Thank you again to all who offered suggestion and support. To be honest, I'm still not a hundred percent sure what I'm doing, but I've started. I'm going to write for an hour or so and then get a good night's sleep and see what comes in the morning.
Lordgrymm has, in private correspondence, indicated that he has decided to do the challenge himself, though unofficially. So I may have company. Hooray!
I will create a sidebar for him as well, and he can update it as he sees fit.
So far, I think mine is a kind of murder mystery.
More before I retire.
Friday, September 4, 2009
A follow up suggestion from the same bloke
"Hey Ryan
Just thought of one.
Nice Cream.
The name of ice cream company for which a struggling actor works inbetween endless auditions with only moderate success (including wearing the Lion suit outside the theatre when Lion King is playing).
He is an ice cream van salesman, going from snot-nosed neighbourhood to over-privileged, spoilt rotten neighbourhood, selling ice cream to little shits.
There is one particulr kid who pisses him off immensely with his bad manners and attitude. One day he decides to stuff the ice cream in the kid's face and then tell him it's on the house.
Things escalate and as he's driving off one day, the kid grabs hold of the back of his van. He speeds off and the kid falls off. He laughs and carries on.
Days later he gets called into his boss' office to be told the parents are suing him and the company. It all escalates from there.
That's all I've got for now. As I said, all taken from real life experience (my brother was the ice cream man in question and all of that happened). It could get all Travis Bickle and could be fun. Or you might think it's a shit idea. Either way, it's the best I could think of at short notice!
Good luck, amigo."
That is a hell of an idea, and on my short list in one form or another, but I don't think I have the comic chops to pull off a sustained novel. Hm.
Just thought of one.
Nice Cream.
The name of ice cream company for which a struggling actor works inbetween endless auditions with only moderate success (including wearing the Lion suit outside the theatre when Lion King is playing).
He is an ice cream van salesman, going from snot-nosed neighbourhood to over-privileged, spoilt rotten neighbourhood, selling ice cream to little shits.
There is one particulr kid who pisses him off immensely with his bad manners and attitude. One day he decides to stuff the ice cream in the kid's face and then tell him it's on the house.
Things escalate and as he's driving off one day, the kid grabs hold of the back of his van. He speeds off and the kid falls off. He laughs and carries on.
Days later he gets called into his boss' office to be told the parents are suing him and the company. It all escalates from there.
That's all I've got for now. As I said, all taken from real life experience (my brother was the ice cream man in question and all of that happened). It could get all Travis Bickle and could be fun. Or you might think it's a shit idea. Either way, it's the best I could think of at short notice!
Good luck, amigo."
That is a hell of an idea, and on my short list in one form or another, but I don't think I have the comic chops to pull off a sustained novel. Hm.
Another piece of advice...
This one is received from one of G's trenchmates two years ago.
"You're in deep do-do, mate.
The only thing that will get you out of it is to stick to the old adage - write about what you know (and, more importantly, who you know). This way, you don't have to invent a story or characters, just take them from real life and exaggerate the hell out of them.
Maybe go back to something that happened out of school and turn it into something resembling Colombine. Or your first, really boring job job turns into a major adventure in which you come out with your life intact by the skin of your teeth.
Three days is such a short time, don't waste any of it actually creating too much, just exaggerate and expand on what you already know.
Bonne chance, mon brave."
"You're in deep do-do, mate.
The only thing that will get you out of it is to stick to the old adage - write about what you know (and, more importantly, who you know). This way, you don't have to invent a story or characters, just take them from real life and exaggerate the hell out of them.
Maybe go back to something that happened out of school and turn it into something resembling Colombine. Or your first, really boring job job turns into a major adventure in which you come out with your life intact by the skin of your teeth.
Three days is such a short time, don't waste any of it actually creating too much, just exaggerate and expand on what you already know.
Bonne chance, mon brave."
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Ideas thus offered
1) Someone wins a lottery, does something weird with the money.
2) An organized crime story.
3) My serial killer story I talked about last year, where the killer is an angel, and the detective solving the case is unaware of this.
4) A Quincy style story that starts with a corpse and works backward from there.
5) "Just saw an article about Twitter stalkers who follow people's Twitter
positings -- so that they can determine when they're not home, then break
into their homes and steal things. Thought to myself, 'there's definitely
a story in that...'"
Do keep them coming.
2) An organized crime story.
3) My serial killer story I talked about last year, where the killer is an angel, and the detective solving the case is unaware of this.
4) A Quincy style story that starts with a corpse and works backward from there.
5) "Just saw an article about Twitter stalkers who follow people's Twitter
positings -- so that they can determine when they're not home, then break
into their homes and steal things. Thought to myself, 'there's definitely
a story in that...'"
Do keep them coming.
3-Day Novel Contest 2009
Long time no post, texterinos.
I have been on a deliberate retreat from the blogosphere for reasons I'll talk about eventually, but I'm coming online here for the next few days. Here's the why:
I had assumed that my job was going to interfere with my participation in 3-Day this year. At the last minute, I've discovered that it won't. So, without preparation, without outline, without any actual idea what I'll write, I'm plunging in and doing it again.
Just like last year, I'll be regularly posting here. Unlike last year, I don't think I have a team mate. Nonetheless, I beg of you to post and cheer me on, and all that good stuff.
Any suggestions on a topic would be welcome at this point.
I'm at work right now, so I can't post further. Expect another update later tonight. For those of you who still even check this page. Which, I suspect, must be nobody. This is why I'll be emailing folks as well.
I have been on a deliberate retreat from the blogosphere for reasons I'll talk about eventually, but I'm coming online here for the next few days. Here's the why:
I had assumed that my job was going to interfere with my participation in 3-Day this year. At the last minute, I've discovered that it won't. So, without preparation, without outline, without any actual idea what I'll write, I'm plunging in and doing it again.
Just like last year, I'll be regularly posting here. Unlike last year, I don't think I have a team mate. Nonetheless, I beg of you to post and cheer me on, and all that good stuff.
Any suggestions on a topic would be welcome at this point.
I'm at work right now, so I can't post further. Expect another update later tonight. For those of you who still even check this page. Which, I suspect, must be nobody. This is why I'll be emailing folks as well.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A question...
Well, obviously that was a bust. I had a title and everything. I was going to do "A Farewell to Arms and Legs" by Ernest Hemingway.
Obviously, I didn't do that before the deadline.
I've got nothing this last month or so. Just...nothing.
Is it just me? Adjusting to the new job has been taking more effort than I expected, but that's not all. I've been working on my writing projects at a slow but regular pace.
Still, I just don't have my usual pep.
Perhaps it's the season.
Obviously, I didn't do that before the deadline.
I've got nothing this last month or so. Just...nothing.
Is it just me? Adjusting to the new job has been taking more effort than I expected, but that's not all. I've been working on my writing projects at a slow but regular pace.
Still, I just don't have my usual pep.
Perhaps it's the season.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Victory by default is not a good victory
My story was alright, but really, there were lots of ways to beat it. I mean, my excerpt barely contained zombies (the zombie part was in the stuff I cut out from the translation), the title was somewhat lacking (good for being a literary reference, but not really the catchy title that was requested in the challenge). The subject was shocking, but really, that was the easiest part to come up with.
Though it is not my turn, I propose another challenge, to run concurrently with whatever our host has. The prize? Some of your dignity back, and any claim to heckle in the comments. The contest: "Why I didn't bother to submit an entry to a textFIGHT challenge." The entrants will be judged by their entries. The non-entrants will be judged far more harshly I am sure. This contest is open to anyone but me, as I have not missed a contest I was eligible for yet.
Though it is not my turn, I propose another challenge, to run concurrently with whatever our host has. The prize? Some of your dignity back, and any claim to heckle in the comments. The contest: "Why I didn't bother to submit an entry to a textFIGHT challenge." The entrants will be judged by their entries. The non-entrants will be judged far more harshly I am sure. This contest is open to anyone but me, as I have not missed a contest I was eligible for yet.
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