Here are this week’s writing prompts! Feel free to use them if you find yourself stuck and in need of an extra boost of inspiration. If you have ideas for prompts for us to share, go ahead and drop them in our ask box. :)
Writing Prompt: Use the line: “What’s for dinner?”
Word Prompt: Use the following words in a story/scene: seriously, distracted, fork
You can use either prompt or go for the challenge round and combine both of them!
Special Note from your Mods: Hey everyone :) We have both had intense summers that have kept us on our toes and trying to remember where we left our brains. Which means we’ve dropped the ball on putting up writing prompts - sorry! Fingers crossed that we’ll be able to get back to doing this on a weekly basis again :)
Wishing you laughter and lots of words written, your mods, Ruthie (@ageekyreader) and Meri (@merigreenleaf)
Did you use our prompts? Tag our blog @shortficchallenge and let us know!
Hey everyone! My writing-partner-in-crime and I realized earlier this week that we had very similar goals for ourselves for the upcoming year. I love it when our brains are in synch! More people often means more fun and more motivation, and since we are both going to be talking about it on our blogs and in our writing groups, it only makes sense to make it an open challenge anyone can join.
Here’s the important info:
1. This is supposed to be fun - so please don’t feel pressured to join in unless it’s something you really want to do.
2. The goal is to write more pieces of short fiction.
3. You get to decide what that means for you in terms of length and how many you want to do.
4. Please feel free to use the challenge graphic I’ve created. I will be doing one with a color background as well when I get the chance. I started with black and white to make it easy to print.
5. We’d love to know what other people end up doing. Please tag things with #2018shortficchallenge and feel free to tag us in blog posts or just say hi. We both have health issues so there will be times we are slow to reply or that we miss things, but I promise it’s not you!
That’s it. Simple and flexible. I’m going to come up with a couple of shareable pages that you can print and use to keep track of things if you want. We will also be sharing cool prompts that we come across. Feel free to use any of that or not as it suits your needs.
Here’s to a 2018 that is full of Words! ~ Ruthie (ageekyreader) and Meri (merigreenleaf)
(This story idea came from a prompt generator that gave me the first line “The boy hadn’t spoken since his twin had gone” which was perfect for Etri! This takes place about six months before book 1 [Colorweaver] starts. You can find the masterpost with links to read all of the short stories in this series here.)
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The boy hadn’t spoken since his twin had gone. Although, to be honest, he hadn’t said much before that either. Blythe didn’t know what he sounded like, but if was was anything like his brother, it was full of loud laughter that ricocheted off the nearby wagons. The entire troupe was like that and Blythe often missed the less rambunctious company of the Protectorates she had once called family. She supposed this was her family now, loath as she sometimes was to admit it. The performers had taken her in and trained her and for that she owed them tolerance if nothing else.
She settled deeper into the bench by the campfire and stretched her long legs across the beat-up old cushions. The twin – the boisterous one – had left soon after she arrived at the gathering place, then was followed by the other carnies as they staggered back to their wagon-homes and beds. With most of the troupe gone, she finally had the quiet she ached for. All that remained was the silent, dark-haired boy who sat away from the fire, almost hidden by the shadows of the surrounding wagons and the heavy coat he wore despite the summer heat. Blythe had never seen a carny wear black before. They always preferred bright, eye-watering colors that assaulted her eyes the way their noise invaded her ears. She glanced down at her own dark clothes and smiled wryly. She was a still a Protectorate even if she was also a carny and always went for practical. She was certain the boy wasn’t a Protectorate, whoever he was.
Whatever he was.
She swore his eyes shone in the firelight almost like a cat’s before he dropped his head and messy curls covered his face again. Why was he still out here? It was so late it was practically early. Blythe was only awake because the lead healer had needed her help with a complicated healing that had taken most of the night to finish. The performer would be okay, although Blythe couldn’t help feeling that a professional should have been more careful with fire. It wasn’t as though flame had a mind of its own despite the dancer’s claim. It couldn’t possibly have tried to attack her by climbing her supposedly fireproof sleeves. Blythe suspected the girl had simply worn the wrong costume and hadn’t wanted to admit it.
“I may sit, yes?”
Blythe’s heart pounded against her rib cage at the sound of a voice where no one had been. At least she had an answer to her earlier question: his voice was nothing like his twin’s. It was soft and almost lyrical- whatever his accent was, she couldn’t place it, and had never heard anything like it. She looked up into a face as white as the sheets in the healer’s wagon and took a single deep breath to calm her nerves. The boy was just a boy. Stories of ghosts were just stories, even if he moved with uncanny silence and was so pale he was nearly luminous in the glow of the campfire.
She swung her legs around to give him room and held out her hand in greeting. His fingers were cold enough to make her wonder for a moment if stories could be true, but mostly she just wondered why he hadn’t sat closer to the fire if he was that cold. As she nonchalantly tried to rub warmth back into her hand and hoped he didn’t notice, she nodded at him. “I’m Blythe.”
He took the seat next to her, making no noise as he sat on the rickety old bench. She had to strain to hear, but she thought she heard his name was Etri before he fell silent again. She entertained the possibility that she had met the ghost of a carnival performer past, but considering that he was the first carny who hadn’t tried to talk her ear off, she was willing to put up with cold hands and a whisper of a voice. She leaned closer to hear when he spoke again. “There are spirits in this location who do not desire company.”
This one seemed to not mind it, however, assuming this wasn’t some big elaborate joke set up to frighten her. Blythe didn't scare easily. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the seat. “I find that awfully hard to believe.”
Without cracking a smile to prove the joke one way or the other, Etri stood and adjusted his coat, his fingers ghosting over the dark fabric. “Believe me or not as you will. I only ask that the fire performers have more care or their lights will go dark.”
Blythe’s eyes fell on the campfire at the mention of light. It seemed no longer as bright, as though this strange conversation had lasted longer than a few minutes- or as though Etri walking past had dimmed the flames. Maybe staying out here in the dead of night to talk to a strange boy wasn’t the best idea she'd ever had. Had “lights going dark” meant their props... or something else? “Are you sure that –”
But Etri had vanished as soundlessly as he had appeared. Alone except for the dying crackles of the faltering fire, Blythe shuddered. “So that’s how you’re going to be? A bearer of vague warnings and weird threats?”
She wasn't about to stick around and wait for the fire to go out; she didn't want an answer that badly. As she stalked out of the clearing she unconsciously glanced back over her shoulder just to make sure he was truly gone. Her heavy footsteps covered a whispered reply that came from nowhere and everywhere: “Perhaps tomorrow I will be more.”
Here’s this week’s writing prompts a little late. Feel free to use them if you find yourself stuck and in need of an extra boost of inspiration. If you have ideas for prompts for us to share, go ahead and drop them in our ask box. :)
Writing Prompt: Use the line "If you don't eat that cake, I'm never speaking to you again!"
Word Prompt: Use the following words in a story/scene: cellar, squish, backwards
You can use either prompt or go for the challenge round and combine both of them!
Did you use our prompts? Tag our blog @shortficchallenge and let us know!
Here are this week’s writing prompts! Feel free to use them if you find yourself stuck and in need of an extra boost of inspiration. If you have ideas for prompts for us to share, go ahead and drop them in our ask box. :)
Writing Prompt: Use the line: "I'm not giving it back until you say you're sorry."
Word Prompt: Use the following words in a story/scene: gregarious, centerpiece, freeze
You can use either prompt or go for the challenge round and combine both of them!
Did you use our prompts? Tag our blog @shortficchallenge and let us know!
Here are this week’s writing prompts! Feel free to use them if you find yourself stuck and in need of an extra boost of inspiration. If you have ideas for prompts for us to share, go ahead and drop them in our ask box. :)
Writing Prompt: Use the line “Quick! Close your eyes and drink this.”
Word Prompt: Use the following words in a story/scene: vanity, itchy, whale
You can use either prompt or go for the challenge round and combine both of them!
Did you use our prompts? Tag our blog @shortficchallenge and let us know!
Time for this week’s writing prompts! Feel free to use them if you find yourself stuck and in need of an extra boost of inspiration. If you have ideas for prompts for us to share, go ahead and drop them in our ask box. :)
Writing Prompt: Use the line “Ugh, I clearly haven’t been working out enough.”
Word Prompt: Use the following words in a story/scene: narcissism, grenade, gamble.
You can use either prompt or go for the challenge round and combine both of them!
Did you use our prompts? Tag our blog @shortficchallenge and let us know!
Here are this week’s writing prompts! Feel free to use them if you find yourself stuck and in need of an extra boost of inspiration. If you have ideas for prompts for us to share, go ahead and drop them in our ask box. :)
Writing Prompt: Use the line “Look! I got us matching pants!”
Word Prompt: Use the following words in a story/scene: cube, squishy, vault
You can use either prompt or go for the challenge round and combine both of them!
Did you use our prompts? Tag our blog @shortficchallenge and let us know!
