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stephenmatlock View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stephenmatlock Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 3:52pm
Originally posted by Emfizz Emfizz wrote:

I'm not usually one to cry woe is me about prompts, but I seriously have the WORST prompts this time. Suspense, mining and a puppeteer??????? I have an idea that I now have to stick with, but I'm so uninspired and have so far written three pages of utter nonsense. Researching mining has made me realise that I am intensely bored (hah) by the subject and I don't know if I'll be able to finish this one, which is bumming me out. Anyone else having difficulties at this late stage still? 

Been there in every one of these contests. Usually the second round. The prompt is like...wha? Either it's too predictable or just too incomprehensible.

I am tired of writing ghost stories. I don't like them, I don't read them, and I don't want to write them anymore. I never win with them. I just don't "do" the genre.

So I feel ya here.
Pithy sayings are for the apt. For a longer message, you need a condo.

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manifestlynot View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote manifestlynot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 4:03pm
Originally posted by Emfizz Emfizz wrote:

I'm not usually one to cry woe is me about prompts, but I seriously have the WORST prompts this time. Suspense, mining and a puppeteer??????? I have an idea that I now have to stick with, but I'm so uninspired and have so far written three pages of utter nonsense. Researching mining has made me realise that I am intensely bored (hah) by the subject and I don't know if I'll be able to finish this one, which is bumming me out. Anyone else having difficulties at this late stage still? 

If it’s helpful, one of my duties is data mining...? (No idea if that’s any better but it make take you in a new direction)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Emfizz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 4:42pm
Originally posted by Alex Grey Alex Grey wrote:

Gold mines in Wales - mainly mined out by the Romans but some still in production - Dolau Cothi - scam suspense - working gullible investors like puppets - I mean, who knows that there's a barely a teaspoon of gold (it might be a bit more!) in Welsh mines now??

Deep deep slate mines in North Wales - https://www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/caverns - home of one of the most complicated zipwire courses in the world - underground - maybe a villain playing a victim like a puppet on the wires over some severely deep and dark drops??

Both great ideas, but would require even more research, which I really don't have in me. I've done just about the amount of reading about mining that I can stomach. That underground zip-line looks legit terrifying though, would make a great thriller!

Originally posted by stephenmatlock stephenmatlock wrote:

Been there in every one of these contests. Usually the second round. The prompt is like...wha? Either it's too predictable or just too incomprehensible. 

I am tired of writing ghost stories. I don't like them, I don't read them, and I don't want to write them anymore. I never win with them. I just don't "do" the genre.

So I feel ya here.

How many ghost stories have you had to write??

Originally posted by manifestlynot manifestlynot wrote:

If it’s helpful, one of my duties is data mining...? (No idea if that’s any better but it make take you in a new direction)

I did actually toy with that idea, but then felt that it wouldn't make a very compelling visual story (or rather that I couldn't make it a compelling one). It would definitely work as a short story though I reckon. That's great info though, I will definitely be hitting you up should I ever be writing about data mining as I know nothing about it!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vernacula Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 4:42pm
Originally posted by stephenmatlock stephenmatlock wrote:

Originally posted by Emfizz Emfizz wrote:

I'm not usually one to cry woe is me about prompts, but I seriously have the WORST prompts this time. Suspense, mining and a puppeteer??????? I have an idea that I now have to stick with, but I'm so uninspired and have so far written three pages of utter nonsense. Researching mining has made me realise that I am intensely bored (hah) by the subject and I don't know if I'll be able to finish this one, which is bumming me out. Anyone else having difficulties at this late stage still? 

Been there in every one of these contests. Usually the second round. The prompt is like...wha? Either it's too predictable or just too incomprehensible.

I am tired of writing ghost stories. I don't like them, I don't read them, and I don't want to write them anymore. I never win with them. I just don't "do" the genre.

So I feel ya here.


If it counts for anything, I've loved much of your ghostliness! But I hear ya. I got caught in the ghost trap early on and finally broke out of it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote musikriter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 4:45pm
Not alone at all! My first time, too. I have written several stage plays and thought this would be easier (the fade in fade out makes transitions so much easier that set and costume changes for live theater). Wrong! I have a 10 page story, I think, but with formatting I can't get it below 18! I'm going to use it as an exercise for writing a full length screenplay. Brevity (as in this email) not my strongpoint! My genre was tough for me, too. Out of my comfort zone for sure.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steph9289 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 4:54pm
I've managed to catch the plague and have barely thought about my screenplay since Sunday... 😕
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TMW2Judgementday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 6:54pm
Write your prompts on individual sheets of paper and then write every freaking word/phrase you can think of that has anything to do with each word. Then look at them at the same time and some stuff should come together. I write a 2 or 3 sentence idea down. Draft out an outline in a paragraph or so and then begin thinking about how many scenes it would take. Then you breakdown the scenes by number with 1 sentence descriptions and then create and flesh out characters. At that point you should start drafting a script. Don't write a word of dialogue until you know where your story begins and ends. This can all change I normally write 10+ drafts before I even like the script.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BarbaraFL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 8:10pm
Eek. I just realized it's due Saturday night (USA) and not Sunday night. 

Good thing I have off tomorrow! Life issues nearly ruined me this week and I haven't picked up my script since last weekend...but it will get done.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stephenmatlock Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 8:31pm
Originally posted by Emfizz Emfizz wrote:


Originally posted by stephenmatlock stephenmatlock wrote:

Been there in every one of these contests. Usually the second round. The prompt is like...wha? Either it's too predictable or just too incomprehensible. 

I am tired of writing ghost stories. I don't like them, I don't read them, and I don't want to write them anymore. I never win with them. I just don't "do" the genre.

So I feel ya here.

How many ghost stories have you had to write??


This round's Screenplay. Current Short Story Comp ("Cold Truths"). Last year's Short Story comp that I set in old-timey Seattle. (Don't remember flash prompts from last year.) At least one flash fiction every round since 2015, which means somewhere around 50-75%.
Pithy sayings are for the apt. For a longer message, you need a condo.

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stephenmatlock View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stephenmatlock Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 8:36pm
Originally posted by Vernacula Vernacula wrote:

Originally posted by stephenmatlock stephenmatlock wrote:

Originally posted by Emfizz Emfizz wrote:

I'm not usually one to cry woe is me about prompts, but I seriously have the WORST prompts this time. Suspense, mining and a puppeteer??????? I have an idea that I now have to stick with, but I'm so uninspired and have so far written three pages of utter nonsense. Researching mining has made me realise that I am intensely bored (hah) by the subject and I don't know if I'll be able to finish this one, which is bumming me out. Anyone else having difficulties at this late stage still? 

Been there in every one of these contests. Usually the second round. The prompt is like...wha? Either it's too predictable or just too incomprehensible.

I am tired of writing ghost stories. I don't like them, I don't read them, and I don't want to write them anymore. I never win with them. I just don't "do" the genre.

So I feel ya here.


If it counts for anything, I've loved much of your ghostliness! But I hear ya. I got caught in the ghost trap early on and finally broke out of it.


I'm actually fairly happy with my current one, although it isn't really a screenplay with lots of action. More of a "My Dinner with Andre" feel.

The judges may ding me severely for that, but it's the story that I wanted to tell. The idea literally did come to me Saturday morning when I woke up, and I kicked out the first draft by noon. I've been tweaking it since then, getting some *excellent* feedback, and now it's a tight 11.75 pages. I'll probably give it one more thorough pass on Saturday morning, and then it's done.

My 2nd round short story I had zero interest in, and would have just not submitted anything but a *very good friend* told me to get out of my slump, and I wrote something in 90 minutes ("Ice Capades"). Not my best work, but I got it out there.

Pithy sayings are for the apt. For a longer message, you need a condo.

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