Writing Prompt #7: Comical Imitation

Now that we are in the glorious month of November, it is time for yet another writing prompt. I thought I'd be silly this time around. Here goes:

Write a humorous short story in your favorite genre doing your best impression of Douglas Adams.

I think this one will be a lot of fun. Go wild, everyone. Seriously! I might have something for this by the end of the month.

Have fun, and feel free to let me know if you're taking part in the comments.

Writing Prompt #6: Random Death

Well, now that we're in the month of October, it's high time for yet another writing prompt! This month's prompt is to write a short story or novel chapter involving the following:

An unknown person is found stabbed to death.

Seem simple enough, right? So have at it! You've got the rest of the month. Let me know if you're taking part in the comments!

Writing Prompt #5: LGBTQ

In honor of the Outer Alliance, here is this month's writing prompt:

Write a story of any length that involves a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer character or theme, in a positive light. That means don't write an anti-LGBT story, though you certainly could write a story dealing with the trails of LGBT life or the conflicts between anti-LGBT and pro-LGBT individuals.

And there you have it. Straightforward and possibly a lot of fun to do. Have at it!

Writing Prompt #4: Cross-Genre Goodness

There will be no word limit on this prompt. Why? Because it's completely unnecessary. But this will be a fun prompt nonetheless. Your job is to do the following:

Write a short story crossing your favorite genre of fiction with a genre that most represents your favorite genre's exact opposite.

Determining the opposite is entirely up to you, and you could almost argue for any combination. Go with your gut feeling. Does adventure fiction seem like the polar opposite of romance to you? Then go with that! Either way, you have to try something new, and that's the point of this prompt!

So have at it and feel free to let me know in the comments if you plan on joining in.

Writing Prompt #3 (July 2009): 2,000 Word Challenge

I thought everyone would find a less restrictive challenge more interesting. Most of the ones I've posted have been for exceptionally short pieces, so this one is a bit more open. There is still a theme, though, but I'm making that more simplistic as well. I think these prompts will be monthly and we'll see how many people decide to join in.

This month's theme is:

Reverberations

Use that however you see fit, whether metaphorically are literally. Doesn't matter, just write something! Let me know in the comments if you're participating, and if you want to post your story here, go for it!

Have fun!

Writing Prompt #2: 500-word Story Challenge

If you missed my first writing prompt last month, make sure to check it out here and write something for it. This month the writing prompt is:

Tell a steampunk revenge story involving a meerkat and a dog walker.

Interpret that as you want. Steampunk seems to be a repetitive theme these days, though, but I suspect that the next writing prompt will have nothing to do with it, if such a thing can be helped.

I will add my entry later. Remember, you have 500 words to tell a story using the prompt above. Keep it simple! Now have at it and leave your stories in the comments section or post them on your blog and leave a comment with the link. Oh, and have fun!

Writing Prompt #1: 300-word Story Challenge

Recently John of SF Signal challenged me to write an extremely short story using a rather bizarre prompt:

A steampunk culinary cat mystery involving manga in 300 words or less.

Since a commenter recently suggested I start offering writing prompts to my readers, I thought this would be a great way to start. Since I've already written my 300-word story on this prompt, I'm going to put it up to my readers to come up with their own versions.

So, in 300 words or less, tell a steampunk culinary cat mystery involving manga. You can use those elements however you please, so long as it remains under 301 words. Post your stories in the comments section for this post and let everyone else know about it. Anyone may enter, whether you're a budding writer or someone who has never really written anything before.

Here is my entry:
Catnip Pete and the Case of the Naruto Blanco
The rusty cat-box steamed and told me it had happened at midnight. Someone had stolen the infamous Naruto manga from Mr. Wilson’s front window, and the Mechanical Steam-powered Cat-box Enclave didn’t like that one bit. So I took the case, along with a recipe for Cherry Rhubarb Pie for the misses. I can smell it now, like catnip for the sophisticated palette.

That’s not all I smell: Mr. Wilson’s front window reeks of five-year-old, and the chocolate fingerprint smudges on the glass tell me I’m dealing with none other than Johnny Stumblefeet. I follow the scent; he’s close, too close, but what do you expect from a five-year-old?

I find him in the alley, munching on a chocolate bar and rubbing his grubby fingers over the pages of the manga. Already I can see that half the pages are ruined. He smells of old cheese. Gouda.

He sees me and grins. “Kitty!” His hands grab, tug my tail, mess my fur.

I push him away with a declawed hand. “Give me the manga, Stumblefeet.”

“No.”

I grab the book. No time to argue, the misses is waiting for her pie. He stands, but his grip loosens and I flash him a toothy grin and rip the book away. His feet catch underneath him as he pursues. I hear him strike the ground as I round the corner at the end of the alley. He’ll live.

Mr. Wilson grins when I return his Naruto. My reward is a can of cherries and some sliced rhubarb. Heading home, I think about that pie and salivate. The misses meets me at the door, her fur gleaming in the sun.

“So?” she says, wondering how it went.

I grin. “Elementary.” School, that is.

------------------------------------

Hope you all enjoyed that. Make sure to spread the word about this post and to post your entry!