Topic: Writing club (Read 143394 times)

Thrillho · « **on:** 06 Oct 2013, 04:32 »

So after the response to my other thread I though I could run a writing club. We'll do different exercises to stretch our writing chops. First one I liked was a suggestion (I forget who by) to basically have each of us note what we least want to write about, and then that gets passed to the next person to write about.

If no one wants to do that one we'll do a different exercise. But who's interested in joining writing club? I reckon a bare minimum of five would work but the more the merrier.

1. Gareth
2. Muzzazzazazzasterpiece
3. K. O'Sera
4. Henri Beamish
5. J-dilla
6. Game and Watch for a finite period
7. Obadiah Jebediah Zenediah Jenediah Springfield
8. Welu McDaniel

Masterpiece · « **Reply #1 on:** 06 Oct 2013, 04:36 »

Here!

ChaoSera · « **Reply #2 on:** 06 Oct 2013, 10:58 »

Count me in.

henri bemis · « **Reply #3 on:** 06 Oct 2013, 23:27 »

In!

(the "bad story idea" idea was mine, but I was inspired to suggest it by Grognard, who made you write that brilliant piece about the mutated onions. So if it all goes bad, I blame it on on him

.)

J · « **Reply #4 on:** 07 Oct 2013, 02:36 »

i'd be up for this, if i've got the time

Masterpiece · « **Reply #5 on:** 07 Oct 2013, 03:26 »

Quote from: Gareth on 06 Oct 2013, 04:32

Muzzazzazazzasterpiece

<3

So I had to wait a little while surrounded by loud smelly people, and all this talk of a writing club made me want to write, so I cooked up a little something something...

(click to show/hide)

Game and Watch Forever · « **Reply #6 on:** 07 Oct 2013, 06:28 »

I REALLY want to do this... but I'll have to see if my work is seriously going to die this time or if it's just pulling another "JUST KIDDING!

"

Zebediah · « **Reply #7 on:** 07 Oct 2013, 18:39 »

I'm in.

ChaoSera · « **Reply #8 on:** 08 Oct 2013, 03:13 »

Quote from: Gareth on 06 Oct 2013, 04:32

3. K. O'Sera

Hah, I love it. I definitely have to remember to use that one if my nick is taken anywhere I want to register.

Welu · « **Reply #9 on:** 08 Oct 2013, 09:26 »

I'd like to try this but I admit now I may be unreliable in the coming weeks/months with work stuff taking up a lot of time.

Thrillho · « **Reply #10 on:** 08 Oct 2013, 11:34 »

Okay, we got a few people now. I don't want to set deadlines on this so if you miss an exercise and want to do it later, then that's fine, sorry for anyone who loses out - but we may as well keep rolling.

Here's the rules.

Everyone PM me what you would LEAST want to write about it. I will take them all and re-assign them to other people randomly, and you will have to write 500 words on that theme and post it here. Obviously you don't have to post it if you don't want to. I'm a journalism grad so the rule is 10% over or under (450-550).

If you can put a twist on your theme, then do it, man. This is a writing challenge. Do what you want with it. There's no right or wrong here.

Start your PMs NOWWWWWWW!

henri bemis · « **Reply #11 on:** 08 Oct 2013, 16:33 »

Ha, I'm having trouble deciding what terrible idea I want to use (I came up with two that I realized, combined, would be an episode of Scooby Doo), but I'll have something for you soon.

Zebediah · « **Reply #12 on:** 08 Oct 2013, 16:39 »

I feel like I ought to apologize to whoever gets the topic I submitted.

Except that I doubt it will be the worst one.

J · « **Reply #13 on:** 08 Oct 2013, 22:40 »

hmmm...

Thrillho · « **Reply #14 on:** 09 Oct 2013, 15:14 »

Some of these topics... I really, really hope I don't get some of these topics. We started with a toughie, guys

By my count, I'm only missing one person's story theme. Once I've got the last one, I'll randomise 'em and fling 'em out.

Game and Watch Forever · « **Reply #15 on:** 09 Oct 2013, 20:37 »

"I'm looking forward to the challenge!" - Words I will surely regret

henri bemis · « **Reply #16 on:** 09 Oct 2013, 20:42 »

I fear for us all.

Though I am so excited to see what everyone else came up with. And to find out what kind of abomination I have to work with.

J · « **Reply #17 on:** 09 Oct 2013, 22:48 »

indeed.

this is gonna be fun.

Masterpiece · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 03:21 »

I submitted mine

Thrillho · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 03:41 »

I have everyone's themes in now and you will be getting one distributed to you very soon

Thrillho · « **Reply #20 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 03:54 »

Right, everyone has been sent their theme.

I used a random number generator to assign everyone a theme, and still somehow ended up with the exact one I wanted

No one should have their own theme, and none of them should be doubled. I double and triple checked.

So yeah, rules are in the original post but as a little addendum - I think it would be quite fun if we just posted the stories without saying what the theme was, so people can try to work out what they are, or post the story first and theme in a spoiler at the bottom.

I'm quite looking forward to this

Zebediah · « **Reply #21 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 08:39 »

I was right. What I submitted wasn't the worst theme.

Here goes:

That chiseled jawline, she thought. There was a god after all, and he stood before her, glorious and strong and perfect. That face, so strong and manly, full lips and high cheekbones and eyes that could stare a cobra down without flinching or turn a girl to quivering jelly. Harrison Ford had nothing on him.

She let her gaze wander down his body. “Rock-hard” didn't even begin to describe it. Chest and abs carved of pure marble, biceps and forearms hard as granite. How she longed to feel those arms around her, those lips against hers, those hands pulling the clothing from her body.

She moved closer to him, reaching out to touch him, laying her hand on his chest, above his heart. So strong, so smooth. Unable to stop herself, she pulled her dress over her head, pulled off her bra, let her panties drop to the floor, until she stood before him as naked as he was. She wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling his back, letting her hands wander down his back to his firm, unyielding buttocks. One hand strayed around to his front, between his legs. That too was hard as stone.

Her whole body trembled as she leaned up to press her lips against his, her breasts against his chest, her hips against his thighs. She wanted him, wanted to feel his weight on top of her and the warmth of his breath on her face and the hot hard flesh of his manhood inside her, wanted to kneel down and worship him and take him in her mouth and feel him come alive under her tongue. So strong. So hard. So... cold.

She stopped suddenly, pushed herself away and stood before him, her chest heaving. No, it was no good. The sculptor's hands had done their work too well, fashioning the perfect man. She could almost believe him real, he was so finely and realistically detailed, a Greek god turned to stone by some sorcerous curse, waiting twenty-five centuries for her to release him from his imprisonment. She desperately wanted to believe that she had the power within her body to free him from millennia of stony slumber, to restore life and warmth to his cold white marble flesh.

But no. He was made of stone, and it was pure foolishness to believe otherwise. His heart would never beat for her, his eyes would never look at her with tenderness or hunger, his mouth would never tell her how much he loved her and needed her and desired her. She was alone, and always would be, and neither god nor man would ever care for her or even notice her. Tears streamed down her face as she gathered up her clothes and fled the room that held the ancient stone god.

Damn it all, Apollo thought. I really thought I had reached her. It was the closest he had come in centuries. His divine powers were weakened to the point where influencing the mind of a mortal was difficult, almost an impossibility. Someday, though, he would finally tempt a woman to make love to him and free him from Medusa's curse at last.

(click to show/hide)

Thrillho · « **Reply #22 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 08:47 »

That was mine, bro. Good response time!

Masterpiece · « **Reply #23 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 08:57 »

ugh that font

Zebediah · « **Reply #24 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 09:04 »

All right, font tag removed.

Thrillho · « **Reply #25 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 10:02 »

I've read the story now, and I really, really love it. This is what I was hoping for - people taking the theme and turning it on its head. Love it. Imagery was perfect.

Welu · « **Reply #26 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 13:01 »

Zebediah, that was class work. Great descriptions and the ending was great.

Putting this in the spoiler for dark themes and the prompt under the second spoiler. Also this is 549 words, I make the most of word limits.

(click to show/hide)

Squealing, she raced through the damp field. A short distance behind her, hoarse grunts dryly coughed out her predator.

She could not believe the chance had came, the predator had left the cage unlocked. When she was first thrown inside, naked and heaving, forcing herself to stay concious. She barely remembered how the rusted padlock resisted being closed, darkness quickly clouding her vision. If that foul smell had not immediately filled her senses, maybe she would remember how she came to be there. By leaving scratches on the dark marks on the floor, she kept track of the days. One the fourth night, the smell had almost faded as she became accustomed to it. The room seemed to brighten quicker, her eyes adjusting to the crack of light from under the door. That night, she realised as she picked at the flaking dirt under her nails, that it was the cause of the smell. That heavy and stale smell. The bare bit of light she treasured, revealed it to be dried blood. She looked around the cage, covered in dark splashes and similar marks to the ones she had been making herself. She tried to count them, at first the marks seemed to merge together, hard to tell one set from another. By studying marks that seemed to be of the same marker, the air escaped her as she repeatedly counted... Ten.

After ten days, the counting stopped several times.

Was that it? All the time she left? No. She had to get out.

Once a day she would be let out of the cage. He would come into the room and close the door behind him. A knife in one hand and a small meal in the other. He would slowly open the cage door and slid the meal across the floor. The first time she refused to move until he barked at her to eat. Even then it took pointing the knife in between the holes of the cage, slightly piercing her, before she unfroze. After eating he would tell her to crawl out of the cage. When she tried to stand he kicked her down. He stand by the door and watch, making her crawl back and forth along the floor until he became satisfied. He yelled at her to get back in the cage and would close the padlock until there was a faint click.

The tenth night, he came into the room with the meal and demanded his show. However when it came to closing the padlock, he spent a few seconds struggling with it. He growled and left the room, closing the door behind him. Listening carefully for his footsteps, another door slammed. Breathing in slowly, she tentatively moved across the floor and reached her fingers through the holes of the cage. The rusted padlock scratched at her fingers, refusing to be gripped. Unable to stop her shaking, the lock opened and fell to the floor.

It was only a few minutes before he had followed her outside. Her bare feet slipped on the long wet grass, her ankle twisting as she fell hard on the mud. Almost instantly he was on top of her, the knife to her throat.

“Please. Let me go.”

“Pigs don’t talk.” His gravelled voice whispered, “Pigs squeal.”

(click to show/hide)

Thrillho · « **Reply #27 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 13:11 »

Story:

(click to show/hide)

Theme:

(click to show/hide)

Thrillho · « **Reply #28 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 13:16 »

Jesus Christ, Welu, I had forgotten what theme I had given you and reading the story didn't help and JESUS CHRIST THAT IS DARK and fucking good, too!

Welu · « **Reply #29 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 13:25 »

Whoo! Cheers, Gareth, glad you like it.

Love yours, the Twitter feed idea was neat and the way it escalates is awesome.

Masterpiece · « **Reply #30 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 13:57 »

(click to show/hide)

Human blood.

It’s unlike anything you’ll ever tasted and ever will. It’ll make your mouth feel uncomfortably clotty and it’s a bitch to get out of your clothes. It’ll get stuck between your teeth if you don’t swallow too quickly, especially so around your fangs, but oh my word. I never swallow quickly. I like to savor the taste. Sweet human blood.

You’ll start to smell it once you’re like me long enough. You walk through the malls, through the streets and for some reason everywhere you go everything just smells like metal. Viscous, warm, strong metal. Talk about an aphrodisiac.

It’s not sweet at all. Matter of fact, you don’t want it to be sweet anyway. I once drank a guy who turned out to be diabetic, and boy did that guy give me the shits. I almost regretted drinking him. Men tend to taste a little too sweet for my taste anyhow, what with all their testosterone, so I tend to stick to women.

The first time I ever tasted human blood was involuntary, can you believe it? I was naïve, and had promised myself that, despite the obvious deformation, I’d not let myself become a monster. HA! I had no idea how fucking incredible being a monster is. Anyway, I was out with a friend of mine, and the poor thing gets bitten by a snake. She panicked, I was clueless, until I realized I’m immortal and I can suck out the venom no problem. I told myself I was doing it because I was trying to help her, but I think even then, I just wanted to taste it. I wanted to engorge on that electrifying fluid, that source of their everyday strength. I happened to drink her dry, right there, on that spot. I just couldn’t stop. Never did, till this day. She forgave me after she had a taste for it herself.

So here you are, sweet woman, and you tell me that I wouldn’t like the way you tasted. That you’d taste harsh, sour, and that you’re probably sick even. But you don’t see, I can smell you. I can smell your beautiful blood. And I wouldn’t care if you had syphilis or hepatitis. I’m immortal. And I want your blood to taste sour, I want to soak in that strong metal taste, I want to feel my teeth inside your skin. You’re making me so goddamn crazy with your scent, all over the place, that I’ve been having a raging hard-on ever since I passed your house.
I need you. I won’t even think twice about it. I want to devour you here and now. Rip my fangs into your neck, feel your pulse in your arteries diminish as I suck you out, feel you get limp in my arms, just to see you rise back up again and become something stronger, wiser and greater than you’ve ever been before.

Believe me, it’s worth it. You’ll thank me sooner or later.

(click to show/hide)

Zebediah · « **Reply #31 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 14:39 »

Okay, so maybe the theme I submitted WAS the worst one. Welu, that was mine, and you did a marvelous job at it.

Gareth, that was amazing. A Twitter poem!

And Masterpiece, that was cool. And appropriately dark. And WAY better than the source material. Well done.

Welu · « **Reply #32 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 14:47 »

ITT: Cool people with hidden writing skills. Zeb, your theme was really fun.

Something people might be interested in is the Tumblr WriteInspiration. It's ran by LoliButt.

henri bemis · « **Reply #33 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 20:06 »

oh boy.

(click to show/hide)

She arrived to work early, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, hoping to plead her case one last time.

"Olin, you know I good work day shifts." She towered over the old dwarf. She could swipe his kneecaps out with one arm, without having to even stoop. Most of the folk in the city would think her expression angry, fear the thick brows furrowing her broad, mottled green forehead, her narrowed black eyes, and her sharp grimace, but Olin knew her better. She was simply frustrated.

"Kata, I've explained this to ye before." Olin hefted another crate from the boat to the dock, then paused to wipe his forehead with the back of a stubby hand. "I love ye like ye were me own daughter, but I gotta think of me customers, too, and ye scare the knickers off 'em in daylight. Beside, I need ya here at night, when the, uh, special wares come in. They're for th'important customers!"

'Special wares.' After all their time together, Olin still thought she was stupid enough not to know he was smuggling, and that her main job was to intimidate honest dealings out of shady suppliers. "Yeah, yeah." She jumped onto the old skiff, almost rocking it over into the canal, then lifted the last five crates all at once, dumped them on the dock, and hopped out.

"If that's all, I will eat now." She turned down the dock and called "I'll be back in an hour." Angry as she was at Olin, she knew he was also trying to protect her. Honest folk didn't like dealing with Trolls. Most only tolerated her because Olin had taken her in. And though he paid well, it wasn't enough.

Taking a seat at her usual table at the Imp's Ear Inn, she flicked a hand at the bartender, then rested her head in her palm as she waited for her supper.

Minutes later, a clatter at the table made her look up. She expected the usual platter of lamb haunches, potatoes, gravy, and the stale bread that Bryndol the baker optimistically called "crusty." Instead, she found an overflowing pitcher of mead, and a dark-haired Elven woman smiling at her from under a black leather hood.

She tried her best to look frightening, still wishing to be alone with her meal, but the elf woman's eyes - flickering, mischievous, the deepest green - disarmed her for a moment.

She tightened her jaw, hoping the momentary weakness didn't show. "What you want from me?" She slid the pitcher back toward the elf, spilling some of the mead.

"My name is Nessa." The elf leaned in on her elbows, lowered her voice, and winked. "I've seen you on the docks at night. You're amazing." She grabbed the pitcher with one hand, took a swig, then set it on the table and placed her hand over Kata's, the spilled mead sticky between their skin. "But your talents are wasted there, you know."

Kata nervously drew her hand back, grabbed the pitcher, and took a long gulp. "I know."

Nessa leaned further across the table, her lips an inch from Kata's cheek, and whispered "Don't you think it's time you got out of the dark?"

(click to show/hide)

J · « **Reply #34 on:** 10 Oct 2013, 20:42 »

i so want to do this, but mine will have to wait for tomorrow

Masterpiece · « **Reply #35 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 01:31 »

Nice job Henri! And I apologize if it was too hard, next time I'll submit an easier theme...

Thrillho · « **Reply #36 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 10:27 »

https://twitter.com/500Worder

Because why not, right?

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #37 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 10:45 »

You should totally have posted them with a different victim and spaced out a bit, to see if the idiot contingent of the Internet thought it was real.

J · « **Reply #38 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 11:36 »

Quote from: Gareth on 10 Oct 2013, 13:11

Story:
(click to show/hide)
I’m perrrrrrty fucked so barrage is comin
Someone spiked the punch #wasntme
#Lying
#Totallywasme
Everybody who’s nobody is here!
I can see the blue lights coming my little twitter twats let me do a photograph
Fucking instagram
Instagram is for fucking nobodies
Fuck facebook too
Oh he’d love that shit where is he
Well #thatwasawkward
Theres always some drunk bitch who screams the house down ALL FUCKING NIGHT
Least she shut up now
But anyway
More shots more shots more shots
This fucking song man THIS FUCKING SONG IS THE ONE
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom MOTH
That was meant to say motherfucker I am so drunk #yup #seemslegit
I hate the internet and if you are a part of the internet I hate you too
We are all a part of the internet its like a fucking grid
I think it’s time someone manned up and said theres not enough porn on the internet
I fucking hate that guy I fucking hate that guy I fucking hate that guy I fucking hate that guy I fucking hate that guy I fucking hate that
You
I FUCKING HATE YOU
#publictweets bitch
Seriously I fucking hate that guy
Followers loss lol like it matters
Go fucking follow @stephenfry if you want intellectual shit
That might not be his real fucking twitter name or whatever #dgaf
Broken glass hahahahahahaha
More shots more shots more shots more shots more shots
Steve is a prick too, fuck you steve FUCK YOU STEVE
By the way I am available for childrens parties #billhicksisgod
I swear to god I fucking hate that guy
I fucking hate this song I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG
Really don’t think 140 characters is enough to say how much I hate that guy
I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuy
Maybe it is enough HAHAHAHAHAHA
I swear to fucking god someones ear is bleeding from the music
Lots of noses bleeding too but we all know why that is right #justsaying
The bitch is crazy #justsaying
Bitch fell down the stairs before it was SO FUCKING FUNNY
Nobody saw it except me though natch
Wonder if any of these assholes know I have a gun
She’s fucking annoying as well she can go fuck a dog if she doesn’t do that shit on weekends anyway
More shots more shots more shots more shots #moreshots
Loooots of people bleeding now
I fucking hate that guy
Where the fuck is that guy
WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU
Hate it when parties get all fucking weird #goodnight
He’s in the bathroom
He’s actually in the fucking bathroom
Who the fuck hides in a fucking bathroom in 2013 seriously #justsaying
HAhahaa someone found the dead bitch too #shitgettingrealdog
Bathroom bitch is dead too
Fucker
Omg he was crying
HE WAS CRYING
Actually cried when I got in there
Seriously
Dead bitch
I always fucking hated you zuckerberg
Theme:
(click to show/hide)
'Murder mystery, written from the POV of the killer, in the narrative form of a twitter feed.' It wasn't quite a mystery I guess, but oh well? This was a real challenge and I fucking loved doing it.

well done.

and i actually find the twittered version a bit easier to read, because of the formatting i think.

Thrillho · « **Reply #39 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 11:44 »

Quote from: Pilchard123 on 11 Oct 2013, 10:45

You should totally have posted them with a different victim and spaced out a bit, to see if the idiot contingent of the Internet thought it was real.

The twist ending was the only original thing I brought to it... and also I was deliberately trying to avoid anyone thinking it was real. Also, it wouldn't seem real anyway because I tweeted it in reverse so you can read from the top (and not to spoil the end).

ChaoSera · « **Reply #40 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 12:26 »

I already know what I'm gonna write, but I don't have the time right now. I'll probably do it tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Masterpiece · « **Reply #41 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 13:02 »

But why is it chronologically reverse?

Thrillho · « **Reply #42 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 13:13 »

So the story progresses in the right order and you don't spoiler it for yourself, given that it has a twist ending.

henri bemis · « **Reply #43 on:** 11 Oct 2013, 21:51 »

Quote from: Masterpiece on 11 Oct 2013, 01:31

Nice job Henri! And I apologize if it was too hard, next time I'll submit an easier theme...

No, I meant 'terrifying' in a good way! It's supposed to be a challenge, and I think I might take another crack at it, or expand on what I have (I don't usually have a problem with exceeding word limits, but there was a lot I had to cut out for this, haha). And thank you

There's some really good shit going on here. It can be hard to keep a writing group going on the internet, but I'm pretty optimistic about this one.

J · « **Reply #44 on:** 14 Oct 2013, 05:22 »

finally got around to finishing my rough draft. went way over-budget on my word count, so i'll have to cut it down tomorrow for posting.

Masterpiece · « **Reply #45 on:** 17 Oct 2013, 00:28 »

So, when are we doing the second round?

...just noticed that not everyone is done yet...

ChaoSera · « **Reply #46 on:** 17 Oct 2013, 02:33 »

Oh crap, I totally forgot about this. I promise my part will be up by tomorrow evening, at the latest.

Thrillho · « **Reply #47 on:** 17 Oct 2013, 03:49 »

Yeah I figured rather than pile on more, we'd just give the last two a chance to finish off.

I am toying with the idea of doing all of my entries in Twitter format from now on.

ChaoSera · « **Reply #48 on:** 17 Oct 2013, 06:43 »

On the plus side, I have an idea for the next exercise, which I think should be fun.

Game and Watch Forever · « **Reply #49 on:** 17 Oct 2013, 06:58 »

Work gave me the middle finger, so I haven't had a chance to do more than string an idea together. I'll get it done between my Friday night and Saturday morning though. I give up on my writing too often. I want this to make me feel like I'm at least a little accountable to someone(s).

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Writing club (Read 143394 times)