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» Hatrack River Writers Workshop » Forums » Open Discussions About Writing » Flash Challenge #5 Opens at 00:00 Friday, April 29 US Central Time GMT-6

   
Author Topic: Flash Challenge #5 Opens at 00:00 Friday, April 29 US Central Time GMT-6
mikemunsil
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You must be registered to participate. If you wish to participate:
    I must either know you already
    Or you must let me know that you are a registered member of Notebored or Hatrack
    Or you must have a reference from someone I know.

Go here to participate.

How It Works:

You cannot participate if you are not registered at Liberty Hall. Sorry, that's the only way this will work for now.

If you cannot see the Flash Challenge #5 forum, either you ar not registered or you have not logged in. If you have any questions, please email a Moderator or mikemunsil.

In sum:

On Friday we open up the flash challenge. It remains open until Monday morning. This means that you can take up the challenge anytime you like from Friday until Monday.

Taking up the challenge includes:

    1. sending an email message to a set email address
    2. receiving the flash challenge trigger message in return, and [u]reading it right away[/u]
    3. immediately writing a flash story (less than 1000 words) inspired by the flash topic
    4. emailing your story back to the same set email address [u]within the allowed duration period[/u], usually 1.0 to 1.5 hours.

On Monday we post the stories [to a password-protected web page] without revealing who wrote them, and open up the forum to comments/critiques and voting. This continues through Wednesday.

[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 28, 2005).]


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Keeley
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I'm bumping this since I'm the one who provided the trigger this time.

Write! Have fun! Panic! Have more fun!

Looking forward to seeing the stories that come out of this.


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benskia
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Oooh. You are awful!
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Rahl22
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Awful!

But fun. I submitted. I like getting to actually look forward to Mondays!


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mikemunsil
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Yeah, that was pretty bad, wasn't it? You should be ashamed!

You can call me Monday Mike, just never call me late for supper!

[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 29, 2005).]


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djvdakota
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I MIGHT actually be able to do it this time!
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mikemunsil
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I hope so. I like your writing.

We have 6 entries so far.


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Robyn_Hood
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I liked this one. It brought some interesting concepts together for me. Looking back at what I've done for the other challenges, I think this is an idea I could play with further. Hmmmm...
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mikemunsil
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We have 10
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mikemunsil
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14
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Rahl22
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Seems to me we're going to have a full roster again.
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HSO
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But the time to read and vote has been extended, so this should make it easier for all...

And there's always the guessing game, which seemed like good fun last time.


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mikemunsil
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I flashed, but it was very hard for me to come up with something. I'm glad I'm disqualified because at times I just get too 'creative'. This was one of those times.
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autumnmuse
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I came up with an idea right away, but I was sure it was the same one everyone else thought of. Actually I have that fear every challenge and it has yet to come true, so I'm not sure why it is an issue. Oh well.
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Lord Darkstorm
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I'm pretty sure that mine will be different...notice I didn't say good...but different.
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Minister
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I'm not even sure mine is "different," or even all that "interesting"; I always vascillate between thinking "Oh, no one will come up with this one!" and "I'll bet every other person writing either does this, or thinks of it and decides it's not worth their time." The more I think about this one, the more I think my idea wasn't all that original. So I guess I just have to wait and see. But these challenges have been so good for my writing.
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limo
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Ditto with minister.
Although I think I try and be clever and it never works . Not in such a short time span anyway. My type of clever takes years to develop!
li

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Lord Darkstorm
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The first thing that comes to mind when I see/read the trigger...I pitch it. Then I try and come up with something that I would not normally associate with the trigger.

So sometimes it flopps...I still enjoy it.


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Victoria
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I have all these same worries myself. With the last challenge, I thought I was being completely unoriginal writing about a publisher. And with the new challenge, I know I was lead by the 'extra credit' portion of the challenge. If it weren't for that, my flash would have been completely different.

I think I have to get a few more flashes under my belt before I can even think of 'tossing out' the first storyline that comes to mind. For now, I just 'see' an image, let it stew for a few minutes, and put it on paper. It seems to be working for me, but my endings are rushed because I don't really have an ending point plotted. It is the time that makes me throw on the brakes and say, okay, this looks like a great place to stop. And to even considerl revising...ha! But I'll get there.


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mikemunsil
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You know, we have pushed the idea that the flashes should demonstrate a complete story line, but nothing in the 'flash' genre really requires that. So, a scene is fine. However, a complete story with a clear beginning, middle and end, with some punch to it, is more satisfying. Thus it is more likely to garner votes. And, if you start the flash with the idea in mind that you are writing a complete story, you are more likely to write one.
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xarius
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Well, I got it done in time, although I am not really happy with it. But hey, it was fun. I am looking forward to see what everyone else did.
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Isaiah13
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I think I made it in time. According to my watch, I had three minutes to spare. Eek, talk about cutting it close. I think it turned out ok, but we'll see.
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mikemunsil
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We have 19.

Do you guys realize that together we have generated over 100 stories in the last month or so? If we do this for a year (50 weeks with 2 off for good behavior) we'll have generated 1,000 stories!!!!

If someone remembers the exact counts, please tell me, so that I can post them on the board.

[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited May 01, 2005).]


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HSO
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I don't recall the exact counts for all of them, but the two I moderated were 17 stories and 22 stories.

I thought we had a 12 once, too.


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Minister
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I think the first one had 9.
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HSO
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yes, Minister is right.

The first one was 9. The second one I think was 14 or so (not 17). The third one had 19. The fourth broke all records with 22 stories (21 qualified entries, though.)

9 +14 +19 +22= 64.

We're not quite over one hundred stories, even with this week's 19 stories so far, which equals 83. Still, nothing to scoff at. 83 stories that did not exist a month ago. Can't moan, really. Well, you could moan, but that would be silly.


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mikemunsil
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Oh man! Now you've busted my bubble! Still, it's 83 stories! That's a lot!
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HSO
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Further bubble-bursting: Well, we're averaging 16 stories per week. This put us on target for 800 stories after 50 weeks...

If we made a zine that only published the best 5 each week (after polishing), we would have 160 stories per year. That would be fairly respectable, but we could then beef it up with selected non-flash pieces... certainly do-able... with effort and resources...


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MaryRobinette
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Well, mine seems so obvious, I'll be interested to see how many others did the same thing. Of course, if no one else does the same idea then we can all worry about the fact that it seemed obvious to me.
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yanos
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Any possibility of having a midweek flash challenge?

I have no internet access during the weekend, so it makes it impossible fo rme to participate.


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mikemunsil
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Yanos

I can set you up independently and then submit yours with the others on the following Monday, would that work for you?

Mike


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mikemunsil
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Flash Challenge #5 is closed to submittals. We had 21. My apologies to the 2 people who encoutered difficulties and thus were unable to flash. This was a new bug that we hadn't previously encountered.
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Three Minute Egg
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I'm with yanos, mid-week flash fiction would be great.
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mikemunsil
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Well, I have read them all, commented on some, and voted. Overall I think this was the hardest challenge to vote on. If I'm not mistaken the quality of the stories has gotten better, also. Already.


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Isaiah13
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Yeah, that was the hardest vote thus far. Great stories all around.
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jimmyjazz951
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Yes, I thought they were all better too. I commited to reading and commenting on every one(Mine too) because I was unable to comment last time. There were a lot but it seems they were also shorter on average. Hard choices.

[This message has been edited by jimmyjazz951 (edited May 02, 2005).]


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