Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 8:10am
Yes cake the more cake the more better
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 12, 2012 - 8:54am
okay, so we need an ice cream cake that spells CAKE, some CAKE cds, X-Files dvds, and a Scrabble board.
i'll wear my Crystal Gayle t-shirt.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 8:56am
Does it have detachable hair trailing down its back?
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 12, 2012 - 9:15am
no, but that's a really good idea!! like the mullet caps and rasta dreadlock hats - but t-shirts. you could just pull the long hair up from the back of the shirt and ponytail it in with your hair.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 9:30am
Totally.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.March 12, 2012 - 9:56am
Mmm. Progress. I have 1500 words down so far that I am happy with. For the first time I am feeling confident about getting it finished by deadline. And by finished I mean finished and edited, not rushed and mailed over at the last moment, only to find a bunch of errors later.
That being said, I am writing out of my comfort zone and there's a large chance it's gonna end up a total balls-up. Gonna be fun finding out though.
EDIT - 666th post in this thread!!!!
EDIT - I got the wordsmith badge!!!!
These, people, are the signs of oncoming storms. WAR!
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 12, 2012 - 10:05am
Wickedvoodoo is the bringer of the apocalypse. Fear and tremble before him.
I'm going to stop changing my setting and set about doing something serious here.
Flaminia Ferina
from Umbria is reading stuffMarch 12, 2012 - 10:53am
My update: 1200 words in, building a finale. Having fun. Hope I may save most words when editing.
edit
Profunda Saint-...
from Calgary, AB is reading Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy SeriesMarch 12, 2012 - 10:38am
I think I have a first draft.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 12, 2012 - 10:55am
Hey Wicked, it's completely okay to turn something in late and have it be total crap if you want. No problem.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazMarch 12, 2012 - 12:22pm
That would be more my style...
I love cake Amanda. And I was just kidding about Scrabble. We play all the time. No I-phones though.
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsMarch 12, 2012 - 12:51pm
It was okay until it started getting better, now it's too long and back to shitty and meaningless.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 1:08pm
Wow meat seeker awesome! I have my set up and specific dialogue but other than what I have in Evernote i haven't got a draft yet. Still collecting language! I can't wait until people see what we did. We got an awesome prompt!
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 12, 2012 - 1:10pm
Now I'm trying to remember what the hell your prompt was.
edit: Yeah, that was a pretty neat prompt. I wish I could take credit for that.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 1:11pm
@covewriter long shitty meaningless things usually result from overcommitting yourself to something. I'd go back and look for what you thought was fun and cut out everything else. Of course, this is coming from a person who has different commitment issues. But Whatevs.
Profunda Saint-...
from Calgary, AB is reading Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy SeriesMarch 12, 2012 - 1:18pm
Yeah I got a lot farther than I expected to, had an unexpected trip back to my hometown to bury a friend, which meant a short (albeit depressing as fuck) break from kids, work, etc. So I managed to actually get some shit done. Dunno how good it is, but no matter, I think the concept is kind of neato.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 1:23pm
Wow that's pretty hardcore of you meat seeker. I mean shit you bury friends to take a break from your kids! Fuck me.
Profunda Saint-...
from Calgary, AB is reading Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy SeriesMarch 12, 2012 - 1:29pm
Next time I'm planning a slightly nicer break from life. A few nights of drinking that aren't in a funeral home bathroom would be nice...
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 1:33pm
I think you should write a story about that!
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsMarch 12, 2012 - 1:49pm
Thanks Nikki. It just doesn't seem as meaningful as it did at first. Seems contrived. Although it wasn't, at first.Haha.I need a writing coach that doesn't cost $400. I'm seeeing another addiction starting here though. This site is really helpful.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 2:14pm
Yeah this site is a real resource. Some great writers too.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 12, 2012 - 2:34pm
And then there are people like me. :P
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsMarch 12, 2012 - 2:43pm
The writing here is pretty good. It's a different environment than Ive been in before, which also rocks. I just feel sometimes like too much a white-bread cheerleader girl and not showing the darkness at the core. I have to get at that more. We are all the same in the end.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 12, 2012 - 3:26pm
I HAVE MY IDEA!!!! I was writing and it just didn't seem right and then it just struck me upside the head, BAM!
UTAH, I'm sorry, but I have to do it to you. Actually, I'm not sorry.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 12, 2012 - 3:29pm
I've got an idea, and 1000 words, that's going to drop Hiroshima's on the War... The place I took my prompt is unexpected.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 12, 2012 - 3:31pm
"going to drop Hiroshima's"
Watch out...Moon's going to drop radioactive cities.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 3:32pm
Can't wait to read it moon! Spew onward soldier!
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 12, 2012 - 3:36pm
Watch out...Moon's going to drop radioactive cities.
- I thought it'd be you to take the wind out of my metaphor.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 12, 2012 - 3:49pm
It's what I do.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 12, 2012 - 3:53pm
Nearly finished a draft
Coffee migraines abound.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 12, 2012 - 3:57pm
@Doll: and you're very good at it.
Dave
from a city near you is reading constantlyMarch 12, 2012 - 4:16pm
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 12, 2012 - 4:26pm
*claps*
This is a good day.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 12, 2012 - 4:33pm
That's pretty hot.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 12, 2012 - 5:14pm
@Dave: Nice.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 12, 2012 - 6:35pm
Well...no.
Honestly to give you that kind of advice, I feel I would have to know the story. And that is not allowed. But I guess...if you have heard the same story before, and you have nothing new to bring to it, then it is cliche. If you can bring something new, then it isn't.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 12, 2012 - 6:36pm
I just go with the old saying; tell the story that you want to read. Whether other people enjoy it or think it's too cliche is nothing you can really control.
Nick Wilczynski
from Greensboro, NC is reading A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. MartinMarch 12, 2012 - 6:47pm
I told a friend about my story idea. She cited three references of it being done before. I decided it was too cliche.
google two or three word descriptions of your premise, see what comes up.
Fritz
March 12, 2012 - 6:48pm
Never take the the obivious way out - challenge the hell out of yourself - when you write a character into a corner and you think of a cool way out of it - a way you've seen on a movie or read in a book, -- don't do it that way - shoot for originality - think of a new way. Now, you haven't read every book or seen evey movie, so you're bound to duplicate a theme or two, oh well. I'd say the goal is to try to write as originally as you can. Shoot for the freakin moon.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 12, 2012 - 7:05pm
Finally started writing today. I think the word count was like 850 when I finished a few minutes ago. Got my ending in mind, the points I'm going to hit getting there, and the rest is just filling in the gaps.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.March 12, 2012 - 7:41pm
@ Jason
Great to hear buddy. All the best. One of the things I am most interested in seeing how you use this prompt. Gonna be weird to see another take on it after focus on my story so much in the week beforehand.
Flaminia Ferina
from Umbria is reading stuffMarch 13, 2012 - 6:00am
Definitely @wicked. It is good part of the fun in this contest. I also look forward to reading what Dakota has to tell about that secret thing we don't talk about because it's forbidden to talk about it.
And trying to guess who's written what.. and then, at the very bottom of it, seeing what I can do to get out of my own plot holes before the deadline. Hoppa!
Bill Tucker
from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition)March 13, 2012 - 6:49am
This entire contest is freaking epic. And I rarely use the word "epic" in my internet life and never in the real world. And I sorely want to be involved if a second WAR breaks out here at LR. Can't wait to read the stories!
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 13, 2012 - 6:55am
I get more and more excited everyday. This morning I managed to push away my "I'm gonna lose" blues and started polishing the idea I have. I've worked myself up to "I'm gonna lose - but with an okay story"! Which seems like a solid step forward.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 13, 2012 - 7:11am
@avery - ha! your confidence is astounding. just think, you've got a solid working draft of something even if you don't end up totally happy with it or don't go to the next round.
i'm interested to see what these stories look like a month after this is over - whether the prompts get revised right out of them, or is even recognizable :)
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 13, 2012 - 7:27am
I know Avery's work and she always goes through this period of lack of confidence, but then she submits something and it's great. You'll do fine Doll. I got faith in you.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 13, 2012 - 7:34am
True...next comes the "This isn't even a STORY" panic attack.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 13, 2012 - 8:01am
I'm just going to do my best and if I lose, it's because you have all failed me as friends and fellow writers in being able to recognize my brilliance. Yeah....
voodoo_em
from England is reading All the books by Ira LevinMarch 13, 2012 - 8:03am
I'm at 1,909 first draft.
Amazing.
I didn't like my prompt, but I do like this story.
*Big grin*
Of course it's going to get pounded to the ground and it's teeth kick in come WAR...
but at least I proved to myself I could do it :D
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 13, 2012 - 8:05am
"I've worked myself up to "I'm gonna lose - but with an okay story"! Which seems like a solid step forward."
Yes cake the more cake the more better
okay, so we need an ice cream cake that spells CAKE, some CAKE cds, X-Files dvds, and a Scrabble board.
i'll wear my Crystal Gayle t-shirt.
Does it have detachable hair trailing down its back?
no, but that's a really good idea!! like the mullet caps and rasta dreadlock hats - but t-shirts. you could just pull the long hair up from the back of the shirt and ponytail it in with your hair.
Totally.
Mmm. Progress. I have 1500 words down so far that I am happy with. For the first time I am feeling confident about getting it finished by deadline. And by finished I mean finished and edited, not rushed and mailed over at the last moment, only to find a bunch of errors later.
That being said, I am writing out of my comfort zone and there's a large chance it's gonna end up a total balls-up. Gonna be fun finding out though.
EDIT - 666th post in this thread!!!!
EDIT - I got the wordsmith badge!!!!
These, people, are the signs of oncoming storms. WAR!
Wickedvoodoo is the bringer of the apocalypse. Fear and tremble before him.
I'm going to stop changing my setting and set about doing something serious here.
My update: 1200 words in, building a finale. Having fun. Hope I may save most words when editing.
edit
I think I have a first draft.
Hey Wicked, it's completely okay to turn something in late and have it be total crap if you want. No problem.
That would be more my style...
I love cake Amanda. And I was just kidding about Scrabble. We play all the time. No I-phones though.
It was okay until it started getting better, now it's too long and back to shitty and meaningless.
Wow meat seeker awesome! I have my set up and specific dialogue but other than what I have in Evernote i haven't got a draft yet. Still collecting language! I can't wait until people see what we did. We got an awesome prompt!
Now I'm trying to remember what the hell your prompt was.
edit: Yeah, that was a pretty neat prompt. I wish I could take credit for that.
@covewriter long shitty meaningless things usually result from overcommitting yourself to something. I'd go back and look for what you thought was fun and cut out everything else. Of course, this is coming from a person who has different commitment issues. But Whatevs.
Yeah I got a lot farther than I expected to, had an unexpected trip back to my hometown to bury a friend, which meant a short (albeit depressing as fuck) break from kids, work, etc. So I managed to actually get some shit done. Dunno how good it is, but no matter, I think the concept is kind of neato.
Wow that's pretty hardcore of you meat seeker. I mean shit you bury friends to take a break from your kids! Fuck me.
Next time I'm planning a slightly nicer break from life. A few nights of drinking that aren't in a funeral home bathroom would be nice...
I think you should write a story about that!
Thanks Nikki. It just doesn't seem as meaningful as it did at first. Seems contrived. Although it wasn't, at first.Haha.I need a writing coach that doesn't cost $400. I'm seeeing another addiction starting here though. This site is really helpful.
Yeah this site is a real resource. Some great writers too.
And then there are people like me. :P
The writing here is pretty good. It's a different environment than Ive been in before, which also rocks. I just feel sometimes like too much a white-bread cheerleader girl and not showing the darkness at the core. I have to get at that more. We are all the same in the end.
I HAVE MY IDEA!!!! I was writing and it just didn't seem right and then it just struck me upside the head, BAM!
UTAH, I'm sorry, but I have to do it to you. Actually, I'm not sorry.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I've got an idea, and 1000 words, that's going to drop Hiroshima's on the War... The place I took my prompt is unexpected.
"going to drop Hiroshima's"
Watch out...Moon's going to drop radioactive cities.
Can't wait to read it moon! Spew onward soldier!
It's what I do.
Nearly finished a draft
Coffee migraines abound.
@Doll: and you're very good at it.
*claps*
This is a good day.
That's pretty hot.
@Dave: Nice.
Well...no.
Honestly to give you that kind of advice, I feel I would have to know the story. And that is not allowed. But I guess...if you have heard the same story before, and you have nothing new to bring to it, then it is cliche. If you can bring something new, then it isn't.
I just go with the old saying; tell the story that you want to read. Whether other people enjoy it or think it's too cliche is nothing you can really control.
I told a friend about my story idea. She cited three references of it being done before. I decided it was too cliche.
google two or three word descriptions of your premise, see what comes up.
Never take the the obivious way out - challenge the hell out of yourself - when you write a character into a corner and you think of a cool way out of it - a way you've seen on a movie or read in a book, -- don't do it that way - shoot for originality - think of a new way. Now, you haven't read every book or seen evey movie, so you're bound to duplicate a theme or two, oh well. I'd say the goal is to try to write as originally as you can. Shoot for the freakin moon.
Finally started writing today. I think the word count was like 850 when I finished a few minutes ago. Got my ending in mind, the points I'm going to hit getting there, and the rest is just filling in the gaps.
@ Jason
Great to hear buddy. All the best. One of the things I am most interested in seeing how you use this prompt. Gonna be weird to see another take on it after focus on my story so much in the week beforehand.
Definitely @wicked. It is good part of the fun in this contest. I also look forward to reading what Dakota has to tell about that secret thing we don't talk about because it's forbidden to talk about it.
And trying to guess who's written what.. and then, at the very bottom of it, seeing what I can do to get out of my own plot holes before the deadline. Hoppa!
This entire contest is freaking epic. And I rarely use the word "epic" in my internet life and never in the real world. And I sorely want to be involved if a second WAR breaks out here at LR. Can't wait to read the stories!
I get more and more excited everyday. This morning I managed to push away my "I'm gonna lose" blues and started polishing the idea I have. I've worked myself up to "I'm gonna lose - but with an okay story"! Which seems like a solid step forward.
@avery - ha! your confidence is astounding. just think, you've got a solid working draft of something even if you don't end up totally happy with it or don't go to the next round.
i'm interested to see what these stories look like a month after this is over - whether the prompts get revised right out of them, or is even recognizable :)
I know Avery's work and she always goes through this period of lack of confidence, but then she submits something and it's great. You'll do fine Doll. I got faith in you.
True...next comes the "This isn't even a STORY" panic attack.
I'm just going to do my best and if I lose, it's because you have all failed me as friends and fellow writers in being able to recognize my brilliance. Yeah....
I'm at 1,909 first draft.
Amazing.
I didn't like my prompt, but I do like this story.
*Big grin*
Of course it's going to get pounded to the ground and it's teeth kick in come WAR...
but at least I proved to myself I could do it :D
"I've worked myself up to "I'm gonna lose - but with an okay story"! Which seems like a solid step forward."
That's what I'm shooting for.