(Monthly) Short Story Writing Prompts

Discussion in 'Community Creations' started by Blob Translations, Oct 19, 2016.

  1. Pyoo

    Pyoo ☀ Summer Melody ☀

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    fufufufufu
    its not the mass tagging, begging works everytime xDDDDD

    ikr~!
    ooh i wanna see wanna see *cheers on you*

    edit: wait wait, not ikr, i wrote the prompt while thikng of people who cheat, but then thought its a general one tht can be applied to many things, like abusive relationships, 'blood is thicker yadayaday' relationships, forgiving each other relationships, a relationship of powerful and powerless~ hmm~~
     
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  2. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    I wanted to write one.
    But I'm not good at writing that kind of shit.
    Just finished reading the manga version of Crime and Punishment, which does this extremely well

    but im not good at writing in general so eh
     
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  3. Pyoo

    Pyoo ☀ Summer Melody ☀

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    *pushes*
    just try writing it >_>
     
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  4. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    Got shit to do. Maybe after this week.
     
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  5. Pyoo

    Pyoo ☀ Summer Melody ☀

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    good luck!
     
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  6. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    *has no idea what this is all about*
    *is also happy that there were many entries*
     
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  7. Slayerwolfx2

    Slayerwolfx2 [Immortal Forever]

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  8. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    Honestly, it's 8:42am for me and way past my bedtime, so don't take my critique all too seriously as I'm feeling quite shitty right now.

    Don't fucking split lines for the ends of normal sentences. Looks terrible. I'll just be viewing the line gaps as where you separate a paragraph.
    Don't use so many ellipses, it's just my preference, but it does make the narrator of the story feel like (presumable) he has no confidence in himself.

    Anyways, I have a bone to pic with the flow of your story.
    I can tell from the structure that you want to introduce what's going to happen (like a short blurb) from the first paragraph, as it's rather short and has some enticing lines to drag the reader in. There's a problem with the tone you get from the first few sentences as you mix together cliche tragic elements with colloquial language, shit punctuation and short sentences. Not really going to expand on grammar or punctuation from here, as that's rather a given for everyone to improve upon. Getting back to it, the tone starts of weird, a mish-mash of peppy energy and sorrow. Not only that, the start is dragged out with a whole slew of hooks that lead no where and rhetorical questions which aren't related to in the story in any thematic way.
    Just what I think, but here's what I think would be a better start:
    If you've payed any attention, I've shortened the already short sentences to be even shorter by replacing some words with others and just having almost everything using full stops. (I'll assume you noticed that I cut the rest.)
    What I wanted to do here was give impact to the readers impact, to let them know what the story is about in the quickest, most to-the-point way I can.
    Replacing "saying to" with "telling" is because I felt that "telling" gives a more stronger connotation for the narrator, as they're not participating in equal conversation with the other party, but forcing words for them to listen. This should fit the character you've written.
    "The sort of guy" sounds so horribly informal and not-depressing that it just ruined the tone, as I said before. I changed it to be more dramatic, to give "fate" more emphasis ("[the] one", as opposed to "[a] guy").

    Take what you will from this. I have more bones to pic with the rest of your starting paragraph as well, as you introduce all those thematic elements about the impossibility of everlasting love and materialism, which though it does seem to be a focus of the work, doesn't really seemed to be explored enough to warrant it being in the start.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2017
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  9. Slayerwolfx2

    Slayerwolfx2 [Immortal Forever]

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    Hey, don't worry, I'm always up for criticism.
    Anyways, it was just the first draft, more edits will follow~

    Won't say many things, but in my mind the story had a rhythm, a flow... something I didn't manage to portray that well... it might be cause I was writing from my tablet, or just any plain old excuse.
    Thanks for the criticism, and I will see how I an make the story better, while still keeping true to myself.
    I know, I know, this line is just...
    Even when I reread it, it was bad, but nothing better came to mind at that point, so I ignored it.
    _________________________
    tl;dr
    First draft, edits will follow after a good night's rest.
    Aside from that, I want to sincerely thank you for the criticism.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2017
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  10. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    If you needed a TL;DR for those few words... I wonder what you felt like going through my wall of text.
     
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  11. Slayerwolfx2

    Slayerwolfx2 [Immortal Forever]

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    Nah, I just wanted to summarize it and putting a tl;dr gave me the 'outlet' I needed.
     
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  12. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Hooray for seeing that pie learned to make constructive criticism!!! \(^^)/

    Now if only I actually read the stories to give criticism as well... orz
     
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  13. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    Hey, getting somewhere at least
     
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  14. Pyoo

    Pyoo ☀ Summer Melody ☀

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    October Voting
    1. (I Love You) You love so strongly yet it's not conveyed.. It can not said.. Or may be you just decide not to. (can be non-romantic love too)
    2. Deconstructed. Genre deconstruction! Take your most favourite (or most hated, your pick) genre and all its tropes and prepare to flip it upside down inside out and rightside left. Read this on deconstruction.
    3. A volunteer of death. A killer places an advertisement for a willing victim and finds one.
    4. It's my horror story. Why did the horror criminal (the opposite of the victim) did all that? Was it all a misunderstanding? Or did they actually have motives to scare the victim (to death)?
    5. A ghost from childhood. Some horrors never truly left us. I'm leaving this prompt as is, because honestly you can make it a psychological thing, the usual ghost story, or a happy ghost story of sorts.
    6. It's all about you! Write a story in second person Here are a bunch of links on why you should pick this (cause it's a challenging prompt. I'm not biased!): link, link, link.

    Vote HERE!
    It's October~ Time to create Halloween based prompts~
    Please vote for the story you want to write (and don't forget to write~!)

    Voting is open until the 15th.

    You can still join the topic for September:
    Here I'll Stay
    Write about someone (or a relationship) where they have been hurt yet still doesn't leave.

    Submit a short story (500-7500 words) based on that topic before the 15th (tho honestly you can even tackle an old theme or submit late). Feel free to share/post your short story in the submission thread, and ask for criticism if you like!

    Also I'm going to promote the ongoing NUF Anniversary Short Story contest. There are 3 categories/topics there to write on, check it out!

    Have fun writing!!

    If you have any prompts for next months or other ideas in general, feel free to post it on this thread~!

    p.s. Would "A young man confesses to a killing that hasn’t happened. The murder he describes takes place while he’s in custody." have been an interesting prompt? How would you tackle it?
    p.p.s I'm considering a merge of 2 runner up topics for November and forcing a rewriting for December (or a form of rewriting + add one more element based on the voting) to wrap the year up. Or may be the other way around. Thoughts?

    TAGS!

    More prompts for next time
    Smiles Flower - A flower which blooms when its surrounding is happy and wilts when its sad. A sad story of someone whose life turns worse / sadder as they try hard to grown this Smiles Flower (courtesy of @ExitedDeviljho ) (September vote runner up)
    It's all about you! Write a story in second person Here are a bunch of links on why you should pick this (cause it's a challenging prompt. I'm not biased!): link, link, link (August vote runner up)
    Villain grunt: You're not villager A! You're villain grunt A! Write about a villain grunt. What's their days are like? Why are they a villain grunt? (August vote runner up)
    You're Afraid of That?: In a world where people have a phobia of what will eventually kill them, you are afraid of something...fluffy and cute and adorable. How will you die, and what will be the cause of your death? (July vote runner up)
    You're...a Healer?!: You're the best and most feared player in a very popular MMORPG! A guild of newbies is about to find out why. (June vote runner up)
    Flower. It's spring! Write from the point of view of a flower watching as the time go by. (May vote runner up)
    Mary Sue. A seemingly perfect fictional character who saves the day through unrealistic abilities. But may be.. there is a realistic side to the story? (May vote runner up)
    It All Started Because Of: There was a feud that went on so long nobody could even remember how it started...until one person spoke up. (April vote runner up)
    Tropes With A Twist: Write a story based on a really common phrase/trope, but give it a twist. (March Runner Up)
    A Sticky Note Story: Write a story using only words written by the character(s) on sticky notes (March Runner Up)
    e: Write a short story without using the letter "e"! (February & April Runner Up)
    Dream: "I have a dream..." *ahem* Maybe not that kind of dream, or is it? (February Runner Up)
    Animal: Write a story from the perspective of an animal. (January Runner Up)
     
  15. Hazery

    Hazery Missing Member

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    i love you still there? Holy shit...
     
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  16. Pyoo

    Pyoo ☀ Summer Melody ☀

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    Eeeh I reproposed it cause it was a close 3rd last time (?)
     
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  17. Jigoku Shounen

    Jigoku Shounen An Envoy From Hell

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    I vote for that A ghost from childhood, but I'm not gonna be writing a horror.
     
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  18. AardwarkThe2nd

    AardwarkThe2nd (R-18 writer) Aardwark, the king of aardvarks!

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    I am going to choose A volunteer of Death and...
    [​IMG]
    to choose this as well!

    BTW I am writing smut now. And I suck at it. So the mood is bad.
     
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  19. Underload

    Underload <I need someone to scratch my back!>

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    Oh a chicken to kill.
     
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  20. Zone Q11

    Zone Q11 『The Gas Mask』『Monochrome Plebeian』

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    I have the slight feeling that I may not be able to join this time. Two reasons;
    - Not much time as of late. (I am still working to snatch them.)
    - I am not sad anymore. Or at least, not to the point where I can give my everything to writing.
    Erm... It would be an interesting story, but I wouldn't know how to write one of such kind...
    Good luck~!
     
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