sounds like a judge’s comment on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’! Not quite top of the leaderboard, Steph, but close.
@
I counted ten Oscar-winning films incorporated into the story, some with great dexterity, making this the Special Challenge Champion.


GRAND CHAMPION: 
‘Social Media’ by Catherine Custard

I loved this story! It reads like a family breakfast scenario that could very easily happen.

Giving one child’s phone to the other, to make up for losing her rag and smashing the first phone, is a classic gambit by a parent.

The staccato, telegraphese of the one-sided telephone conversation is deftly written, allowing the single word film title ‘UNFORGIVEN’ to be incorporated seamlessly.

There are a lot of references to contemporary culture that are alien to this old codger, but ‘busting your geriatric moves’ was a LOL moment for me; it was great that you resolved the tension by ending the story with another one for Kat.

Great stuff, Catherine!
@

I counted 4.5 Oscar winning films... People familiar with my posts to flash fiction contests will know that I am a stickler for exactitude: The 1968 winner is entitled ‘Oliver!’; Lionel Bart was infamous for his musicals with an exclamation mark in the title. ‘Oliver!’ would have fitted quite naturally into the story at that point, but, as I said, that’s just me being a little bit picky.  :-)







Monday, November 23, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-21




Welcome! Thanks for joining us! I'm attempting to finish the first draft of the novel I'm working on for NaNo and I may be able to do it. I won't hit 50K, but I love how NaNo pushes me and the community encourages me. I may never "win" NaNo, but I'm a winner - every year. Plus, I still have a week. Go check out the prompt, and keep writing!



If you haven't read the full version of the rules, go here. Otherwise, here's the short version:

Rules:
1. Start with the given first sentence. (Allowable alterations listed below)
2. Up to 500 words (exclusive of title)
3. Keep it clean (nothing rated R or above)
4. Optional Special Challenge
5. Stories submitted must be your own work, using characters and worlds that you have created. Sorry, no fanfiction.
6. Include: Twitter/email, word count, Special Challenge accepted
7. The challenge is open for 24 hours on Tuesday EST
8. Only one entry judged per round. If you write/post more than one story, you need to indicate which you would like judged. If you fail to indicate, it will be the first one posted.
9. Winner judges next round.



Oh, and feel free to change pronounspunctuationtense, and anything in brackets to fit the story/pov/tone. I'm not going to be TOO picky... Our judge however...


Our Judge today is Geoff Holme. Read his tale from last week here! Geoff is semi-retired, insofar as he does not have any paid employment. So he spends far too much time writing flash fiction which he discovered in September 2014. He lives in West Sussex, UK and is reachable on Twitter (@GeoffHolme)



 Your first sentence for FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-21 is:



It was all in [the timing]; something like this was bound to [come out] sooner or later.




 Your SPECIAL CHALLENGE from the judge is:



Include the names of two or more winners of Academy Award for Best Picture. 



 
AAAAAAAND WE'RE OFF!!!







Wednesday, November 18, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-20 - RESULTS!




Hello, friends! I'm sure so many of you can empathize with Geoff's story this week. We want to get that perfect opening line to propel us into the story. I'm here to tell you: Nothing has to be perfect the first time around. Think: Dory ("Just keep swimming..."). And here we give you the first line, so you don't even need to worry about it! :) Anyway, if you missed his story, go read it here. Now here's what the judge had to say about it:



Special Challenge AND Grand Champion: 
Geoff Holme (@GeoffHolme)

Whew, there must be so many aspiring novelists sweating out their new books. I hope that’s going really well for all of you!

Geoff brings us a tale this week of a writing team plodding their way out of writer’s block, one word at a time. Sometimes that’s what it takes, I suppose. “Perseverance is everything,” quoth the tortoise. Hopefully, once set in motion, the ball will roll rapidly downhill. And watch out for those nut allergies, and the heinous unholy horror of (::shudder::) veggie-dogs.


Thanks you for the tale, Geoff. Speaking of dogs, go #Flashdogs!







Monday, November 16, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-20




Welcome! We're glad you've come to test yourself against our prompt today. So go ahead and check it out and write us something amazing! 



If you haven't read the full version of the rules, go here. Otherwise, here's the short version:

Rules:
1. Start with the given first sentence. (Allowable alterations listed below)
2. Up to 500 words (exclusive of title)
3. Keep it clean (nothing rated R or above)
4. Optional Special Challenge
5. Stories submitted must be your own work, using characters and worlds that you have created. Sorry, no fanfiction.
6. Include: Twitter/email, word count, Special Challenge accepted
7. The challenge is open for 24 hours on Tuesday EST
8. Only one entry judged per round. If you write/post more than one story, you need to indicate which you would like judged. If you fail to indicate, it will be the first one posted.
9. Winner judges next round.



Oh, and feel free to change pronounspunctuationtense, and anything in brackets to fit the story/pov/tone. I'm not going to be TOO picky... Our judge however...


Our Judge today is D.E. Park. Read his winning tale from last time here! Dave (D. E. Park) spends his spare time writing flash and micro fiction, and just attempting to get enough sleep. He’s a first-generation computer nerd (older than the internet), a lifetime devourer of SF&F (loser geek), even a comic book fan (three strikes!). He actually hasn’t been actively writing for very long (you can't tell?) He lives in Chicagoland with his wife Annie. Follow him @parkinkspot and check out his writing blog at parkinkspot.wordpress.com.



 Your first sentence for FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-20 is:



Somewhere in a lonely [hotel room], there's a [guy] starting to realize that eternal fate has turned its back on him.




 Your SPECIAL CHALLENGE from the judge is:



A near-death experience.




 
AAAAAAAND WE'RE OFF!!!






Monday, November 9, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-19




Last week I expect you were all gung-ho with your NaNo projects and didn't have time to incorporate another prompt into your writing life. That's cool. I hope you got TONS of words last week. Perhaps this week you're struggling to know where to go in your project. Well, we have another prompt for you. WOOHOO!!! Get to it!




If you haven't read the full version of the rules, go here. Otherwise, here's the short version:

Rules:
1. Start with the given first sentence. (Allowable alterations listed below)
2. Up to 500 words (exclusive of title)
3. Keep it clean (nothing rated R or above)
4. Optional Special Challenge
5. Stories submitted must be your own work, using characters and worlds that you have created. Sorry, no fanfiction.
6. Include: Twitter/email, word count, Special Challenge accepted
7. The challenge is open for 24 hours on Tuesday EST
8. Only one entry judged per round. If you write/post more than one story, you need to indicate which you would like judged. If you fail to indicate, it will be the first one posted.
9. Winner judges next round.



Oh, and feel free to change pronounspunctuationtense, and anything in brackets to fit the story/pov/tone. I'm not going to be TOO picky... Our judge however...


Our Judge today is D.E. Park. Read his winning tale from last time here! Dave (D. E. Park) spends his spare time writing flash and micro fiction, and just attempting to get enough sleep. He’s a first-generation computer nerd (older than the internet), a lifetime devourer of SF&F (loser geek), even a comic book fan (three strikes!). He actually hasn’t been actively writing for very long (you can't tell?) He lives in Chicagoland with his wife Annie. Follow him @parkinkspot and check out his writing blog at parkinkspot.wordpress.com.



 Your first sentence for FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-19 is:


Credit: Robert Aspirin
There is something infinitely satisfying about doing something you know you aren't supposed to.




 Your SPECIAL CHALLENGE from the judge is:



Write two alternate endings (last 100 words or less). You may exceed your word count by the length of the alternate.




 
AAAAAAAND WE'RE OFF!!!







Monday, November 2, 2015

FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-18




WOOHOO!!! Welcome to November! If you're doing NaNo, may this prompt spark amazing things in your project. If not...WHY NOT??? :) Either way, write something amazing. I can't wait to read all about it. Go check out the prompt and HAVE AT IT!




If you haven't read the full version of the rules, go here. Otherwise, here's the short version:

Rules:
1. Start with the given first sentence. (Allowable alterations listed below)
2. Up to 500 words (exclusive of title)
3. Keep it clean (nothing rated R or above)
4. Optional Special Challenge
5. Stories submitted must be your own work, using characters and worlds that you have created. Sorry, no fanfiction.
6. Include: Twitter/email, word count, Special Challenge accepted
7. The challenge is open for 24 hours on Tuesday EST
8. Only one entry judged per round. If you write/post more than one story, you need to indicate which you would like judged. If you fail to indicate, it will be the first one posted.
9. Winner judges next round.



Oh, and feel free to change pronounspunctuationtense, and anything in brackets to fit the story/pov/tone. I'm not going to be TOO picky... Our judge however...


Our Judge today is D.E. Park. Read his winning tale from last week here! Dave (D. E. Park) spends his spare time writing flash and micro fiction, and just attempting to get enough sleep. He’s a first-generation computer nerd (older than the internet), a lifetime devourer of SF&F (loser geek), even a comic book fan (three strikes!). He actually hasn’t been actively writing for very long (you can't tell?) He lives in Chicagoland with his wife Annie. Follow him @parkinkspot and check out his writing blog at parkinkspot.wordpress.com.



 Your first sentence for FINISH THAT THOUGHT #3-18 is:


borrowed from Carrie Underwood:
[I] took a Louisville Slugger to [both headlights].




 Your SPECIAL CHALLENGE from the judge is:



Write for a specific target audience: Mrs. Grundy. Make her scowl or make her smile, as you prefer. (Mrs. Grundy is a tyrannical prude who enjoys scathing gossip and considers herself the arbiter of respectability. A tendency to be overly fearful of what the respectable society might think is also referred to as grundyism.)




 
AAAAAAAND WE'RE OFF!!!