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Started by bearded, January 11, 2011, 02:05:54 AM

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bearded

The rules are, there are no rules. Join in when you want, drop out when you want. If I get at least one response to each assignment I will continue on to the next one. I have a series of linked writing exercises that would be a lot of productive fun.
The first assignment is write 3 sentences. They should be the start of a short story, and provocative. Something leading directly to action, no worry about characters or setup.

1. The first time I died, I heard the music of the angels, but I wasn't really dead, and they weren't really angels.
2. As soon as she left the room, he started going through her things.
3. It was a dark stretch of road, when I happened to glance in the rear view mirror.

kkhohoho

1.Funny how things work out; one minute you've kicked the bucket, the next, it's as if you hadn't been shot at all.
2.He remembered; he remembered the sounds of their horrid screams, the sheer intensity of the raging inferno, and of the looks on their agonizingly hopeless faces, and of how he could do...nothing.
3.Sometimes, I can look back on everything, remember all the good times without a care in the world; other times, I just want to forget it all, and end up spending all of my money on cheap whiskey.
The Golden Age; 'A different look at a different era.'

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1089779/chapters/2193203

bearded

Anyone can join in at any time. The goal is to get writing. I've got a list of different kinds of exercises. I'll post the next exercise tomorrow.
To join in late, simply post 3 sentences and then do the next step, which is it write a short short based on someone else's sentence which appeals to you. I'll keep track of which sentences are available in the first post if we get many.
A short short, or flash fiction is a simple story, thousand words or less. Brevity is the key thing. Characters and situations are implied. The next exercise will be meatier!



     Funny how things work out; one minute you've kicked the bucket, the next, it's as if you hadn't been shot at all. I was sure I had been hit, the force of it knocked me against the wall, and I fell, partially in the alley. If he followed up on it, I was dead for sure. So, I rolled to my feet and charged, letting my fury drive me, time to worry about injuries later. I pulled my gun as I ran. Looking wildly around, I did not see the enemy soldier anywhere. I almost ran into a woman with a stroller. I looked into her eyes and could see she was not the enemy so I pushed her aside, useless civilian. I looked wildly around and a car stopped in front of me, the balding man rolling down his window with an angry look on his withered face. Probably going to complain about the treatment of the lady with the baby. His eyes were normal also. Enemy soldier could be anywhere, in fact could be anyone. I saw movement from the storefront across the street so I turned my back on the whole stupid scene. That's when I heard the distinct click of the gun.
     Slowly I turned back around and saw the man in the car, glassy eyed, the lady holding her baby now, and the baby holding a gun. The babies eyes were red and he laughed with a man's voice as he pulled the trigger with his tiny fingers. My world disintegrated like pixel fireworks.
     I took off my virtual reality headset and yelled at my room mate. "Hey, no fair using npc avatar's!"

Tawodi Osdi

1) I walked slowly down the hall until I heard a deathly screech somewhere behind me.

2) The car flew by, seemingly out of nowhere, and spat fire of hot lead out of its windows.

3) The sailors and other riff-raff huddled quietly over their drinks with seeming prescience of what was about to take place.

bearded

coolness.
the next project is based on writing from personal experience. things that you have actually been through tend to feel more real, the writing benefits. the goal is you have to give it a twist. you have to make it be about something fantastic. you take something in your life, childhood, teen, adult, anything interesting and give it an addition to make it fantasy. i recommend something super hero, but it could be anything you are interested in, vampires, space opera, police detectives,etc.
so, join in with this one, or do the three sentence project and catch up!

daglob

I keep trying, but I can't get the first line (or so) of a Fredrick Brown story out of my mind:

The last man on Earth was sitting in a room when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

bearded

i've heard the radio broadcast of that!

Mr. Hamrick

Quote from: bearded on January 20, 2011, 07:57:36 PM
coolness.
the next project is based on writing from personal experience. things that you have actually been through tend to feel more real, the writing benefits. the goal is you have to give it a twist. you have to make it be about something fantastic. you take something in your life, childhood, teen, adult, anything interesting and give it an addition to make it fantasy. i recommend something super hero, but it could be anything you are interested in, vampires, space opera, police detectives,etc.
so, join in with this one, or do the three sentence project and catch up!

The last thing I expected was that, by taking my blind date home, I'd be leaving her at a crime scene waiting to happen.  Little did I know, in 48 hours, it'd soon be one.

daglob

Quote from: bearded on January 25, 2011, 07:06:01 PM
i've heard the radio broadcast of that!

And the name of the story is "Knock".

Tawodi Osdi

Driving down a dark and lonesome highway, been driving so long I'm not sure if I'm driving forward or sideways.  Driving by another eye blink town, something darts from the side of the road and a thump is heard under the car.  Getting out not certain if I had hit a child, a dog, a coyote, or just a piece of rubbish blown by the strong Oklahoma winds.  Please, don't let it be a child.  Approaching the object it looks increasingly human, but once closer, it is something like a human but not quite.  Wide lidless eyes and bulbous head.  Looking something a UFO quack would make up.  I check it for injuries it is covered in burn marks.  My car didn't do this.  It grunts and points at me.  A light emits from its finger.  Before i can escape...I dream.  I see myself.  I am stopping trains by might alone.  Fire shoots from my hands.  Things move by me thoughts...I wake up.  I am in a strange place.  A human-like reptile looks and at me.  It speaks.  I understand but do not know how.  The Protector lived long enough to you his powers, but not before we found you.  You will never escape alive...

bearded

     Driving down the road she couldnt help but glance in her rear view mirror. She wasn't sure what had attracted her attention,

the lights reflected were extremely low. There were 2 lights, almost like headlights, but very dim, right behind her. It was

the middle of the night, in the desert, but she couldn't see anything the lights could be coming from. At first she thought it

might be a weird reflection in her mirror, so she twisted around and clearly saw them, about five feet behind her rear bumper.

  She sped up, the maintained the exact position, she slowed, they slowed. She reached for her cel phone and activated the camera

mode. When she slowed and turned to get the camera shot, they winked out, first the left one, then the right. Not prone to

panic, she was still disturbed, and called her husband, waking him.

  "Probably some kind of mirage, you are in the desert you know." He said sleepily.

  "If they come back, I'm going to get a camera shot, for sure."

  "If they come back, you should stop the car to see what they want."

  He regretted saying this for the rest of his life. Because as soon as he said it, her phone went dead, and she was never

heard from again.


bearded

#11
the next project is writing characters and using cliches. pick a cliche from the list and either make a strong character or use a known character and make a quick fiction, using the strength of the character to make the story work.

1. A group of real-world humans who like roleplaying find themselves transported to D&D world.
2. Dead superhero reserructed.
3. 2 heroes meet and fight through misunderstanding.
4. Starship captain has to choose between saving ____ or follow orders and directives.
5. Commoner is actually royalty and kingdom savior.

Ok, I need more cliches, any ideas?

Tawodi Osdi

Comic World

   In a coffee shop named Latte of the Spheres, Superman, the golden age Flash, and Lil Orphan Annie are drinking coffee and talking shop.

   Superman is rubbing his head.  "Sometimes being a comic book character is such a pain.  My origin has been retconned so many times I'm not always sure who I am."

   "Who are you to complain? " says the Flash, "at least you stay in print and never have to age.  Once you go out of print, it's all down hill."

   "Boo hoo hoo!  At least you get to age," complained Annie.  "Don't you think I would mind at least one adult kiss in my life, but only a sicko would want to read about a preteen getting some real action."

   In walks the Human Torch of Fantastic Four with a glum look on his face.  "Why so blue," asks Annie.

   "I just died.  Who knows how long it will be before I work again."

   Superman nods sympathetically, "I've been there myself, but look on the bright side.  You're a popular character.  You'll be resurrected in no time."

   "Just hope you can get a writer who can write a good resurrection story," says Flash, "look at poor Hawkman.  They haven't gotten him right, yet.  The Jigsaw Man will probably be in print before Hawkman is a serious player again."

   A black and white figure walks up, and asks, "excuse me!  Can I join you guys?  I would like to ask you some questions."

   The foursome look him up and down and asks, "who are you?"

   "I'm just a concept drawing, and I don't have a name yet.  I think I am supposed to be a super hero or villain, but I'm not sure.  Sometimes I'm drawn in a city scene, sometimes it's a futuristic scene, and sometimes in a jungle.  Once I was drawn in a bordello, but I won't repeat what I was doing.  My artist is a bit of a pervert.  He doesn't have buyer yet, but I think I'm going to wind up at Marvel.  Do you have any suggestions for a new guy?"

   "You came to the right table, friend,"  Superman said.  "Annie, Flash, and I are some of the oldest characters is comics, and Torch is no newbie either."

   Superman, Flash, and Lil Orphan Annie started explaining everything the new about knew about continuity, crossovers, shifting fan-bases, and copyright complications.  The unnamed listens intently, and follows up with one final question.  "Does this joint serve anything stronger than coffee?  I think I need to get drunk."

   Annie says, "yeah, ask for the Annual Spectacular."