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Hidden nuggets in your story

Printed From: NYC Midnight : Creative Writing & Screenwriting
Category: GENERAL DISCUSSION
Forum Name: Creative Writing Corner
Forum Description: Discuss NYC Midnight Creative Writing Competitions or Creative Writing in general.
URL: https://forums.nycmidnight.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=22976
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Topic: Hidden nuggets in your story
Posted By: JanetM
Subject: Hidden nuggets in your story
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2019 at 4:45pm
Just wondering if anyone wanted to share any hidden nuggets in their story that they are afraid the judges might miss.

It's an often discussed thing in the forum: the fear that the judges will miss any subtle (or not so subtle) details or "read between the lines" story bits during their reading of hundreds of stories. I'm sure that there are some procrastinating judges that have to read a bunch of stories in a short timeframe. Hopefully not, but knowing some real life people...Wink

AND it's too bad, because that's usually something that makes a great story: dots of brilliance, that you, as a reader, connect later. Am I right?

I had an idea for my romance this flash fiction round that I'd have the couple, as their inside layers are revealed, would lose outside layers- of clothing. They went from scuba gear, to evening wear to swimsuits. It didn't work out since- flash fiction- I spent no time describing the clothing. LOL

Anyway, did you have any hidden nuggets in your story that you are afraid the judges might miss? Any foreshadowing, symbolism, etc. you want to see if we can find?


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Replies:
Posted By: steph9289
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2019 at 4:50pm
I have more of an Easter Egg in mine! A reference to a piece of literature that I put in there purposely. No one has pointed it out, so I'm not sure if anyone has even noticed it yet!

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#amrevising


Posted By: JanetM
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2019 at 4:54pm
Originally posted by steph9289 steph9289 wrote:

I have more of an Easter Egg in mine! A reference to a piece of literature that I put in there purposely. No one has pointed it out, so I'm not sure if anyone has even noticed it yet!

Ooooo! Yeah! I haven't read yours yet! I will read it tonight! Smile


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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2019 at 9:29pm
Great topic! Smile A few years ago, I wrote a story about a woman who was severely detached from reality. She observed everything from outside of herself. At the beginning of the story, the cops show up at the back of the funeral home, and she acknowledges their presence in her narration (she's the narrator). At the end of the story, the cops move in and arrest her husband, and she thinks, "Oh, the cops are here. When did they show up?" or something like that. Maybe it was, "Oh, the cops are here. Have they been here all along?" I don't quite recall. Anyway, one judge said, "Do you realize you had the cops at the beginning of the story? I couldn't tell if it was an oversight on your part or if the narrator was forgetful." (Hello. It was the entire psychological theme of my story.) And I was an honorable mention that round, so I was SO FREAKIN' FRUSTRATED at that judge's lack of comprehension that I wanted to scream. 

Then the moment passed, and I ate some ice cream instead. 

With my current story, I named one of my characters Denver because my favorite aunt has always lived in Denver (as well as Washington). I do a lot of stuff with names like that. 
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Posted By: JanetM
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 9:43am
Originally posted by JanetM JanetM wrote:

Originally posted by steph9289 steph9289 wrote:

I have more of an Easter Egg in mine! A reference to a piece of literature that I put in there purposely. No one has pointed it out, so I'm not sure if anyone has even noticed it yet!


I can't figure it out! I DID learn that Miss Martha brings up an American children's author, but I doubt she wrote anything about time travel unless Jesus was in the spaceship. OR maybe she didn't believe in dinosaurs and there's the funny part? #NancyDrew


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Posted By: JanetM
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 9:50am
Originally posted by Zelda Zelda wrote:

 Anyway, one judge said, "Do you realize you had the cops at the beginning of the story? I couldn't tell if it was an oversight on your part or if the narrator was forgetful." (Hello. It was the entire psychological theme of my story.) And I was an honorable mention that round, so I was SO FREAKIN' FRUSTRATED at that judge's lack of comprehension that I wanted to scream. 

Then the moment passed, and I ate some ice cream instead. 

With my current story, I named one of my characters Denver because my favorite aunt has always lived in Denver (as well as Washington). I do a lot of stuff with names like that.

That's so frustrating! I hate that when you have 2 judges loving the story and 1 that doesn't- but to completely miss the point of the story. 

Also crazy that they thought you were unaware of the thing that you WROTE in your story. LOL Do they not realize how many times you read your story over...and over? (or is that just me?)

Fun on the names! That's a personal hidden nugget. Clap


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Posted By: Dvmason
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 11:47am
Originally posted by Zelda Zelda wrote:


Then the moment passed, and I ate some ice cream instead. 

With my current story, I named one of my characters Denver because my favorite aunt has always lived in Denver (as well as Washington). I do a lot of stuff with names like that.

Ice cream is also my go to, just reading your story was so frustrating though I felt like I needed some! 

I’m always doing little inside jokes with my names too. My MC is a nod to Greek mythology based on her personal “gifts” that a few readers did point out which was great. Also the supporting characters name is “Pierce” which is a bit of a pun (also, sounds like a good name for a jerk). 

Once I had political satire and skateboard as my object and a brewery as my location. I had the skateboard be the presentation for a beer sampler (usually called a “flight”, here just called a “skate”). The little beers were set into the board and the drinker could move it a little to the left or a little to the right, but it wouldn’t change much. The whole story was a metaphor for the political system (you could select two beers for the flight, named basically red or blue, but at the end you follow the bartender back and they come from the same kegs). The skateboard metaphor was totally lost on judges and compatriots, but now that I’m explaining it again, that isn’t really surprising. There was a lot going on. 

Once I had a prompt for suspense, brainwashing and gem stone collectors and did a retelling of the Snow White story where Snow (here named “Nieva” Spanish for “snow”) was brainwashing her 7 roommates to give her gems. One judge had absolutely no idea and I got some complaints about how weird the name was (it’s fairly popular downsouth/ in latinx community).


Anyway, GREAT THREAD! Most of my nuggets are entirely for myself. But I can’t tell you the joy that it brings when one is found and my overthinking is -for once- celebrated






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Suspense [Adventure/ Fantasy]


Posted By: mhelgens
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 12:35pm
I wouldn’t call this a hidden nugget because I thought it was obvious, but a couple years ago I wrote a ghost story about a little girl who died in the Holocaust. At the end, there was a scene in the Holocaust museum that featured the huge pile of victims’ shoes that they have on display there. The little girl’s shoe buckle was also a sort of talisman for the main character throughout the whole story, and he found that shoe buckle in the pile of shoes at the end, revealing the child’s past for the first time. So I titled my story The Soles That Survive, and so many people on the forums complimented my word play with the reference to the shoes. But one of my judges thought it was just a typo and proceeded to explain to me the difference between “souls” and “soles.” I got an honorable mention that round. If only I’d have played it safer and abandoned the word puns, maybe I would have placed.... jk there was plenty wrong with that story, but that was still incredibly frustrating. 

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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 4:31pm
To Steph: I wanna find it! I'm on it! I'll tab over there in a minute. Smile

To JanetM: Ooh, there's a term for it? Awesome! Personal hidden nugget!! Yeah, I do a lot of those with names, for some reason! 

To Dvmason: I love "Pierce" as a double entendre (is that the term?). Very nice! And, you've just summed up one of my biggest fears of being assigned political satire--no one getting your satire. How frustrating! Your premise for that one seems brilliant to me! And I think Nieva is a gorgeous name! When I took Spanish, the teacher asked us to choose a Spanish name for ourselves on the first day of class. She gave us a list of possible names. I had a classmate named Hope who chose to be called Esperanza, which wasn't on the list, but it's Spanish for "hope". I always thought that was brilliant, and I like how you hid meaning in the translation of Nieva! 

To mhelgens: Oh, no, tell me the judges didn't react that way. You're got to be kidding me. I feel your pain. 
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Posted By: Alex Grey
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 5:43pm
I like to use foreign words for names; in SSC one of my characters, a radiant supermodel, was called "Susulu" which means "Shine" in Samoan.

I love using Google translate to generate names but I have to resist the temptation to explain myself in the text (unless it's relevant to the plot) because no-one likes a smart alec! :-)


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Posted By: JanetM
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 6:02pm
Originally posted by Alex Grey Alex Grey wrote:

I like to use foreign words for names; in SSC one of my characters, a radiant supermodel, was called "Susulu" which means "Shine" in Samoan.

I love using Google translate to generate names but I have to resist the temptation to explain myself in the text (unless it's relevant to the plot) because no-one likes a smart alec! :-)

BUT everyone enjoys a smart Alex!

I did the name thing in my residential school story, but I had the character mention the meaning. ("sister" which was also relevant to the story since the brother died.)



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Posted By: OnyxLily
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 6:34pm
Not a hidden nugget, but my object prompt was an ethernet cable, and I never mention the word "ethernet". I hope it's obvious from the story that that's what it is, but I'm a little worried about getting pinged for it!


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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 6:36pm
Originally posted by OnyxLily OnyxLily wrote:

Not a hidden nugget, but my object prompt was an ethernet cable, and I never mention the word "ethernet". I hope it's obvious from the story that that's what it is, but I'm a little worried about getting pinged for it!

Oh my! No worries there, I definitely realized it was an ethernet cable. Even within the confines of the story, the characters might not have known that exact term, so if you get points taken off, that would be really upsetting!! Shocked
 
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 6:40pm
Also, the rules say the item needs to appear in the story, but not that the item has to be specifically labeled as whatever it is. Smile
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Posted By: Random
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 7:02pm
My favorite book of all time is Silverlock.  The ability of John Meyers Meyers to pack so much into a small space is worthy of veneration; he is the apotheosis of layering a story in a story, and my feeble attempts at replication of his awesomeness is hardly worth mention.

That doesn't mean my stories aren't dripping with obscure references to other things.  I don't even bother to list them, and honestly don't expect anyone else to get most of it.


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Posted By: OnyxLily
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2019 at 7:23pm
Originally posted by Zelda Zelda wrote:

Originally posted by OnyxLily OnyxLily wrote:

Not a hidden nugget, but my object prompt was an ethernet cable, and I never mention the word "ethernet". I hope it's obvious from the story that that's what it is, but I'm a little worried about getting pinged for it!

Oh my! No worries there, I definitely realized it was an ethernet cable. Even within the confines of the story, the characters might not have known that exact term, so if you get points taken off, that would be really upsetting!! Shocked


Thanks - hopefully you're right! :)  
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Posted By: cat_astrophe
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2019 at 10:00am
I love making nuggets out of names! I did that with mine semi-intentionally – the main character has a familiar whose shape is never quite described outright (there were more descriptions originally that made it more clear what he was, but were then cut for the sake of the word limit) but his name, Dandy, is a play on the kind of animal he is. 

I didn't want to say outright what he was for fear of it sounding too juvenile and incongruent with the tone of the rest of the piece, but the wordplay makes me smile and I think a couple of people have picked up on it! No big deal if the judges don't, it's mostly headcanon/backstory for the larger undertaking if I ever decide to do it. 


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Posted By: manifestlynot
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2019 at 10:27am
I don’t think I had any nuggets in my most recent flash; I like to make romances as broad as possible, haha. I did have a name nugget in a polisat from last year in which two women named Isabella and Victoria gab in a nail salon, ignoring the political apocalypse around them. Nobody (including the judges) got why I used such long and fancy names but I went the European imperialism route as another (lost) layer to the polisat, lol. I’ve been polishing it for publication and wondering if I should just lose the names.

In my screenplay for the finals round this year I spent way too long researching Swahili names for my gorillas that would accurately describe their personality traits. It didn’t end up adding anything to the story but the results were good!


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Posted By: Chuzo
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2019 at 11:17pm
My plot is about entering in other stories so I won't say that they are nuggets, more full ingots stolen from a strongbox. I did put a very particular (and very disgusting) reference to a part of a book from Chuck Palahniuk that nobody pointed out specifically, although I guess that not everybody got so impressed by that detail as me. 

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Posted By: JanetM
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2019 at 9:43am
Originally posted by manifestlynot manifestlynot wrote:

I don’t think I had any nuggets in my most recent flash; I like to make romances as broad as possible, haha. I did have a name nugget in a polisat from last year in which two women named Isabella and Victoria gab in a nail salon, ignoring the political apocalypse around them. Nobody (including the judges) got why I used such long and fancy names but I went the European imperialism route as another (lost) layer to the polisat, lol. I’ve been polishing it for publication and wondering if I should just lose the names.

In my screenplay for the finals round this year I spent way too long researching Swahili names for my gorillas that would accurately describe their personality traits. It didn’t end up adding anything to the story but the results were good!
Your political satire sounds awesome and the names appropriate, imho. Good luck with the submitting!

LOL on the gorillas names, but something like that can set the story apart. right? I know all to well the rabibit hole of research though. AND with flash so much gets cut out anyway- but it's hard to stop. I now know way too much about the sea urchin! 


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Posted By: Viktrune
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2019 at 11:16am
For me, the use of the Caldwell Dragon comes from an actual report in the early American military where one general reported that he and his troops encountered a dragon in the Appalachians that drove his troops away and seemed to protect the Natives. 

There's only one historical report about it, but I felt it was just too horribly interesting not to throw into a story. 

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Posted By: td333777
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2019 at 12:48pm
I wrote a historical fiction flash piece two years ago in round one.  I set the story in 1950’s Argentina, and the main thrust of the story is that the main character is a concentration camp survivor and he’s walking to synagogue with his little daughter.  What you don’t know until the end is that he’s planted a bomb in the doorway of his neighbor’s house, because he knows the guy is a Nazi in hiding.  The little girl refers to the neighbor as “Mr. Klement.”  That’s actually the name Adolph Eichmann used while hiding in Argentina.  In real life, he was not exploded by a vengeful neighbor.  Eventually, the Israelis kidnapped him and took him back to Israel to face justice.  I thought it would be cool to use his real pseudonym, just to see if anyone would know, or look it up.  Believe it or not, one of the judges did!  Totally made my week when I read the critique.

TD


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Posted By: steph9289
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2019 at 1:12pm
Originally posted by Chuzo Chuzo wrote:

My plot is about entering in other stories so I won't say that they are nuggets, more full ingots stolen from a strongbox. I did put a very particular (and very disgusting) reference to a part of a book from Chuck Palahniuk that nobody pointed out specifically, although I guess that not everybody got so impressed by that detail as me. 

Oooh...I love Chuck Palahniuk! I will definitely be looking out for the reference when I read yours!


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#amrevising


Posted By: LindaNZ
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2019 at 5:44am
Originally posted by cat_astrophe cat_astrophe wrote:

I love making nuggets out of names! I did that with mine semi-intentionally – the main character has a familiar whose shape is never quite described outright (there were more descriptions originally that made it more clear what he was, but were then cut for the sake of the word limit) but his name, Dandy, is a play on the kind of animal he is. 

I didn't want to say outright what he was for fear of it sounding too juvenile and incongruent with the tone of the rest of the piece, but the wordplay makes me smile and I think a couple of people have picked up on it! No big deal if the judges don't, it's mostly headcanon/backstory for the larger undertaking if I ever decide to do it. 

I am embarrassed by how long it took me to work this out! Very cute nugget! 


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Posted By: ChillyToez
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2019 at 9:51pm
I didn't think that I had a "trick" nugget in my piece, but there seems to be a 50/50 understanding on who/what one of my characters is... 

Of course whenever I think something is clear, folks seem to flounder. Then I overcompensate and hammer them on the head until they have a literary concussion. 


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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2019 at 10:09pm
Originally posted by ChillyToez ChillyToez wrote:

I didn't think that I had a "trick" nugget in my piece, but there seems to be a 50/50 understanding on who/what one of my characters is... 

Of course whenever I think something is clear, folks seem to flounder. Then I overcompensate and hammer them on the head until they have a literary concussion. 

Oh my gosh. You have no idea how much I can relate to that dilemma. Especially with the judges. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. They might say, "Don't tell me the character's feeling a certain way; show me." So then you go back and take out the description you gave and have the character engage in a movement or mannerism, right? And then the judges have no clue whatsoever how your character was feeling, because almost any movement or mannerism can be openly interpreted. I'm sad to here this is also a Spheniscidae issue!! Shocked
 
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Posted By: Random
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2019 at 10:17pm
Originally posted by ChillyToez ChillyToez wrote:

I didn't think that I had a "trick" nugget in my piece, but there seems to be a 50/50 understanding on who/what one of my characters is... 

Of course whenever I think something is clear, folks seem to flounder. Then I overcompensate and hammer them on the head until they have a literary concussion. 


This explains everything.  By the time the judges get to my story they're concussed...


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This sig intentionally blank


Posted By: AineKnees
Date Posted: 04 Aug 2019 at 10:22am
I wouldn't really call it a hidden nugget but I do have a concern that the judges or some of them might think I've gone TOO dark with the end of my story, and not realise that in my research I found out that that exact thing did happen (maybe not involving a bearskin rug! But a woman in the siege of Leningrad was charged with doing the exact same thing my MC does at the end of the story).  I can imagine the judges reading it and thinking "Did we really need to go there?" 
What I found out in my research was yes, I do need to go there. But I hoked and poked when I was researching and of course the judges aren't going to have time to do that.
I also think they just might go "Eeeeww!" - I put a trigger warning on the forum (once I realised you could!) but the judges won't have that. But I guess at this stage they're well used to it! 



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https://tinyurl.com/s4dcyfus" rel="nofollow - C1 G110 DON'T EVER LEAVE ME


Posted By: dennymike
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 2:25pm
I don't know that I would consider it a nugget or anything special really. My genre was fairy tale and fairy tales tend to have a lesson, but when I was writing it I had absolutely no clear idea of a particular message. I didn't even think about having a message until I started reading some of the responses I was getting. Everyone who commented on the message seemed to take something different away from it. So I'm curious to see what message, if any, the judges take from it. 




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https://tinyurl.com/r3e4yhk" rel="nofollow - FFC 2019 R1 https://tinyurl.com/uaes2hh" rel="nofollow - FFC 2019 R2 https://tinyurl.com/t7xxrym" rel="nofollow - FFC 2019 R3


Posted By: hirundonova
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 3:05pm
What a great idea for a topic! I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s answers (though not too happy with the theme of judges overlooking these details!).

In my story, one of the characters notices that a hanging carcass the MC assumes is a deer has its legs pointing the wrong way- which is a hint that the carcass is human (deer have really high ‘ankles’ so their legs bend the other way). Not sure if it’s too subtle!


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https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic44939_post470853.html#470853" rel="nofollow - The last living phoenix . Feedback welcome & review back


Posted By: stephenmatlock
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 4:00pm
For most of my stories, the names I give characters are very carefully chosen.

For my SSC about a ghost in a mortuary, all the characters' names reveal their place in the estimation of the ghost.


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



Posted By: ChillyToez
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 4:04pm
Originally posted by stephenmatlock stephenmatlock wrote:

For most of my stories, the names I give characters are very carefully chosen.

For my SSC about a ghost in a mortuary, all the characters' names reveal their place in the estimation of the ghost.

Neat! Both of the men who got names in my story had very specific ones this round which should have revealed their true nature. <fingers crossed>

I forgot until you mentioned it. Ah, the importance of a well placed name! Big smile


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https://shorturl.at/agG67" rel="nofollow - Micro 250 C1


Posted By: MikeBham
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2019 at 5:26pm
I had a little thing from my own childhood, based on a misunderstanding of "Rec" (as an abbreviation of Recreation) and "Wreck".

Sadly, in the vicious word-cull I had to lose the explanation...but left the "Wreck" in the story.

Oops!


Posted By: JeanlucPIc
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2019 at 8:09am
In my story, the killer uses the line "You seem a decent person. I hate to kill you" before he kills his victims. It is a reference to the exchange in the movie The Princess Bride: Inigo Montoya: "You seem decent fellow. I hate to kill you". The Man in Black: "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die". 

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FF20 2, Group 125 https://tinyurl.com/5xc4fu4a" rel="nofollow - The Devil and Pidot ne Mip
FF20 1 The Case of the Pilfered Plate (13pts)


Posted By: fioOxf
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2019 at 9:00am
I pretty much always choose names that are a nod at some aspect of the story, if the characters have names, like Cora and Offenbach in An Apple, but it's not much of a nugget to call the MC of a horror story Edgar - thou gh the judges will almost certainly miss that (and why shouldn't they). More 'nougat' than 'nugget' in this particular story. But I have a bit of a history of judges missing stuff, like thinking my rat MCs last year were deer(referred to as does once and RATS in capitals two or three times, or deciding that one of my MCs could be cut in a ghost love story, which would have left the other MC with no-one to fall in love with and render the entire plot and ending impossible. As for my current story, there are both nuggets and underdeveloped things so the scope is wide, but I do hope they at least get the drift of it. 

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http://tinyurl.com/yawmb6cy" rel="nofollow - SSC R1 Out With the Broke and In with... (PolSat)
http://tinyurl.com/2hcv7m2d" rel="nofollow - Rhyming R2 Aging's a B... (FT)


Posted By: haole
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2019 at 10:13am
I thought it was pretty obvious that the sunrise in my story symbolized the start of a new chapter in the MC's life, but the few reviewers who read my story seemed only to obsess over misunderstanding the grammar difference between watching the "sun rise" and watching the "sunrise"




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Read my 1st Round 250-word story https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic50826_post535184.html" rel="nofollow - Emergency Meeting


Posted By: NerdyDan
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2019 at 11:21am
I was trying to think of some hidden nugget to throw in. Unfortunately, in this case that wasn't possible. I had so much other things I wanted to put in. I think I did have something in the initial draft. However, I cut 500 words from this story to make it fit. 

In a recent writing class, I did have a person who was stranded in a basement and that person said something similar to the Cask of Amontillado. 


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https://bit.ly/3orGP37" rel="nofollow - On The Ropes GR98 R1 MFC



Posted By: tcFlash
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2019 at 12:24am
I think this one is getting passed over quite often. Either that, or it's too explicit for many to respond to. I just thought it was funny when I thought of it.

  • Lenny tidied up the work area. “So, you got any more tenants you’re tracking?” 


    “The girl in 110 has a thing for lingerie, and 129 has gotten several shipments from a company called Vul-vavoom.”


    “What kind of company is that?”


    “Think vibrators.”


    “Yeah, I got one of those for my neck. It’s great.”




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https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic51934_post550456.html#550456" rel="nofollow - SS1 https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic52717_post560038.html#560038" rel="nofollow - SS2


Posted By: Dvmason
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 1:15pm
Originally posted by Viktrune Viktrune wrote:

For me, the use of the Caldwell Dragon comes from an actual report in the early American military where one general reported that he and his troops encountered a dragon in the Appalachians that drove his troops away and seemed to protect the Natives. 

There's only one historical report about it, but I felt it was just too horribly interesting not to throw into a story. 

I can’t find this story anywhere- inquiring minds must know, where can I read this report?

Thanks!
D


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H213 https://tinyurl.com/t4t4hbam" rel="nofollow - "In Between & Through"
Suspense [Adventure/ Fantasy]


Posted By: sidle_by
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 1:30pm
ohhh man i love little nuggets! i think pretty much every nyc piece i've ever written has been a sort of love letter from me to something, if you just know where to look LOL most of my characters are named for/from something, like a book or game or show, and i've been known to use the same name several times across pieces for very different characters. in SSC, i had a bunch of characters named for npcs in Dragon Age LOL

it's never clever, but you can always pinpoint what i was doing in my free time by the names/themes in my pieces!! 


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FF23 Rd1 - https://tinyurl.com/4wcy82d5" rel="nofollow - Special Frame Diner


Posted By: GabriellaMargarita
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 1:45pm
I added a lot of hidden nuggets in my FFC2019 Challenge 1 story. But I didn't expect the judges to pick up on them, they were more there for me!

My main character was named after my great-grandmother, and the year the story was set in is the same year my great-grandmother was born. I also had the 3 main characters wearing colours that symbolised Portugal's flag/nationhood (where the story was set). MC was wearing blue, which used to be the main colour of the Portuguese flag when it was still a monarchy. Her mother and step-father wore green and red, respectively, symbolising the new colours of the Portuguese flag coming together. MC was also born in the year that the Portuguese monarchy ended! 

Link in signature if anyone wants to read :)


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http://tinyurl.com/4ean7ywk" rel="nofollow - 250 MF R2
https://tinyurl.com/2p8c5nte" rel="nofollow - All Writing


Posted By: Charlie272
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 2:00pm
Days before I ended up getting assigned Spy in challenge 2, I learned that James Bond was named after the author of a book on birdwatching.
So when I wrote my story, I named all my characters after actual ornithologists.  No one will get it but I was cracking myself up.


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Flash '23 Finals: https://tinyurl.com/bdcy3fht" rel="nofollow - Delicate Silk, Woven Strands
Short Screenplay '22 Finals: https://tinyurl.com/jjd225ef" rel="nofollow - Without Music


Posted By: jdadams1
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 3:09pm
This isn’t really a “hidden” nugget since it is in the title of my story, but I am concerned that some judges may not know what a “prom-posal” is. I do not think these existed when I was in high school, and I never really define what they are in my story. (I show an example, but do not define.)

I’m hoping since it is in the title, any judge who does not know what it is will cautiously dive in with open ears, as opposed to stumbling onto the term mid-story and getting tripped up.


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RS Final: https://bit.ly/496nriC" rel="nofollow - Waves by the Sea
SS 1: https://bit.ly/48L11Dj" rel="nofollow - I Am a Murderess. But I Am Also a Panda.


Posted By: Maddoris
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 3:26pm
In Challenge 1, my fairy tale was loosely inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, but a 19th century French version where the girl was named Blanchette and nicknamed Little Goldenhood because of the golden cloak that her grandmother (a witch) gave her and which had magical powers. FYI - In the end, Blachette and Granny kill the wolf and make a nice fur coat out of him. Lady Power!

So I called the girl in my story Blanchette, made her grandmother a witch, and had her wearing an antique golden-coloured, hooded raincoat given to her by the grandmother.  But several of my betas felt that the raincoat should be red and I changed it at the 11th hour.  Still thinking of changing it back.


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https://bit.ly/2TlyT4p" rel="nofollow - FF C3 Hang Tight for Treasure


Posted By: louciferish
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 3:27pm
My perspective character for round two is gay, and one of the side characters is his ex-boyfriend. I didn't conceive of the characters that way, but as I was writing, I found myself going in that direction and ran with it.

This nugget isn't exactly hidden anymore, though. When I put my draft through beta readers, most of my friends (who are, by and large, LGBT themselves) noticed the detail and remarked on it. However, when I sent it to beta volunteers I don't know personally, they expressed confusion over that aspect or missed it entirely. 

I had to decide if I wanted to keep it subtle or make it so blatant that no reader could possibly miss it, and I decided to go blatant. The story now specifically uses the word boyfriend as well as gendering the characters earlier so no one will mistake my characters for straight. ;)


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FF19, R1, Everybody Wants to Rule the World (12pts)
R2, Nothing Good (10 pts)
R3, https://bit.ly/32Hx7go" rel="nofollow - Painless


Posted By: shanan187
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 3:59pm
This round, I wrote a historical fiction piece about something that's not a prominent historical event... in fact, the only people it really mattered to were the 20 people involved. If at least one judge doesn't try to DQ me for "not choosing a true event from history" I'll be shocked. LOL

I did try to avoid that possibility through a carefully worded synopsis. Here's hoping! 


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https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic51806_post550163.html#550163" rel="nofollow - SSC R1 G53 - Avalanche


Posted By: Littledaylight
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 5:17pm
Originally posted by shanan187 shanan187 wrote:

This round, I wrote a historical fiction piece about something that's not a prominent historical event... in fact, the only people it really mattered to were the 20 people involved. If at least one judge doesn't try to DQ me for "not choosing a true event from history" I'll be shocked. LOL

I did try to avoid that possibility through a carefully worded synopsis. Here's hoping! 

I have a similar fear... While mine is based on an actual historical event, it is a little-known one and I doubt the judges have heard of it. Anyone here heard of the dancing plague of 1518? 


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Littledaylight
Round 1 Microfiction
https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic23907_post302843.html#302843


Posted By: LyndaD
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 6:19pm
Originally posted by Littledaylight Littledaylight wrote:

Originally posted by shanan187 shanan187 wrote:

This round, I wrote a historical fiction piece about something that's not a prominent historical event... in fact, the only people it really mattered to were the 20 people involved. If at least one judge doesn't try to DQ me for "not choosing a true event from history" I'll be shocked. LOL

I did try to avoid that possibility through a carefully worded synopsis. Here's hoping! 

I have a similar fear... While mine is based on an actual historical event, it is a little-known one and I doubt the judges have heard of it. Anyone here heard of the dancing plague of 1518? 

The Tarantella?


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https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic57721_post622417.html#622417" rel="nofollow - SS R1 First Contact (romance)



Posted By: woodpijn
Date Posted: 24 Sep 2019 at 6:53am
@mhelgens

So I titled my story The Soles That Survive, and so many people on the forums complimented my word play with the reference to the shoes. But one of my judges thought it was just a typo and proceeded to explain to me the difference between “souls” and “soles.” 

Argh, how incredibly frustrating!
That's quite discouraging to read, as a newbie to this competition.
(note to self: remember to spoonfeed the judges and spell things out for them clearly)


Posted By: Puckerby
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2019 at 1:55pm
I spent a lot of time coming up with the perfect name for my toy car character (it's Mother in Greek) which basically gives away my whole plot. No one will ever notice but me but those nuggets are always just for my own enjoyment. And for me to tell my husband about so he can tell me how clever I am (as contractually obligated as per our marriage vows.)

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Posted By: sootfoot5
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2019 at 2:17pm
I usually put something just to please me in every story that I write. I thought the one this round was obvious, but no one has mentioned it. Don’t feel obligated to read my story to find out because I may not return reviews promptly until after Oct 2. I’m caught up now so I might, but don’t know for sure. But PM me if you glance over the story and just want to know. Maybe if you know something is there, you will find it and not just read over it. 

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https://shorturl.at/frKM9" rel="nofollow - The Newbie


Posted By: justmel
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2019 at 8:57pm
Originally posted by woodpijn woodpijn wrote:

@mhelgens

So I titled my story The Soles That Survive, and so many people on the forums complimented my word play with the reference to the shoes. But one of my judges thought it was just a typo and proceeded to explain to me the difference between “souls” and “soles.” 

Argh, how incredibly frustrating!
That's quite discouraging to read, as a newbie to this competition.
(note to self: remember to spoonfeed the judges and spell things out for them clearly)
 
I had a similar experience one year in R1 of the SSC.  My character prompt was "housekeeper," and I titled the story The House Keeper (two words) because at the end of it, the housekeeper winds up . . . KEEPING THE HOUSE (as in, its owners die, and she inherits it).
 
The judges hated it--it went right over their heads.  My lack of originality was a major point in their feedback.  Sigh.


Posted By: mhelgens
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2019 at 9:01pm
Originally posted by justmel justmel wrote:

Originally posted by woodpijn woodpijn wrote:

@mhelgens

So I titled my story The Soles That Survive, and so many people on the forums complimented my word play with the reference to the shoes. But one of my judges thought it was just a typo and proceeded to explain to me the difference between “souls” and “soles.” 

Argh, how incredibly frustrating!
That's quite discouraging to read, as a newbie to this competition.
(note to self: remember to spoonfeed the judges and spell things out for them clearly)
 
I had a similar experience one year in R1 of the SSC.  My character prompt was "housekeeper," and I titled the story The House Keeper (two words) because at the end of it, the housekeeper winds up . . . KEEPING THE HOUSE (as in, its owners die, and she inherits it).
 
The judges hated it--it went right over their heads.  My lack of originality was a major point in their feedback.  Sigh.

Clever! My title this time might not work for them either. It’s called “Working My Way Back to You” which makes sense but seems unoriginal if you don’t recognize it as the title of a song by The Four Seasons, who play a role in the story. I’m sure nobody will catch it, but I’m hopeful they don’t choose to hate on my title too hard. I should have learned my lesson. Bummer.


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Read my R1 Story: LINK= https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic51959_post550543.html#550543


Posted By: Helou
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2019 at 1:45am
The title of my second round story 'The Grapevine' is meant to represent a few things: a vine that grows on the house in the story, the idea that the characters all find out about each other's vices and perpetuate them (like hearing rumours on a grapevine), and also a reference to the MC's alcoholism, because wine comes from grapes which grow on a vine. Obviously.

In hindsight I don't think it's nearly as clever or easy to understand as I did when I came up with it. At the time I was so excited thinking I'd come up with the perfect name, but now so many better ideas come to mind - oh well! Beer

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FF Finals(!): https://tinyurl.com/uouqqsz" rel="nofollow - Operation Pareidolia
CH3: https://tinyurl.com/yx8b2bz3" rel="nofollow - Man's Best Friend (Sci Fi)



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