NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge: Round 1 Results

 Let me just start off by saying, short stories are hard! They are not something I feel comfortable with at all, but I have really enjoyed the challenges they have presented anytime I've tried to write one, especially if there are rules and restrictions on the story itself. I know that's a little odd, but the challenge is the fun part to me. I like that the prompts make me think in terms of genres I don't read often or write ever and to then have to incorporate the theme and character on top of that? Well, it's not easy. But at the end of the struggle knowing that you've come up with something halfway decent and somewhat engaging? That's a pretty cool feeling. Know what's even better? 

MAKING IT TO ROUND 2!!! 

That's right! My story was in the top 5 for my group, so I am moving on to the second round to try my hand at another story and see what I can come up with. 

The prompts for round 2 were issued last night at midnight. My groups prompts are:

    Genre: Horror 
    Subject: Entitlement 
    Character: A professor

Let's just go ahead and say it. I'm in trouble. First off, Horror is not my genre in any shape form or fashion. So this should be fun! Entitlement should be easy to write about, right? Especially with regards to school and current stereotypes, etc. But HOW do you make entitlement scary? Or at least disturbing? Guess I have all weekend to find out. To get me started on a seemingly good footing, I've put some important definitions below (source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary).


I believe for the purposes of my story, I'll focus on 2a, though hopefully other elements outline above will come into play in some way, intentional or otherwise. 


With my brainstorming thus far, I think I am going to try and focus on 2. I think the belief that the professor is deserving of certain privileges, if justified or not, could be the most useful in my short story writing efforts. We'll just have to see if I can actually pull it off or just attempt to. 

That is the look I'm giving myself as I think about how to pull off the creation of this short story. 

And while I won't be focusing on the monsters so often associated with the horror genre, I did think of one super creepy, twisted character when thinking about some general plots for the story. Don't think I'll fully embrace it, but it does get the cogs going. And it does add an extra dose of horror into my brainstorming. Because let's be real, ain't much creepier than Norman Bates at the end of Psycho.


So, let's hope I can pull off a horror story about entitlement and a professor within the next two days. Oh, and also just for kicks, let's make sure we hold ourselves to the 2,000 word limit set out in the rules. Should be a breeze, right? 😬




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