have you ever failed to come up with a story?

readerum2 wrote: This happened to me in the first round of the SSC earlier this year. It wasn't so much that I was struggling with writer's block, but that the whole thing was ill-timed with the birth of my daughter only a month before.  There just wasn't time and I was too exhausted every night to try and bang something out (if I recall correctly, I wasn't loving the genre I pulled either), so I took a forfeit (and stayed in my wife's good graces). That said, my daughter is 7 months old now and I did manage to submit something for FF R1 last weekend, so maybe this is do-able now.

Crystal Highlands wrote: I got thriller too and I also had an idea that was too big for 1000 words.  I got wise advice that thrillers should be in the moment, to focus on the present and what is happening right now. That advice helped me pare down my idea, though I still struggled with amp'ing up the action. I don't read thriller books or watch thriller movies and focusing on action isn't my interest, but giving it a go was a good assignment, and I think I could handle a thriller better next time. So, I'm kind of proud of that progress. My initial instinct was to go with a humorous thriller (thinking of a character Melissa McCartney would play), but I backed off. I regret holding back as I think my story would be much better if it were funny. Snipped

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.

Edited by orion323 - 18 Jul 2020 at 12:36pm

What a bummer! I was totally afraid I would come up blank. This is my first time doing this, and I really struggled with the genre, and the location which was a sauna, and I felt like all the situations I came up with were so clichéd at first. I'm nervous about the next assignment because I found it very difficult to write honestly (?) organically (?) -not sure what the right word is- with preassigned genre and location. I found it reassuring to think that so many people around the world were all dealing with the same 48 hours of pressure. It's bee inspiring to read the stories posted. I'm sure you'll be back in the game with the next prompt and I look forward to reading it!