Well, the way I envisioned this...

How 'bout a Flash Fiction Challenge? by Mirage Fontane on 2020-08-15 13:21:52 UTC Writing Reply

I think I've unlocked the gate to writer's Nirvana just yesterday. My writing has felt so limp and uninspired lately, so I figured I'd take out some old writings and retool them a bit until my inspiration returns. One poem crafted into a 250-word story later, it came back.

I found myself absolutely in love with flash fiction, short little vignettes that are punchy and to the point, that in two days I've written like, five of them. I really want to keep up the momentum and it's genuinely a lot of fun, so I figured, why not make it into a game with others?

Here are the rules I came up with for a potential challenge:

For one month, write a short story every day.
It can be prose poetry, it doesn't have to have a plot, it can be any genre and any style. It just has to make some loose sense as a story. The idea would be to challenge yourself and try out new styles and new concepts, but I'm not putting any limits or requirements on what y'all would like to write.
Length is 250 words minimum and 500 words at most.
We don't have to share what we write every day, or even post it anywhere publicly; just an occasional progress update would do. We could of course share stuff if we so wish, stories, ideas, or just opinions on the writings we've crafted during the challenge.

How does this sound? Would any of y'all like to play? If we get at least two players aside from myself, I'd like to announce that the challenge is on.

My writings so far! by Mirage Fontane on 2020-08-21 22:03:06 UTC Edited Reply

I might have to halt production on this project for a bit for IRL reasons, and I have exactly thirteen tales right now, which is a nice number in my opinion, so I figured I'd let them out into the aether.

Horror stories and the one story with NSFW themes have been tagged as far as I recall, but be aware that I mostly move on the horror/gothic scale here. Many thanks to Umbre, Cicada and the others who have given me their comments on these stories in private; now that they're published, any other feedback is much appreciated.

Edit: Darn, I forgot to give warnings. Some of the stories contain body horror (mostly pretty mild, but just on case), and the following are NSF4M: "lucaszék", "the bat-woman" and "dream-weave". "odyssey" makes a reference to fire, but it's metaphorical, so I'm not sure if it counts as Blacklist 10.
I doubt I could currently make it happen every day for a month, but it does sound interesting. by Zingenmir on 2020-08-19 14:31:57 UTC Reply

If it was happening, I'd probably participate at least a bit, RL permitting.

~Z

A month might actually be a bit too long for a running time. by Mirage Fontane on 2020-08-19 20:07:04 UTC Reply

I have plenty of story ideas to keep this train running for a while, but I realize in retrospect that a month's worth of commitment to writing every single day is a bit much.

Would two weeks be more manageable?

Honestly, a month or two where it wasn't an every day thing would work better. by Zingenmir on 2020-08-20 21:46:47 UTC Reply

That's my issue--not the length, but the frequency. Once a week (more or less) for a month or two seems more likely to work for me, at least right now.

Of course, my schedule is definitely changing yet again at the end of the month, so who the heck knows at that point.

Why not make it a month-long event with different levels of 'commitment' for participants? If you have time, drive, and ideas for once a day, then do once a day. If once a week or twice a week is more your speed, that's also an option. If you'd like to participate but only wind up managing one story in the whole month, that's fine too. And in the meantime, we can all cheer each other on! A sort of 'choose your own pace' thing, a little bit like NaNo?

Your event, of course, and I have no idea what anyone else thinks, but that's my two cents.

~Z, well aware that pennies are out of circulation in at least Canada and, if memory serves, America as well

Well, the way I envisioned this... by Mirage Fontane on 2020-08-21 15:00:29 UTC Reply

I figured 250 words a day wouldn't be an unreasonable pace to keep up for a shorter amount of time, especially because this is pretty much the only limitation I've put to what the writings are supposed to be like. But of course we all have different amounts of free time and spoons. I feel like once a week would kind of defeat the purpose of writing flash fiction (something that can be finished in one sitting), but I can see someone writing, say, once every few days if doing it every day isn't possible. I'm happy to listen to y'all's suggestions to mold this into an event that could plausibly happen. Maybe I'll ask again at the end of the year, when we're a bit more likely to have free time and energy to write, depending on jobs and schedules.

I see what you mean. by Zingenmir on 2020-08-21 16:29:20 UTC Reply

Thing is, I know myself, and it's very, very likely I'd almost always be landing further toward the 500 word mark than the 250 one. But yeah, 1-3 times per week, depending on the week, is more something I could manage, I think.

The other issue is just...having that capability to sit down and write right now. I've mostly managed to write bits here and there--sometimes even a lot!--after a period of almost no writing at all in March and early April, but it's still going in and out sometimes depending on what else I have to deal with. Some weeks I'm mostly doing bits of plot or writing that isn't exactly in a doc with the idea that something will be made of it. I like the idea of the flash fiction, but I'd be surprised if I consistently did it even a full three times in a week, especially since it wouldn't be my only writing project.

...which I've just realized you basically covered under "spoons". Whoops. This was meant to be a quick response, and it's coming after spending an hour and a half straight on what's essentially a little historical research essay for work (funnily enough, it's currently clocking in at 599 words. Not quite flash and not at all fiction, but somewhere vaguely in the ballpark? :P)

Anyway. Hopefully that all makes sense. If it doesn't or something looks strange, let me know and I'll clarify.

~Z

Makes sense to me. :) by Mirage Fontane on 2020-08-21 21:59:25 UTC Reply

Actually, I likely wouldn't be able to commit to such a project at the moment either for IRL reasons (some... things have kicked off today), or only with my pace seriously slowed compared to what I'd originally intended. But it's been suggested to me that we all might have a bit more free time towards the end of the year, so I reckon I'll just ask this question again in a few months.

Is there anybody who would be more up for this later on than right now?

I Feel the Need to Say... by GeniusGamer on 2020-08-20 21:59:34 UTC Reply

That I agree with this. Not that I’ll actually be able to participate, what with my schedule and all.

Also, pennies are definitely in circulation here in America... unless you’re a time traveler from a future without pennies! I’ve got my eye on you...

See... by Zingenmir on 2020-08-20 22:08:59 UTC Edited Reply

...Canada stopped producing them in 2013. For some reason, I thought America had either done it first or followed suit, but I did some googling for further confirmation, and yeah, seems that was a misconception. Maybe there was talk of it happening back in 2013, and nothing came of it? I don't know.

Also, I am totally a time traveler. Such a time traveler. Why I decided to show up in the middle of a pandemic, I have no idea--maybe I pulled a Jack Harkness and got stuck by accident? And, of course, I've recently traveled one minute forward in time over the course of, er, one minute... :P

~Z, apparently still capable of giving two cents in America without getting weird looks!

Actually, we're experiencing a coin shortage here due to the pandemic. >.> by Neshomeh on 2020-08-21 04:16:15 UTC Reply

Not sure precisely how it's affected the circulation of pennies, but Phobos and I have been having trouble getting quarters for the laundry machines for a couple of months. So, uh, maybe British pennies?

On-topic, I'm just about managing one or two posts a day in the RP event below, and I don't see myself throwing my hat in the ring for any longer-form writing commitment at this time. Sorry!

~Neshomeh