Weekly short stories group

[Guru Coyote]

So how cool is that? My entry in Iron Pen Round 8 actually came in first! And with a whooping 23 points too.

So now I'm putting together my submission to Myths Inscribed! Right now trying to compose a good short bio... here is what I have so far:

Martin Spernau's palm shows two parallel life lines, one of which has already ended. He has been a professional graphic artist, but now writes code and stories instead. They require vision and insight, but not eyesight.
Blog: Traumwind - Tindertraum Weblog

(That blog will need a few updates, hehehe)

 

[Guru Coyote]

Hm. Hello? Anyone... home?

I was very busy getting ready for an exam, so there was minimal writing of fiction. I have made progress on some outline and background planning for several story-ideas... my mind just can't stop the fiction process even if I "should be learning..." hehe

So how is everyone else doing?

 

[Mason]

Hi. I just noticed this thread. I would love to jump in on a structured writing group-can we revitalize this thing? Thanks!

 

[Guru Coyote]

Hi. I just noticed this thread. I would love to jump in on a structured writing group-can we revitalize this thing? Thanks!

Hi there, Mason

not sure if this thread qualifies as a "Structured writing group," but as long as a few people post here regularly, it will sure live.

I am hoping to find some more time for writing again in the coming weeks, having been very occupied with exam preparations recently.

 

[Chilari]

I have neglected this thread, but I am determined to get back on track. Here are three prompts, feel free to use any, all or none of them:

1. The empty tomb
2. Slowing things down
3. What we see is made of gold

Make of those what you will. I'm off to have a go at something.

 

[Zero Angel]

Hi guys,

I'm finishing up my novella (finally) and another section of my nonfiction series, but I would love to get back into some shorts. I've got three slated after the novella. The first is tentatively titled, "The Power to Heal" and details the protagonist of the first novel's troubles with his healing magick (spoiler: it doesn't work anymore), and the second is going to be the first short in my horror serial, "Of Faeries and Demons", and will focus in on gremlins as the flavor of the month.

I'm also working with a trippy short, tentatively titled, "The Forest" about a race of ethereal creatures that can travel anywhere in the universe, but these fixed point creatures follow them everywhere they go and they can't escape them.

There's two weeks left in May, so I'm hopeful of having these done (at least in second draft form) by the end of May

 

[Guru Coyote]

For me, this week was completely given over to Figurative Origami. I have several Drabble-lenght pieces ready, and am constantly coming up with new ones. I'm not counting words as a measure of productivity, as this is more a process of nudgine and twiddling around with words.

Here's a 100 character (Twabble) example:

Hobson’s choice would have been to call it a day, but they were doing time on that side of Pluto where the sun never shines.

 

[ThinkerX]

I'm also working with a trippy short, tentatively titled, "The Forest" about a race of ethereal creatures that can travel anywhere in the universe, but these fixed point creatures follow them everywhere they go and they can't escape them.

Hmm...

The premise here sounds a bit like Lovecrafts 'Great Race', a sort of energy species that went to desperate lengths to escape a similiar foe. Interestingly, they are among the very few lovecraftian races which is not automatically malicious towards humanity.

 

[Guru Coyote]

I do love the craft of great races, i do.

 

[ThinkerX]

Is that 'Guru' or 'Wil E' Coyote?

 

[Guru Coyote]

Is that 'Guru' or 'Wil E' Coyote?

It runs in the family.

 

[Chilari]

How is everyone getting on? I've got my plot for the short I started writing on the prompts I posted last week, but I'm struggling to get over a little problem. Will probably end up deleting the last paragraph and introducing a time skip, then continue; I can always fix in the rewrite. Feeling confident about it, though the beginning might need to be moved, it's not a big enough hook and it's a bit of a slow start. And I think the ending might be a touch predictable. We'll see what I think when I've finished it.

How about the rest of you?

 

[Guru Coyote]

As most of you must have seen by now, I spent the week folding idioms. Several flash fiction lenght pieces came out of that and not all of it is plain silly.

This coming week, my fiction writing will concentrate on the components of the Iron Pen 9. I have an old idea of a story I will use for it that perfectly fits the bill. I had been planning to expand and tune this one for a long time, so now's the week.

Luckily I'm on vacation til end of May, so apart from writing job applications and some documentation, I'm all fiction.

 

[Zero Angel]

I got bogged down with car, lawnmower and house troubles this week and got next to no writing accomplished. I managed to work out a few of the monsters for my "Of Faeries and Demons" serial for later in the year though.

 

[Penpilot]

Novel rewrites are kicking my ass. Need to get off my arse and focus on some short stories too.

 

[Guru Coyote]

Currently, I'm finding it hard to write the story that is in my head already. The story is good, it has strong characters, very good inter-character conflict, it has a good structure and arc, and it even has a very good resolution. All it needs is writing out the two missing scenes. I know exactly what I need to do to mae it work.

What I am finding hard right now has nothing to do with ... writing. I think I am up against a very personal trait of mine: I shy away from conflict, try to avoid it or better even, dissolve it. In real life, and apparently also in my writing.

With this story, the central conflict can't be dissolved or avoided. The catastrophe has already occurred when the narrative open.

Now, 'all I need to do' is to tell the story of the conflict as it spirals towards a fiery doom.