A story a week

I think it could be fun. I've seen this done before with mixed results. Here's a couple of off-the-cuff suggestions if you do decide to go through with it:

Make the prompt specific ("Write a story showing how a character's struggle against overwhelming odds leads to a new and unexpected awareness." -as a rough example) but leave off the requirement of using certain words, which is often done ("You must use the following words in your story: ardvark, Iceland, peanut, Koala, garter."). To me, that makes the whole thing a joke.

Include a "suggested" word count (say 500 to 1500 words, or whatever). That way, reading how different people have handled the same prompt is more interesting (to me anyway). This would make it a little more realistic as well.

Again, these are just suggestions or ideas.

ac

Okay! Let's go!

A flash and chat is fun. A prompt is posted and you have an hour to write a story. Then everyone critiques the other's stories and vote for their favorite.

You really want us to use our brains, don't you?

Great idea! Count me in.

And whomsoever has submitted a story a week for 52 weeks shall receive ... a blob? another copy of Atlanta Nights? Well, bragging rights for sure.

I like this idea. Should I sticky the prompt thread, since it's likely to sink with only one post a week? What about stickying (is that even a word) this thread?

Can they sticky together?

Consider it done...

Hey Ray,

I just now found out about this prompt business. Have you stopped it? I'd like to participate but I didn't see a prompt for this week.

I think it needs more promotion if it's gonna be done though. I just now found out about it cause I saw it referenced on a thread in the Short Story forum.

I like the idea of weekly prompts or challenges and I say let's go for it and put links in our sigs or do a lil' votebot style promotion once in a while.

ETA: Also maybe we can juice up the prompts a little or add a little variation. Maybe a different genre each week, or maybe have a prompt highlighting something different - like characterization or description or subtext or write a good beginning with a hook etc

Plus it might be better to have the stories in the same thread to help give it a kind of impetus. Once you get involved, if you see something in the prompt thread, you're more likely to check it out and comment than if you just see another story in the SYW thread.

ETA again: The act of posting in the thread will bring it up more often and increase visibility hence more activity.

Just some suggestions....

Anybody else have any input?

I like the idea of weekly prompts or challenges and I say let's go for it and put links in our sigs or do a lil' votebot style promotion once in a while.

Click to expand...

I'd like to do this, but after the Purple Ink has leached out of the forum...

Oooh, and I can post a prompt! I'll see what I can come up with.

Frayed

[two cents ON]

I think this plot has too many stray threads.

There's this thread, for discussion. There's the prompt thread. And then there's the post-yer-story thread.

Maybe it will begin to make sense after it becomes a habit, but everytime I want to check on this or participate, I have to click all over to find the right thread. (I had the same problem with the Purple Prose contest.)

And, by coincidence, it seems that the links in the first post of the prompt thread, which would be leading to the discussion thread and the post-yer-story thread, are broken.

I think if we have multiple threads, it would be a kindness to include the links to the relevant threads in each prompt (since that first prompt will be scrolled away before we know it.)

[/two cents OFF]

I agree and as I stated above, I believe that's one of the reasons why it hasn't taken off. No one single thread to identify with. The more people see a particular thread name come up, the more they're going to want to check it out. By making all these different threads to go too, we're diluting the exposure for the Weekly Prompt.

I plan on participating and devoting only one day to the story (after all it is an exercise and I don't really have much spare time - sheesh, I'm already facing the possibility that this writing sickness is gonna make me die a lonely old man.)

Sorry Ray, but I'm posting my story here.... (Or maybe we can create a new thread: Weekly Prompt Stories - where the name is recognizable when anybody posts their work)

This is a great story, in my humble estimation, broke. You've done a good job of recreating the same sort of scene that I've played in my mind of what it must have been like there the first week or so.

Here's a place where the spell broke for me a bit...I'm not black, so I can't say this with any authority, but I grew up in a predominantly black community, so I do have an opinion. I just wonder if a black man in New Orleans would really even be that surprised that a sheriff would point a gun at his head and be ready to shoot him. I think those of us who aren't living it can't fully imagine what it's really like to be black in a racist society. Times have changed, but not as much as us white folks like to tell ourselves they have.

But see it's just a testament to the quality of your story that it's even got me thinkin' all these deep thoughts. Nice work.

Thanks paprikapink.

I'm hoping others will be joining in - both submitting their own pieces and also becoming involved in the discussion.

I noticed the prompt man Ray hasn't submitted a single piece through three prompts.

Ray?????

(Plus I hope you're going to give feedback also...)

I would really like to be involved in this weekly stories idea - but I'm going to have to miss out for a few weeks while I get my degree back in order and my site up. If I can join in late, I'm right in there