There is always one, so I figured I'd just start it so I can go play chess with my wife...

I know where, when, what, and kind of who.  Being a little self-aggrandizing like I am it's set in the same universe as the really big stories that have consumed me for the last couple years, but in the future.

Which means I can use this as the basis for another chapter in that future history, with different characters.

Opening paragraph is written, probably not done.  Still need an outline, but I know where it's going, which means likely a first draft later tonight (after chess) or tomorrow.  Edit next week.  Turn in on Sunday, hate myself on Monday.

Better than last year, in other words.

I wrote 700 words today but it feels a bit like I’m tiptoeing around the story as i write. Like if I type too loudly the idea will get scared and run away. I’m just hoping something will click and I’ll suddenly be inspired. I know how it begins and ends, but there’s a gigantic hole in the middle of my story. I have a feeling that’s where the good stuff is hiding!

But I can't write just yet. The Writers Weekly one day contest is on, and I have to write for that one first!

Oof! Those two are pretty incongruous! But I can’t wait to see how it all comes together  What is your subject?

Why is it that the best ideas come in the middle of the night? 😂 Glad to hear you found something that works! And good luck on your other writing contest!

Tomato story... I'm curious. Lol Do you still have the link?

Those are tough - I can't wait to see what you do!

But - I never get anything done the first day of this one. I also never do well in this one. I'm sure those two are unrelated 

I have an idea and have written a couple hundred words.

Time to research.

From the inimitable @zoelou

@Reasonably_Crazy placed first with a flash spy story about an Amish man who discovers a secret: https://forums.nycmidnight.com/ch2-gr38-the-lords-bounty_topic35804_page1.html" rel="nofollow - https://forums.nycmidnight.com/ch2-gr38-the-lords-bounty_topic35804_page1.html . Goodbye James Bond - there's no crazy spy gadgets or government intrigue here.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, and for your loss. I would happily take an Irish setter (might be my favorite breed, used to have one) but at 13 he might not be up to traveling to the US and learning a new language. Wishing him (her?) the best new furever home.

Is there any chance you could write your story in your friend's memory? 

Isn't the deadline on Saturday (11:59 pm NYC time) for this one? Not to wreck your plans, but . . . 

Oh, sweet!  That means I can kick the self-loathing into high gear a day early!

It also means Sunday is free to do other things.

Regurgitated the ideas into a slop of a partial draft. 

I think my plot is solid, but somehow the story itself is looking pretty blah. I think my main character could use a personality injection.

At 2 am I wrote the first two sentences in an insomnia-induced fever dream. At noon I re-read what I wrote and somehow realized the who and what of the story. The where is half-formed (I at least have the vague shape of the two settings), and the how and why are alluding me. I need to do some in-depth research on some specific mythologies and rituals, and then tomorrow night I'm going to start writing the story in earnest. 

Sorry, forgot to hit quote. This was for SumFemina. 

Yay!!! Thanks for this lovely camaraderie!!

Okay, so this is going to be a 2,500.0 word slice of a full on novel.  I like it so much it's the excuse needed to get off my butt and finish the current project.

Writing in earnest starts tomorrow, because I'm psyched.  That means it's going to crash and burn, of course.  Sentence fragments and stray letters and pieces of characters everywhere.  It won't be pretty.

And Nod, notice I still double space my sentences.  They might be kerned, but they're still double spaced.

booklover13 wrote: I know absolutely nothing. But I guess I can only go up from there.

Don't let that discourage you.  Nothing today isn't anything to stress over.  Put it in the back of your head and mull on it.  Free association.  Imagination unleashed and wandering.

You'll find it.

But I have spent the first 24 hours of this competition brainstorming like crazy. Word association definitely helps for me. I think I have a semi-decent concept sketched out in my head. Now I just have to start the actual writing part! 

Agreed. If it helps, last time I did this competition, I spent the first three days writing my first draft. I had about 1300 words. Then on Day 4 I got hit with a much better idea, and decided to take the gamble and start over from scratch. I then finished my story on Day 7 and handed it in early on Day 8, ahead of time. And I made it through to Round 2. 

So don't give up. You still have just under 7 more days - you can do this! 

I have a vague idea I’ll start hammering out and hope it fits the niche. Not ever having read any or watched any…

Well, it’ll be creative at least. 

Thank you all for your responses. They've been very helpful in keeping me motivated. 

Entanglement, which I quite like! It's strange because I can imagine how it would fit into a fantasy story, and I can easily fit it together with skiing, but all three.... oofta.

I'm finally forcing some words out, so I will have something to show for it! I usually post my stories, so you'll be able to check it out!

My advice to myself at the moment is "You can edit a bad story but you can't edit a blank page."

booklover13 wrote: I know absolutely nothing. But I guess I can only go up from there.

Nothing is the best place to start! Now all you have to write is a bad story, then edit it into a good one!

I had an idea that was going to end up as long as war and peace.

Talked it over with two of my long-time beta readers and have

shortened it up plot wise, now just have to set up the plot....

The trouble I have (with this and with writing in general) is that I always see the plot holes when I'm outlining, so none of my ideas seem worth writing. Same thing here, neither idea seems like it will work.

I think I just need to pick one, try to write it and see what happens.

For reassurance, do you think it matters if I spend a bit of time setting things up before the action/adventure begins? Does it have to be full octane from the get-go?

Is this the one where it was like... they were all in a refrigerator and trying to protect the oldest thing in the fridge, somehow? It was a very creative use of prompts. I wanted to read through all of them last year while waiting on the first round results (only got about a third of the way through, but anyway...)

Bahaha maybe we need a master list of tomato stories? That fridge one sounds hilarious! I think I remember @WingardiumLeviosa writing a funny one about a dog trying to reach tomato soup a while back too? Something about tomatoes must get those creative juices flowing.

I think the one @SumFemina is talking about is one I suggested earlier - The Lord’s Bounty by @Reasonably_Crazy. It’s about an Amish man who discovers a tomato-y plot, and is a brilliant and unconventional spy story. :)

The plot holes, lol. That is what make my plots the size for war and peace.

As someone who has gotten AA a few times, I don't think there is any definite choice here. You could do either. The adventure starts the moment you start the story and the action is what and when you decide to write it. I have been told I had too much action that it felt like a list (in one of my favorites I might add) so there is that caution. Have fun! Don't over think it!

Yep I did repost the link on page 2 of this thread...

“You can edit a bad story but you can’t edit a blank page” That’s good! Something I definitely needed to hear.

Suspense/paternity test/haberdasher.

The handsome young haberdasher noticed there was always a dark car with tinted windows near his shop and home, but didn't think much about it.

He had no idea that young lady at the club was the local crime boss's daughter, and if that test comes back with the wrong answer...

Ugh. Sadly I am not in the EU or I would be happy to take a senior bereaved dog again. I had a best dog whose owners died close together and their daughter had JUST moved somewhere she couldn't keep their dogs (our equestrian forum found two of us willing to drive to get them from Kentucky. A rescue had actually rejected them because they were nine and fourteen so "too old" to get adopted.) Puff, the nine-year-old, even converted my friend's husband who went from being meh on us picking him up a night early so he had to stay at their apartment with me to trying to trade me three of their cats for the dog. Old dogs are very good dogs.

I also got nothing done for sad reasons, only here it was the pet. I was supposed to be one of the late arrival/event people at work since we had a club dinner, but my coworker who was supposed to be in the tasting room had to unexpectedly put down her cat and called off. So I went in for the regular shift though the event, which hey, 5+ extra hours plus tips I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but it meant I ran around feeding animals, throwing extra hay, turning on the all-day Dr. Pol shows and telling my dogs the vets will tell on them if they're bad (I have no idea if the dogs can recognize voices and realize that's THEIR vets on the TV but hey, if it works...) I had basically ZERO time to think. Though when I got home by the time I got to bed around midnight I did go rooting through audible for free horror short story collections to try and come up with something inspiring. (So of course I'm listening to Morbid instead and it's mostly true crime.)

OK, I’m salty that you came up with that so fast. 

Thanks.

I'm in California for a wedding, and I will get nothing done until I return to Washington tomorrow.

But I have the general idea sketched out: Political Satire | Red Tape | A Golfer

The sky is not blue in my world.

I did have to look 'salty' up.  Learned something today, which makes it a good day.

Yesterday I wrote a completely unrelated bit of flash. Just because. 

Today went to the beach. It’s Chilly by the Sea, just like I like it, but freezing rain tomorrow so wanted to get a little salt air therapy before the rocks get slippery. 

I’ve literally given the story about 15 minutes of head space. So, I’m right on track. 

Edited to say that I'm stuck and indecisive. I have another contender that's reading almost like a comedy. But it's unique...I have 1600 words thus far.

And I have nearly 1500 words TOO MANY on og idea with no ending in sight. 

Hellllp. 

In the first 379 words I have one dead body and one explosion, which resulted in an unknown number of other dead bodies.  I'll have to put that in exposition eventually.  They all had red shirts on, so no loss.

Now I'm going to go clean saw blades, because it's mindless and I just found a way to add another Easter egg.  By the time I'm done with saw blades I should have at least one more explosion mapped in my head and well on my way to act two.

More dead bodies, more explosions.  Good stuff.

Then I'm going to look at pictures from our trip to MDI in 2022 and imagine myself on the ocean walk at Acadia to get my salt air therapy.  I miss salt air.

What is this 'grading day' you speak of? Sounds heavenly. #jealousELAteacher

And I have two kiddos, so that's saying something...

I love my concept, now it's about execution. Would love to have a rough draft done tonight, as I don't much time to write during the workweek.

Ah oh no; I feel like all teachers should get a grading day! In PG County, MD, the day after the end of the quarter is a professional/asynchronous day to give teachers more time to put grades in!

I say go for it when it comes to looking for sensitivity readers! What a great idea! I wish more people did that 

I don't think it's been done before but that doesn't mean it's not a good idea. You could put it in the notes when you add your name to the beta list, or just ask on here.

Oh and it’s pol sat so dry January is now definitely well and truly over.

Positively creative and happy writing vibes to you all 💫

I have a feeling it will end up quite moody and atmospheric if it goes the way I think it will.

The bad news: They are disconnected snippets of the story and I'm unlikely to string them together successfully with the >750 words I have left.

Looks like I'll be honing my chopping skills again this year...

Just finished my first draft. Still in the rough stages but you can always fix bad writing. Lol  Just wanted to get my ideas written down and onto paper. 

I have around 2350 words so can add more character depth or some more back story. I just sent it out to a few beta readers. Excited to see people's feedback. This is only my 2nd challenge and my first time doing beta, so am happy I can get some feedback this time around before submitting my final work. Good luck to everyone with their stories and prompts!

And my cat has realized I'm chained to my laptop and is distracting me with purrs, headbutts, and demands for pets and scritches.

There should be a forum post with a beta sign up sheet at some point soon, if not already created?

I am not quite at the beta stage with my story yet but will definitely sign up when I am and highly recommend being involved in the beta process if you can.

TheGlamWitch wrote: My struggle is with not only with genre (spy) but the subject (allergic). I'm just stick on how to incorporate that part.

Yeah, I get that.  Assigned to steal secrets from the Evil Bad Guy's lair and the scum sucking weasel has domestic long hair cats, to which you are deathly allergic. 

Hard to be James Bond when your eyes burn incessantly, are nearly swollen shut, and you can't stop sneezing.

I have political satire, too, (group 61) and haven't started writing, yet, although I have a few ideas brewing. You would think that since I watch/listen/read a lot about politics, it would be easier, but it isn't. We have a whole week to get something together for round 1.

You can do this! 

Good luck!

Sneezing and giving away hiding  spots!

OMG I would read the hell out of that based on this plot point 

I made the connection! I’m under 2500 words!  I’m running a fever and am now huddled under the electric blanket with the cat in attendance. 

This thread has the link to the beta sign-ups. 
 

After a false start on day one I have reconfigured my thoughts and cleaned my desktop.

TODAY, I get something done. Oops, there is still a spin widget out in the open.

1,606 words, and I'm writing both ends towards the middle, which I sometimes do in these contests.

Bonus, I got to do some research on 'pencil dress'.

Come on, it's a thriller.  I need a thrill somewhere!

If you've never worn a pencil dress yourself and you'd like to add a touch of realism, I can tell you they're difficult to walk in. You can't extend your leg very far because the circumference of the hem is small, so you have to take smaller steps. Very annoying if you're a strider like me.

If you have ever watched, "Married with Children," Peggy always wore one, and you could see how she walked, lol.

Exactly! 

Saw Romance and slammed the laptop shut.  Nope, no thank you!  do.not.want. Sigh heavily and remind myself, it could be worse- it could have been polstat. Open the laptop again look at the rest - a dog walker. Are you kidding me?  

"Meteoric".  WUT?!?  

Now I'm convinced the NYCM AdminCritters set the random prompt generator on sadistic mode (or possibly evil AF mode).   I avoid the laptop for several hours while my very much not romance brain tries to think romantically.  No go.  I stare at Pinterest boards for inspiration. 

And now it's Sunday, and I have space wizards in an apocalyptic setting, and only 200 words with nary a romantic one in the bunch.  Good times. 

Love your take on how the generate the prompts.... Too funny.

Space wizards need lovin too.

 hahahahahahahha.  Space wizards need lovin too.  I swear if I can find a way to work that line in there, I will!  ahahahahah.  Thanks for the smile!