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? 😬




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review Overload?

Image
I realize that I have been posting a lot of book reviews in recent days, and not so many personal posts. I will try to even out the balance between the two in the coming days and months. However, I wanted to go ahead and give you a head's up that I am going to try and write a review for every one of the 50 books I have set for myself to read this year. Or, in the event that I seriously hate the book, I will just give it a low rating rather than blasting it for its less that awe-inspiring nature. In addition to my reading goals, I am also trying to gear up for more writing this year, believe it or not. I am currently working on a piece of fan fiction for the Mary Russell novels. The piece I am working on should pick up right after The Pirate King .  I've done an initial draft, but after some peer reviews, I've decided to take another pass at it and see if I can't make it a bit better. Apart from the fan fiction, I am trying to set the ball in motion fo
Read more

Short Story Entry for Round 2 - SUBMITTED! Pew Pew!

Image
The short story challenge prompts for round 2 have been released! And have made me a touch anxious. Fortunately, I was able to think about them for a bit and landed upon the rough outline for a story rather quickly, which is key since I only had three days to turn out a story based on those prompts. What were the prompts? Genre: Sci-Fi Subject: Heartbreak Character: Jockey Yup. Silence met that set of prompts. Then finally, my mind kicked into gear and the creative juices started flowing. But it was a slow trickle until I was able to write with any consistency. Add to that quite a number of concept revisions and you had a bit of a panic this afternoon. How did I combat said panic? Well, I am incredibly lucky to have a small but dependable group of reviewers that help beat me into shape and provide invaluable input and feedback. Some contribute more than others, haha, but they all have their piece in the bigger picture. Afterall, it could be the most creative thing in the world, but if
Read more

The Art of the Slow Burn Romance - That S*** Ain't Easy to Write

Image
Anyone not familiar with the concept of the slow burn romance? If not, this should help. If so, this is still entertaining. So, I have been avoiding writing the next section in the story I'm currently working on because the series of scenes taking place require more care than most. This is where the romantic tension is turned up to the next level, but not so far as to actual start the full-on romance. This is just supposed to show the characters and the reader that there's more there than the characters want to admit or more than they want to deal with. It should be fun to write those scenes, right? I know I enjoy reading them, so they should be fun to write. Well, they're friggin' tricky! At least for me. Haha. Quick bit of back story - the first story I ever attempted to write for myself beyond kid stories, school assignments, etc. was supposed to be a slow burn romance with a historical character I had loved in a book I had just read (but disliked the fictional femal
Read more