LAST POST FOR A WHILE.

[amand_r]

I have been looking at a lot of short stories in all kinds of genres and in general fiction lately, and I have come to the conclusion that I can't think of these things. Really, I don't have a feel for it. I can do it in fanfic, but when I think of original ideas to write about, they're always very long.

But I'm good at writing to prompt. This leads me to believe I just haven't figured it out yet. Like a tic.

This is where you come in.

I need story ideas. Short story ideas. They don't have to be scifi. They can be non genre. I tried that generator thing but it's too wacked out. I need your ideas. Ones you don't mind parting with. I can come up with a bunch of my own, but for some reason I'm not writing them.

Sentences, scenarios. Prompts, really. It doesn't have to be complicated or hard.

I promise I'll post the stories here and will not make money from them. This is just for practice.

I want to do several stories in between 500 and 2K, possibly more. But let's start small and build.

So come on. For serious. Help a gal out to exercise her rusty muscles? OIL CAN, BITCHES.

Comments

[gypsylady.livejournal.com]

I get a twitter feed (is that what it's called? These technical terms you young people use....) that suggests prompts for blocked writers. It's DailyPrompt (http://twitter.com/DailyPrompt) and that last couple have been:

A teenager looking through his telescope discovers a new star.
Everyone has a favourite song. Except ...
You go to donate blood, but something goes terribly wrong.
So it was YOU all along?

And, a few further down, my favorite for the moment:
The afghan you just finished crocheting turns magical and wraps itself around you.

There is also Writing_Prompt but it's infrequent and uninteresting. "Write about bunny rabbits because it's Easter." Yeah, sure...

Does this help, bb?

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

Damn, girl. If I could think of them, I'd write them.

I am so useless at this.

A billionaire gets three wishes and tries to give them away, because he already has all he (or she) wants and needs.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

As a non-short story writer myself I applaud you. Gosh, prompts! Must think on this.

[heddychaa.livejournal.com]

This is one from the creative writing class I took at SFU a couple years ago, that produced probably one of my best short stories:

- Write about a member of your family from a previous generation doing something that they love. Capture their way of speaking in your dialogue.
- Lightning round: do it without relying on speech tags, italics, or quotation marks to set dialogue apart from narrative.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

I raided my rabbit hutch (called because it houses the plot bunnies - you are allowed to smile at that one) and hope they help - feel free to use in other fandoms or original fic... they just caught my attention and may never get written by me - so i hope they help *hugs*

Song: I hope you have the time of your life – by Green Day
Song: Poison – Alice Cooper
Song: My Heart will go on… Titanic song…. (Ianto and Jack optional)
Book Title: Living with Crazy Buttocks
Jack gets introduced to Doctor as: Mr Spock… then he sees Star Trek
Song: Who wants to live forever from
Song: I hope you dance

[cyprinella]

Everyone deserves their own robot!

[wildeagain.livejournal.com]

What's goin on right here?

[blue-fjords.livejournal.com]

Prompts:

Combine the following: Brazil nuts, lemmings, "Goodfellas"

Public Access TV station runs a talent show to raise money to restore the statue in the town square.

The statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse (in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World) is replaced w/ two peeps in costume for one day. What do they see?

[ophymirage.livejournal.com]

"The Shark God and his handmaidens." (no shit, that came to me as a very Important and Intoned Sentence in a dream the other night. I bequeath it to you, since sharks terrify me. :D )

[opium-and-tea.livejournal.com]

Write something based on these lyrics? The Tears - Imperfection.

[opium-and-tea.livejournal.com]

hmmm... apparently my link didn't work: http://www.lyricsmania.com/imperfection_lyrics_tears_the.html

[celisnebula.livejournal.com]

A boy or girl and a shinny red schwinn bike.

[behindblue-eyes.livejournal.com]

My Novel Writing professor (who made an actual living off of short stories and novels and taught between readings and whatnot because he wasn't all that famous) suggested that you write for at least a half an hour every day, whether you used what you wrote or not. It could be a piece of crap or a laundry list, so long as you got into the habit of writing. Eventually, the good things will come and you'll find a half hour turns into three and then it's tomorrow morning and you've got the outline of a story.

He also suggested looking through a lot of magazines. Ones that strike your fancy, though he preferred science or archeology journals. Anything that has good pictures and reports on odd and interesting things. Keep a file of essays that you think are cool and use them as inspiration.

[planejane.livejournal.com]

Prompt: No one needs to know. A married woman is sat at a bar in a hotel far from home. What happens next is up to you.

I'll be back if I have more. :)

[mia-ugly.livejournal.com]

Hey there. First of all, you are awesome. I have similar writing issues, and I hope these exercises prove successful. Might I say again, you are awesome, and I'm so glad to have read your work, and know that you're working on more of it. There are so many talented writers in my fandom, but I have so seldom thought, "goddamn, I wish this person would publish a series of novels for me to consume and reread over and over again, while following from town to town on their book tour."

Needless to say, you are one of those writers, and I know I will be telling everyone I read your work before you made it big.

Here's my prompt: Take an INEXCUSABLE behaviour (in conventional opinion, anyway) and make it sympathetic. Bestiality? Cannibalism? Maybe this is too dark, but I am always fascinated by authors that can explore the more hidden aspects of humanity, and make the behaviour seem understandable, almost.

Does this make me sound like a creep? I hope not. Good luck with the writing!

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

OMG LIKE DEXTER.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I hopes you do this one...

[tariqa.livejournal.com]

I guess this isn't exactly a prompt, but the setup to something I tried to write once (I couldn't get it right. There is no such thing as a bad idea, just poor execution), and I don't know that it'd work for the length you're going for at the moment. But if you want a prompt for something a bit longer later down the track, feel free to have a go at this:

A man in his early 20s saves a young girl's life, but is seriously injured. He spends years in a coma, and the only people who visit him are his best friend and the girl he rescued. When he wakes up over a decade has passed. His friends have grown up and settled down, while he feels closer in age/maturity to the now-teenage girl he rescued - a girl who has idolised him for most of her life, but really knows nothing about him. What happens next is up to you...

Good luck with your writing - I look forward to reading the results :)

[lastrega.livejournal.com]

WHERE ARE ALL THE BEES? AND WHY IS THERE A FOOT IN MY SOUP?

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

ALL THE BEES HAVE DIED IN THE SERVICE OF EDDIE IZZARD.

[lastrega.livejournal.com]

AND THERE'S THE STORY YOU SHOULD WRITE.

OFF YOU GO.

[tziporahrachel.livejournal.com]

The infamous words of JB's best friend at the end of a impromptu speech in speech class... "Hos gotta eat too"