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have you ever failed to come up with a story?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 12:27am
Only once, a couple of years ago I was traveling in Vietnam,
and would have wrote, but I got spy for the third time and
I hate spy and and decided not to waste my vacation on 
something I hated. Had I got anything else I woulda wrote.
Since then I have been on the receiving end of spy once more,
I hate spy, but got 2 points for it as I just wrote it as a comedy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote sgspeed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 11:12am
It happened to me in the Short Screenplay challenge. I got stuck on the prompts, and because screenplays are harder for me than prose, it just felt like an ordeal. On Sunday morning I decided that writing should not be torture, and it was time to walk away. Had a wonderful day out and away from the computer and that was that. It was a relief.  When Rd.2 came up, I thought I should write, but then I got fantasy, which totally intimidates me, and also thought about the possibility of pulling points away from someone who actually had a chance to move forward, and decided the contest was over for me.  

And guess what I got this time?  Fantasy, but i was in the right head place this time and it wasn't so bad!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChristiLB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 7:18pm
Originally posted by ShroudedWolf ShroudedWolf wrote:

I got so depressed after one round, I quit the internet for 3 months and skipped the second challenge, then didn't write for about 2 years. Now, that's not normal me, but I do suffer from severe depression and anxiety and other factors were a part of the decision, but I regret it.

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear you took such an absence from writing - I can understand how it could happen though since writing is such a personal thing and so tightly tied to who we are. Glad to see you're back. Thanks for sharing, I hope you are well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChristiLB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 7:27pm
Originally posted by orion323 orion323 wrote:

For some reason, I've been perpetually plagued by the spy genre for years now.  It got to the point where I didn't even look at assignments until the morning cuz it ruined my night.  I just have zero interest in or ability to write spy stuff.  I've always somehow coughed up a word hairball in time for the deadline but that's cuz I'm Aries and refuse to tap out.

This time I got crime caper and kicked shenanigan rocks in my head for a day and a half.  I finally came up with a story that I liked at noon on Sunday and skidded sideways into the 8:59 deadline...only to realize on Tuesday that I uploaded my first draft onto Submittable.  It's a flaming pile of hot hot garbage, run on sentences, and spell check gone awry.  I'm so embarrassed for the judges that have to read it...lol

Oh well.

Fwiw, a couple years ago I was one of the unicorns that got a 0 first round and a 15 the second and was able to move on.  Don't count yourself out just yet!

HA, I love the way you described your process for writing your crime caper, LOLLOLLOL I'm guessing comedy is the genre you excel at, Smile You've given me a shred of hope to hang on to with your experience of getting zero in challenge 1 and 15 in challenge 2 and moving on. I better come up with something brilliant haha. Thanks for response.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChristiLB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 7:33pm
Originally posted by KarenB KarenB wrote:

So sorry you had this experience. It hasn't happened to me yet, but my fall back plan would be to default to a 100 word story and to run with whatever developed -- just to pop something in.  I imagine that might be a sloppy sounding plan to writers of a higher caliber than myself, but that's my plan, should I ever get stuck.  Wishing you only the best of luck in knocking the second round out of the park. Happy Writing!! SmileWinkBig smile

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. Hopefully I'm able to do that with the second challenge if something doesn't readily come to mind for a story. Tongue
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote ChristiLB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 7:37pm
Thank you to all the new comments I received on this thread. I replied to a few of you but wanted to send out a general "thank you" to everyone for all your kind words and support. It's so reasurring to know I'm not alone in this unfortunate experience. I'm looking forward to challenge number 2 and getting another chance to succeed. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Sara02 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 10:15pm
This happened to me with the last contest. I just could NOT come up with a spy story. Finally got a little inspiration the last 2 hours. Then I over complicated my plot and my keyboard messed up so I copied and pasted and emailed to another computer. I didn't even get to finish the story, much less edit it. Pretty sure I was 400 words over. I'm trying not to think too much about it but it is comforting to know I'm not the only one who struggled. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChristiLB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jul 2020 at 10:08pm
Originally posted by Sara02 Sara02 wrote:

This happened to me with the last contest. I just could NOT come up with a spy story. Finally got a little inspiration the last 2 hours. Then I over complicated my plot and my keyboard messed up so I copied and pasted and emailed to another computer. I didn't even get to finish the story, much less edit it. Pretty sure I was 400 words over. I'm trying not to think too much about it but it is comforting to know I'm not the only one who struggled. 

Oh no, sorry to hear you had so many setbacks. I definitely know the feeling and am equally comforted knowing I'm not struggling alone during these competitions. Thanks so much for commiserating with me, Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lord Xoon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jul 2020 at 11:24pm
Yeah, I'm going to get something down even if it's completely wrong. Hell, I wrote a romance where they didn't hook up or end up together. I wrote a fantasy without magic. 

But I paid my $ so by God, I'm going to make those judges earn their money.

Oh, and for anyone interested, no my romanceless romance and magicless fantasy didn't do well.


Edited by Lord Xoon - 24 Jul 2020 at 11:25pm
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