Hatrack River Writers Workshop: The call. 14 words looking for readers

This is topic The call. 14 words looking for readers in forum Fragments and Feedback for Short Works at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by tnwilz (Member # 4080) on :

Sort of a flash-Novella thing. Sitting at about 14 words right now - not sure where to go with it. Looking for readers for the whole thing

It was around two-thirty when I heard the ansible ring in the kitchen.

Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :

except for the part where I don't know what an ansible is, it's cool. Where are you going with it?

Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

Think subspace communicator.

Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :

not ansible adams?

[This message has been edited by debhoag (edited May 17, 2008).]

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

I think it was Mickey Spillane (hard-boiled detective novel writer, if I remember correctly) who said (and I'm paraphrasing) that if you don't know what to do next in a story, have a couple of guys bust in with guns blazing.

Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :

or a really good photographer

Posted by JustInProse (Member # 7872) on :

Ha! KDW! Everytime I read your posts, I expect something serious. Always. Being caught off guard is fun.

tnwilz, I'd love to read it, send it on over.
justinwtf(at)hotmail(dot)com

(Making that took way too much work)

[This message has been edited by JustInProse (edited May 17, 2008).]

Posted by tnwilz (Member # 4080) on :

Well actually there's no need to send it over because you already read it. Like I said, it's only 14 words long. So did you like it?

Oh, Novella may have been a bit of an exaggeration.

Tracy the Goof

Posted by JustInProse (Member # 7872) on :

Oh! lol.

I was thinking "I have 14 words, working on it, someone wanna read all of it?"

You were a little too literal for me. :P

Well, I'm guessing from the ansible that it is the Enderverse? If it is in the Kitchen then it must be after the xenocide (or presumed xenocide) has occured.

The way it is worded also makes me think that this isn't necessarily a everyday occurance (although it could just be a very dramatic every day occurance).

So...if we are looking at a slightly after xenocide, it could be on earth or on another planet.

If it is on earth, you could definetly have it entwine (although not directly) with the Shadow series.

If it is on another planet then it could be about the creation of a colony (maybe the second colony that arrived at the bugger world Ender had lived on).

By now, I could be very, very far off track...but oh wells, I'll keep going.

On a different planet seems like it would be on a different planet, but having someone on earth having an ansible would be interesting. (They would have to an explanation for getting one of course).

If on earth, it could be something from other planets. Especially if it were about meeting other alien life forms. (At the end of Ender's Game, OSC (through Ender) talks about the village they find.

It seems to Ender that with the barriers and such they have that the winters are harsh and the wild life (or something of the sort) will attack). With that knowledge, or hint anyway, you could use an attack on an early village of a bugger world.Creating, instead of a new alien race, new alien wildlife.

Well, I've decided to stop in case I'm no where on the right track. (I'm new to the flash-novella thing so that might explain some of my uncertainty).

Posted by tnwilz (Member # 4080) on :

And here's somrthing fun you may not have known. OSC actually borrowed 'Ansible' fron one of my favorite and inspirational authors, Ursala K. Le Guin who coined the word back when Card was 14 in her first novel, Rocannon's World. It has since become a standard plot device in mainstream Sci-Fi.

By the way, I really was just being a goof in replacing the word phone with Ansible. But that is an interesting opening line now I look at it seriously. Thanks for your thoughts Justin. Got me thinkin.

Tracy

At least I think I'm funny and that what really matters right!

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Since we ask people not to write stuff in copyrighted universes (like the "Enderverse"), and we know tnwilz is a law-abiding citizen of this workshop, then the 14-word flash could not have been in the "Enderverse" even though the word "ansible" was used.

As tnwilz has pointed out, the word comes from the "LeGuinverse" (if I may call it that), and has become a bit of a generic term that can show up in just about any universe if the creator of that universe so chooses.

Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :

Guin-i-verse works for me! Futuristic Knights in robotic armor.

Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :

If you're not serious about this idea, tnwilz, could we make this into a flash fiction contest?

First line has to be:
"It was around two-thirty when I heard the ansible ring in the kitchen." (It is a great opening line.)

And somewhere in the story, a couple of guys must bust in with guns blazing.

Just an idea,
Pat

[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 18, 2008).]

Posted by JustInProse (Member # 7872) on :

Yeah, at the time I wrote it, I knew OSC didn't coin the word, but I also didn't know who did lol. On top of that, I had almost NOTHING to go on for the story, so I just started rambling on about random plot developments. I guess most of them could still be followed, just remove any likeness to Ender's Game.

And KDW, I'm sorry, I don't know anything really about flash-comics or their rules/laws. This would be a fun contest though!

Posted by tnwilz (Member # 4080) on :

Good idea Pat, go for it.

quote:
"It was around two-thirty when I heard the ansible ring in the kitchen." (It is a great opening line.)
And somewhere in the story, a couple of guys must bust in with guns blazing.

Made me think of Bruce Willis in opening scene of Fifth Element.

Tracy

[This message has been edited by tnwilz (edited May 18, 2008).]

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

JustInProse, the rule I cited about not writing in other people's copyrighted universes isn't a flash-comic rule that I know of.

It's a Hatrack River Writers Workshop forum rule. And I really appreciate it when people follow them.

Posted by JustInProse (Member # 7872) on :

Did I break it!? (Where is that interrobang when I need it)

I wasn't even thinking of that as I wrote it, I'm very sorry if I broke any of the rules. When I give comments or critiques I usually just try and tell them most of what I'm thinking.

Sorry

Posted by JustInProse (Member # 7872) on :

Rule #1....

I'm a genius

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

No, no, no, no, JustInProse. I didn't mean to make you think you had broken the rule. I was just clarifying it.

No one has broken the rule because, as I said, tnwilz, who posted the original 14 words was not putting his story in the "Enderverse."

I'm sorry if you felt unnecessarily concerned there. That's one worry you don't need right now.

Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

Don't panic.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Looks like we cross-posted, though I'm not sure now if I needed to reassure you or what, JustInProse.

But there's a guy named Howard Gardner out there somewhere who says that everyone is a genius (or close) in something (though it may not be something other people pay much attention to).

Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :

Just for a bit o' fun I've posted a flash fiction contest invitation:

http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/forum/Forum7/HTML/000042.html

Cheers,
Pat