Okay, for some of us writing 'serious', high-falutin' novels...most of the Dares thread is a bad fit. So, I'll try to offer up some lit-fic appropriate dares.
Novel in verse
BP for novel in blank verse
DBP for having the same number of lines in each poem/section
TBP for having a symbolic number of poems/sections, total (ex-333 or similar)
my firstborn, for doing each section in a different character POV
Traveling Shovel Of Death? Nah. Please, PLEASE try the Traveling Scarf of Death. I used this in a novel of mine awhile ago: my protag Jasper had a yellow scarf knitted by his one true love who would later betray him. The few moments without this yellow scarf were very significant. People also liked to knit him yellow scarves. But...is this scarf just a fashion accessory? NO. You hang them with it. Whether it's eventual suicide by scarf or murder by scarf, work several mentions of this in your novel. You know you want to.
A scene featuring two characters on a rooftop at night. It can't be a cliche romantic dinner and it can't be part of a chase scene.
----------
::Zadie, Kaz, Hunter, and Seth::
OORAH for my main characters!
40,830 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 14 54
Ooh, dares.
+ 2pts character has highly symbolic dream or dream sequence which references their troubled past/present/future
+ 3pts for a job involving books
+ 5pts for an insomnia-fueled rant
+ 5pts character has near-death-experience
+ 15pts character actually dies, but continues to write in the first person
+ 20pts chapter written without any punctuation
+ 50pts character unexpectedly transformed into an animal
+ 250pts character unexpectedly transformed into an inanimate object
Maybe I wouldn't recommend them for serious use...
16,669 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 16 17
I was already planning to do this so... done :P .
My whole book surrounds that, so... done.
Almost! Mine's in first person, and he's in a village of (some) dead after the near-death experience. I should get half credit for that one :) .
+ 250pts character unexpectedly transformed into an inanimate object
I'm working with gods and whatnot, so these could be easily done. However, I don't think I'll go with these :) .
104,001 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 17 30
+ 2pts character has highly symbolic dream or dream sequence which references their troubled past/present/future
I actually did that already.
+ 5pts character has near-death-experience
I actually did that already, too!
+ 15pts character actually dies, but continues to write in the first person
So close, my character was in a coma and wrote a first person account of what the other characters were doing.
+ 50pts character unexpectedly transformed into an animal
I did the opposite of this one. An anthropomorphic kangaroo turned into an established character.
27,529 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 05 39
+ 2pts character has highly symbolic dream or dream sequence which references their troubled past/present/future
Hurray! Score!
----------I also ramble on Twitter (though sometimes in Dutch).
2008: Junior Boys (won)
2009: Guilt (...?)
6,332 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 09 59
+2pts if your MC has less dialogue than the other characters
----------+5pts if your novel is narrated by a character that none of the other characters know
+10pts if your MC never has a single line of dialogue/never says a word
+20pts if your novel is narrated by an animal, but is about human characters
+50pts if your novel is narrated by an inanimate object, but is about human characters
+100pts if your novel is narrated by an inanimate object and is about inanimate objects
2008: Whatever The Moon Has Always Meant (failed)
2009: A Night So Clear
23,574 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 17 57
I'm not assigning points but I do dare someone to include the line
"Playing an MMORPG and ignoring the other players is like being married and having your partner bring a third into your bedroom and saying 'just pretend like they aren't here.'"
----------Chibi Hentai-chan
The littlest pervert on the net!
Proving to everyone everwhere that size doesn't matter
12,299 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 02 48
+2pts if your MC has less dialogue than the other characters
----------Got this one in the bag. My MC is a 6 or 7 year old girl who is not mute, yet rarely speaks.
wordcount widgets
**********************************************************************************
46,331 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 06 54
I found NaNo rather late, and my first thought was to do a verse novel similar to Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, even his verse structure, though only reading the English translation, I would have to do something with the scheme or scansion of it.
As it is, I will only stick to the non-standard literary spy novel. The roof of my spy's building though will fit in prominently, and his cover is as a used book store owner (retired from engineering). There will be a scene with two people on the roof, completely avoiding the cliche, as well as Ian Woon being assassinated by my protagonist from another roof.
I do plan a section, that while using punctuation will only use it in the wrong way, a stream of consciousness bit, but I don't know if you could call it a chapter.
Challenge:
Given that this is literary fiction we are talking about, how about a No-Prize for the longest sentence without using semi-colons, and it must have proper punctuation.
Good Scribbling!
0 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 09 00
"+ 15pts character actually dies, but continues to write in the first person"
hahahaha I just laughed for 20 mintues. i would so do that.
did anyone read the elegance of the hedgehog? her death sequence is kind of like that at the end.
50,168 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 06 15
Hmmm do I get bonus points if one of them is 70 and has a hip replacement?
136,706 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2009 - 08 55
I am so doing this one. One of my chapters is told from the point of view of a 7 year old. Apostrophes might be the killer, but I will do my best.
I'll toss out a few more
+3 Working in a paddleball.
----------+5 Your MC spends a good amount of time wondering why all of "this" is happening to him/her/it
+5 Your MC says "Well, this is been anticlimactic."
*+5 extra credit if at least two other people agree with him/her/it
+15 Your MC has a key emotional realization...at a bowling alley
+20 Write a 100 word, grammatically correct, sentence
+20 You foreshadow someone having a flashback
+25 Every character who speaks, says the exact same line at some point throughout the course of the novel.
Back for year #6, and MLing for the first time. Go NaNoLanta!
Co-Moderator of LitFic Genre Board
This year's Novel: "Just A Normal Thanksgiving."
Goal: 135k (9 chapters, 15k a pop)
Genre: LitFic
POV: Rotating First Person Stream of Consciousness
16,669 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2009 - 09 00
I think I've already done this one :P .
136,706 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2009 - 09 03
I'll give you 20 points more if the flashback is about them foreshadowing something
----------Back for year #6, and MLing for the first time. Go NaNoLanta!
Co-Moderator of LitFic Genre Board
This year's Novel: "Just A Normal Thanksgiving."
Goal: 135k (9 chapters, 15k a pop)
Genre: LitFic
POV: Rotating First Person Stream of Consciousness
40,951 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 03 16
Given that this is literary fiction we are talking about, how about a No-Prize for the longest sentence without using semi-colons, and it must have proper punctuation.
I just counted the words in one of the sentences I wrote a few days ago. One hundred sixty-five. By accident...
I still feel silly posting in these forums as my novel's officially YA. But it's fun here!
Oh, and it's a very, very bad sentence. Worse than the rest. As in, "...his hair, turning from pale blond to brown in the dirt, fluttered gently with the barest hint of a breeze that wound around the trunks of the trees and..." It really is painful to read. And, you know, worse to realize that I wrote it. But I'm cutting myself some slack, as it was two in the morning and not at all a decent time to be writing. ;)
----------33,818 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 03 23
"Playing an MMORPG and ignoring the other players is like being married and having your partner bring a third into your bedroom and saying 'just pretend like they aren't here.'"
Considering the fact that my novel deals with polyamory, I think I can have my MCs laugh at this line.... I'll take it!
Tommie
11,488 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 11 43
> A scene featuring two characters on a rooftop at night. It can't be a cliche romantic dinner and it can't be part of a chase scene.
My novel involves D/s relationships, so I think a rooftop edge (with a balcony) would be a good place for a scary kind of exhibitionist scene. Thanks for the idea!
> +15 Your MC has a key emotional realization...at a bowling alley
Sounds like a great place for a double date! Again, thanks for the idea...
As far as my dares:
+5pts Have a character break the fourth wall by insulting the reader
+10pts Have the character do this in conversation with another character
+15pts Tell the reader how she or he feels about this (ex.: "You are shocked and appalled!")
Love breaking the fourth wall, but my story this month isn't a good one for it...
----------11,488 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 11 45
double post sorry
----------38,260 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 13 19
A scene featuring two characters on a rooftop at night. It can't be a cliche romantic dinner and it can't be part of a chase scene.
teehee. i am also already doing this. it's between a model/photographer/control fiend + the fat boy who lives next door. definitely not very romantic in nature. + it's not a chase scene per se, although there is pursuit involved (she's trying to convince him to donate his entire collection of empty cereal boxes to her noble uncause).
i knew some version of this scene was going to happen pretty much as soon as i realised there *was* a neighbour boy with an attached roof (a lot of my planning for this year's nano was making imaginary blueprints of the house), but it's also the point at which i bring in another nano challenge -- the one to inject your novel with trace amounts of pluto support propaganda.
+ 3pts for a job involving books
woo, the narrator i'm working through right now is a former used book dealer turned vagabond. (i've kind of lost track of how many narrators i have/will have at this point. oops.)
42,025 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 19 59
My narrator is breaking wall 4 by speaking to the reader as if they were the Void. He reffers to them as the Viod because he believes that nobody will ever read his book, and he thinks the only thing that will ever see it is the spot behind his eyes.
13,526 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2009 - 01 56
I am so doing this one. One of my chapters is told from the point of view of a 7 year old. Apostrophes might be the killer, but I will do my best.
I'll toss out a few more
+3 Working in a paddleball.
+5 Your MC spends a good amount of time wondering why all of "this" is happening to him/her/it
+5 Your MC says "Well, this is been anticlimactic."
*+5 extra credit if at least two other people agree with him/her/it
+15 Your MC has a key emotional realization...at a bowling alley
+20 Write a 100 word, grammatically correct, sentence
+20 You foreshadow someone having a flashback
+25 Every character who speaks, says the exact same line at some point throughout the course of the novel.
i love these! i'm definitely going to hit up "anticlimactic," the 100 word sentence and maybe even the emotional realization at a thoroughly unemotional location.
i'm a bit embarrassed to admit that for all three of my NaNo novels so far i have employed your last dare (or a variation of). i can't seem to keep myself from having characters echoing each other over the course of the story. i guess it could be explained by my absolute adoration of Mark Z Danielewski's Only Revolutions.
anyhow, thanks! now time to get back to catching up my word count...
eda
2007: Just One Thing (50,050)
----------2008: One For Sorrow (50,125)
2009: Now Is Greater (working title) (.. , ...)
2007: Just One Thing (50,050)
2008: One For Sorrow (50,125)
2009: Now Is Greater (working title) (.. , ...)
45,016 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2009 - 20 10
Yep. Despite the fact that, as you can see in my sig, my novel's title is "The Adventures of Panda Bear, the Magic Talking Snake", emphasis on the "Talking" part, the snake really only has had like five lines so far. His character just sort of evolved to where it's hard to imagine him talking unless he needs to. In-story explanation: he's really shy. :P
----------07 - the paxtangbo; or the birth, death, and violent emotions of arnold nawrocki and others like him (WINNER)
09 - the adventures of panda bear, the magic talking snake
27,529 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2009 - 05 26
+10 points if none of your sentences begin with 'He', 'She', 'It', 'I', The', 'And', 'But' or 'They'.
Created this because way too many of mine do...
----------I also ramble on Twitter (though sometimes in Dutch).
2008: Junior Boys (won)
2009: Guilt (...?)
44,511 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2009 - 20 19
+20 Write a 100 word, grammatically correct, sentence
Can I have 200 points for writing a 1,000 word grammatically correct sentence? (For those wondering how I did it, it was an old woman rambling for exactly 1,000 words.)
----------ΩPR!
2008: 'We, the Disappeared' - Win
2009: 'Chaos and Other Theories" - Promising
40,043 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2009 - 05 01
+20 Write a 100 word, grammatically correct, sentence
Hmm... mine looks grammatically correct, although I can't be sure that it's not a run-on, what with the amount of commas it has...
2,859 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 13 55
Right now I'm trying to write a semiautobiographical short story (about the funerals I've been to) without it being any traditional POV--as in, it's not first, third, or even second person. There are basically no pronouns used; my intent is to convey that the two funerals I've been to had a huge impact on me in a different way than you would expect, because I had never met either of the dead but keep going back to the settings and general themes in my writing. SO:
I figured it'd be fun to dare other people to do the same, writing witohut a POV, and see how far we can get. Since I've only got about 300 words of it so far, mostly description.
44,169 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 19 30
I like that. My MC has a parasitic twin head that occasionally addresses the reader, and speaks in the first person plural. She can't refer to herself as "I" since she only exists as an appendage to the MC.
----------I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
- Kurt Vonnegut
55,730 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 23 08
theinformers - but how can you write without a POV? Even if you don't use any pronouns there will always be a POV, and in this cause a third person narrator. You are always describing so there IS a POV.
Can you give us your expert to show what you mean? (I'm quite interested in this idea but cannot wrap my mind around there being a possibility of not having any POV when you are clearly describing something in some way)
2,859 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 10 35
I guess I shouldn't have said no POV; looking at it that way, I guess it's more of a blend of first and third? It's following my experience and kind of alludes to my interpretation, which makes it first, but there's no clear sense of self and no pronouns, so it's third? I dunno. To be honest I may just be trying too hard. Here's the excerpt:
Yellow-white Christmas lights snake languidly around bare trees arching toward each other across the street even though it's April and why are all the funerals in April? Open gray desert sprinkling rain outside a flat yellow ten-room motel to a half-closed Christmas downtown hung around the blazing bright tree of a hotel in shades of gold and burgundy and mirrors, impossible to tell if the decor obscures or betrays how many stars, somehow in all these years only two relatives have died. Normally that would be important or positive but neither of the dead were so important to everyone present--well, they were, but those people and those feelings are just so far away, emotionally or chronologically. Not much attention was paid to the cousin silently crying in a plastic-looking pew because he might have been the only one and it was just so uncomfortable, what if people nearby are crying this time? Somehow tears around those who are present by obligation are just so vastly inappropriate.
40,744 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 15 40
+5 Your MC spends a good amount of time wondering why all of "this" is happening to him/her/it
+20 You foreshadow someone having a flashback
+25 Every character who speaks, says the exact same line at some point throughout the course of the novel.
I've done both of the first two, and I'm already planning to do the last one for arrogant literary purposes. ----------
I have no time for any of the things that I do.
27,088 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 21 12
----------
::Zadie, Kaz, Hunter, and Seth::
OORAH for my main characters!
I did this for my novel. It's not a romantic dinner and it's not part of a chase scene. For reasons having to do with jokes about "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast," my 14-year old FMC and her BFF go out on the roof to howl at the moon like wolves. They are just being goofy. Thanks for the idea!
----------I may not be a C.B., but I shall do something yet. -- Louisa May Alcott about Charlotte Bronte