You could say my project is the very antithesis of Nanowrimo. Instead of quantity, I'm going for brevity.
This year, instead of 50,000 words, I'm trying to write 100 stories, each story having only 100 words.
Yeah, it's only 10,000 words total, but completing each plotline takes a decent amount of mental working and reworking, and I don't allow myself officially count words until the story's word count is at exactly 100, so each one gets a fair dose of editing, too.
My rules are:
- There must be a beginning, middle, and end.
- There must be at least one character.
- 100 words, no more, no less.
Getting to the point, I'm here searching for prompts. Got a short little story idea you have nothing to do with, or that's distracting you from your novel? Maybe an event, anecdote, or vignette from today, or your past even, which affected you somehow? I'd be honored to hear 'em, perhaps write a hundred words about them.
(I guess I should add, if it matters to you, I hope these stories are published eventually.)
Here's an example one for you to chew on in case you're curious about their flavor. (it's the first one I wrote)
Poor Darrell. Always the outsider. On Z-day, he'd just ordered a liver & bratwurst sandwich from Lou's deli on 43rd street. "How can you eat that?" Lou always asked him. Just as Darrell was going to urge him to try it, he felt something nibbling on his collarbone.
Mankind was defeated and soon, Earth was populated with nothing except zombies and cries of "Braaaains!" But somehow, Darrell had never gotten a taste for human brain.
"Have you ever tried human liver?" he queried a fellow zombie, smacking his lips, adding, "Liiiiver."
But the zombie only replied, "Braaaaaiins!" Poor Darrell sighed.
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33,547 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 22 00
I'll try to think of some prompts/ideas, but I just wanted to say that that story is funny!
Limiting yourself to 100 words is a great idea. I'm not sure if I could do it, but good idea!
Also, are you sure you need at least one character? Would a location description count, if you personify aspects of it?
21,000 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 22 33
That's a really cool idea! I was about to ask if it's even possible to write a 100 word story, then I remembered that Hemmingway did told a story in 6 ("For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn."). :P
----------Remember, Remember, Revise in December; then add witticisms, good writing, and plot. Put your inner editor to rest with Shovel of Death, and next month, revise... a LOT.
I'm a rebel. Because I'm cool like that.
3,500 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 00 58
Anything personified works too, I think. As long as there's a meaningful change or emotion or something noteworthy that takes place which could affect the reader. Some sort of narrative arc. For example, I wrote one in which the main character's a dog.
3,500 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 01 15
By the way, I just used that location idea, framed around a guy entering a jazz club, and I think it worked great.
2,487 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 14 39
Hmm, I'm doing a sort-of-different but sort-of-similar type of thing. I'm aiming for 15k words with a sort of 'literary scrapbook'' (yes that's awfully pretentious-sounding) of poetry, short stories, even shorter stories, and maybe other things.
My suggestion is that you write a 100-word thing about 'The Yellow Fleet', which is the name of a bunch of merchant ships which were trapped in the suez canal for seven years following events in the six-day war. It's really fascinating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Fleet
----------the world is ending and people are taking pictures
that won't last
28,488 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 16 17
Talk to me about bees. Honey bees.
----------Pax,
(Blue/green version compliments of cherrycola)
Barb
34,062 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 05 53
Do themes work? If so, "consolation prize". It's been bugging me lately.
----------Stupid word count- stop relying on me! Go up on your own!
38,014 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 11 44
Maybe you could write about kudzu, or the way myxomatosis kills a rabbit.
25,099 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 12 31
here's one:
a big puddle of water is drying on the sidewalk.
a kid walks into it backwards, and on exiting, their footprints go from dark to faint,
but visually, it looks like the 'prints' are
'melting' into the puddle.
I don't mind sharing this - even if I use it myself later,
I'm sure we'd both do different things with it.
Hope it helps.
----------Chance is only Fate using a pen name ~ ej runyon
'01 Your Little Red Book...'02 Treasure Island Vin Rose (win)...'03 A House of Light and Stone (win)..'05 Good People (win)..'06 Subway Tunes (win)...'07 900 miles (win)
'08 Bridge to Story
98,100 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 05 40
Well, what started out as one big novel, than became a series of 4 children's chapter books, and now seems to be evolving into a series of short horror stories inspired by one sentence prompts. Here are the prompts I'm currently using. For my own book, I'm attempting to make each (or at least as many of them as possible) of these prompts into stories (each 1k to 5K long) about Dracula. I'm also trying to find a way to include Rancid Yak Butter in each one. 100 short stories times 1k words = 100k words right? and 5k times 100 is 500k? So that means I'll be writing up to 500k this year???????? YIKES! What did I get myself into? Wow, what a weird DARE I've made for myself! LOL!
Anyways, I was thinking, there might be something here in this list you might be able to use in your own NaNovel, so I thought I'd pass my list on to you, just in case. Here it is:
Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling.
A reality show contestant can't handle the sudden fame and becomes a recluse.
A woman digging in her garden discovers . . .
A high rise window washer witnesses something horrifying while washing the top floor windows.
A book comes and says: "Write me."
Two childhood friend reunite after 20 years. One of them is a serial killer.
The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.
A scientist has an other worldly experience, which forces him to reevaluate his spiritual beliefs.
An older married couple is trying to recapture the romance of their youth.
You've burned my waffles for the last time.
Two strangers agree to share a room after it's announced there are no more rooms available.
All this because he cooked some eggs?
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.
While plowing his newly purchased land, a farmer discovers a mass grave.
I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar.
Whatever you do, don't turn on the lights!
Girls are like phones. We love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected!
Venice, Italy is sinking rapidly and must be evacuated.
Gravestone reads: I told you I was allergic to shellfish.
Did the shag carpet just get up and walk away?
Following the trail of several murders, a detective finds an unlikely clue when taking his family to visit Stonehenge.
The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.
A woman finds a strange laptop and a list of instructions in her bed room.
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.
While on a cruise a man and his wife stumble upon several dead bodies.
But I was just trying to stay out of the way . . .
A young scientist finds the cure for cancer. The next day he receives a threatening phone call. A week later his body washes up on the beach.
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.
What are the three words guaranteed to humiliate men everywhere? 'Hold my purse.'
An excommunicated priest receives a holy relic in the mail.
I'm sorry, but your position is being eliminated.
A man looked out his window to see some one digging in his back yard.
Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
Says the man falling from the sky: "Hello ground!"
An old man returns to the tree in which he carved his long lost sweetheart's initials.
Only after she dies during surgery, does the head surgeon realize the patient was his daughter.
After years of dead end leads a tabloid reporter finds evidence of a legendary small town monster.
This is my first time on a plane.
Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?
A book store clerk decides to recommend the same book to all her customers regardless of what they ask for.
I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.
You find the Venus de Milo's arms.
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
An escaped convict is trying to get as far away as possible from civilization.
A woman is attracted to a bus driver and finds excuses to ride his bus every day.
Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
Quit eating my pudding cups!
When I was kidnapped, my parents snapped into action. They rented out my room.
A door to door sales man witnesses a crime.
Everybody wants to go to heaven; but nobody wants to die.
A man decides to attend the funeral of his favorite author.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Do you notice anything different about me?
The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
What do you mean, my birth certificate expired?
A couple renovating a house, discover a secret passage.
I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.
A woman wakes up to find herself horribly disfigured after using a face cream that promised amazing results.
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
A mail carrier suspects some one on his route is engaged in some thing fishy.
I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them.
A botanist proves that plants feel pain and exhibit conscious thought.
When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. - Albert Einstein
Help! Some one in this book is trying to kill me!
Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together.
Why do you have ten cans of easy cheese in your cart?
He who laughs last didn't get it.
A blue lion walked past her window and disappeared into the woods.
Everyone has photographic memory; some just don't have the film.
A man is astonished to discover he has grown gills,
There are three sides of an arguement -- your side, my side and the right side.
She must choose between a professional body builder and a burnt out college professor.
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
While on a camping trip, the family finds a carnival in the middle of no where.
If you die in an elevator, be sure to push the Up button.
Seven people take a boat trip, but only six return.
There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.
Car service: If it ain't broke, we'll break it.
Who are you and how did you get in here? ----- I'm a locksmith. And... I'm a locksmith...
If there is a "WILL", there are 500 relatives.
It's 11PM, do you know where your pants are?
What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists?
This is a quantum car. I don't know where I am, but I'm going really fast.
That makes exactly 100.
These btw came from this book: The Writer's Book of Matches: 1,001 Prompts to Ignite Your Fiction (Writers Digest) This book has been a constant inspiration for me and each of these prompts can be used over and over and over again - as short stories, as flash fiction, as novels, as comedy, as horror, as sci-fi, as romance, etc. I've been using this book to get ideas for my writing for the last 5 or 6 years and it never ceases to amaze me the ideas it inspires. I highly recommend that if you are going to be writing a lot of stories, you really MUST get this book!
----------Incubus: Fear the Night
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32,976 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 08 07
Ooohh, your writing drabbles.
I like to write these as well. Quite a bit of effort goes into them to make them jsut right. Also it gives you something tangible at the end of it.
I publish some of mine on Deviant Art, just for the fun of it (when I can be bothered!). It also gives me a bit of a break from my main Nano novel. Makes me think of different things.
Check out 100words.com (I think). There are alot of posts on there.
Are you going to post up any of yours anywhere?
----------98,100 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 23 09
I was Googling just now, trying to find some more story prompts, when I found this list: http://www.writersdigest.com/WritingPrompts/?p_nStart=1 It goes on for several pages and I found quite a few that I plan to use in my own short shorts, so I thought I'd come back here and let you know about it, cause it'll probably help you out with yours too.
And I also found this place. http://creativewritingprompts.com/ I didn't find their prompts very helpful, because the ones I read so far were more like diary entry assignments, rather than fictional story prompts, but who knows, maybe some thing on their list will give you some ideas. It's a pretty big list, so it'll take you quite a while (days?) to go through.
----------Incubus: Fear the Night
http://twitter.com/EelKat
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http://eknano.blogspot
10,182 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2009 - 08 44
the livejournal roleplaying communities have a massive resource of prompts
http://www.theatricalmuse.net/topics.php is a major one.
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