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For the fourth and final week of August, the prompt is...
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eadard00dlesandcheese Aug. 3rd, 2015 07:35 am)
eadard00dlesandcheese Aug. 3rd, 2015 07:35 am)Good morning, Flames!
Our July contest is almost over. The only thing left to do is read our week four entries for "The beginnings of all things are small."
I hope you had fun writing with us this month. We truly enjoyed having you. Hopefully, you are already cooking up plots for RicoChey's first August challenge. (There was no sign-up so you can jump WRITE in.)
Be sure you invite your friends to read with us and write with us. The more contestants that turn out, the more opportunities for challenge we will have.
Remember to share feedback with your fellow writers. Being voted for is nice, but most of us also want to know how our writing appealed to another - be it our wordplay, our imagination, or choice in character. Talk to each other - share some #commentlove - this is a community to promote growth in creativity and craft.
Your reading list awaits.
Title: it starts small in all directions
Author: alethessa
Word Count: 109 or 211
Warnings: domestic violence implied in one direction of reading
Title: Lunch
Author: ayumidah
Word Count: 400
Warnings: none
Title: Prophesied
Author: Bibi Nafeeza Yusuf
Word Count: 400
Warnings: none
Title: From small beginnings
Author: bluegerl
Word Count: 317
Warnings: no warnings
Title: Germ
Author: Kathy Boles-Turner
Word Count: 336
Warnings: Experimental; Creative Nonfiction; A Judgment On Humankind
Title: The Text
Author: Kristina Van Hoose
Word Count: 399
Warnings: None
Title: The Camel
Author: Shane Bell
Word Count: 400
Warnings: Severe Language
Title: No. My Birthday.
Author: skyllairae
Word Count: 341
Warnings: emotional trigger: abuse
VOTE HERE
Our July contest is almost over. The only thing left to do is read our week four entries for "The beginnings of all things are small."
I hope you had fun writing with us this month. We truly enjoyed having you. Hopefully, you are already cooking up plots for RicoChey's first August challenge. (There was no sign-up so you can jump WRITE in.)
Be sure you invite your friends to read with us and write with us. The more contestants that turn out, the more opportunities for challenge we will have.
Remember to share feedback with your fellow writers. Being voted for is nice, but most of us also want to know how our writing appealed to another - be it our wordplay, our imagination, or choice in character. Talk to each other - share some #commentlove - this is a community to promote growth in creativity and craft.
Your reading list awaits.
Title: it starts small in all directions
Author: alethessa
Word Count: 109 or 211
Warnings: domestic violence implied in one direction of reading
Title: Lunch
Author: ayumidah
Word Count: 400
Warnings: none
Title: Prophesied
Author: Bibi Nafeeza Yusuf
Word Count: 400
Warnings: none
Title: From small beginnings
Author: bluegerl
Word Count: 317
Warnings: no warnings
Title: Germ
Author: Kathy Boles-Turner
Word Count: 336
Warnings: Experimental; Creative Nonfiction; A Judgment On Humankind
Title: The Text
Author: Kristina Van Hoose
Word Count: 399
Warnings: None
Title: The Camel
Author: Shane Bell
Word Count: 400
Warnings: Severe Language
Title: No. My Birthday.
Author: skyllairae
Word Count: 341
Warnings: emotional trigger: abuse
VOTE HERE
Tags:
Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of Rome's greatest orators once said,
"The beginnings of all things are small."
Let this be the spark for your last submission in our Month-o-Minis - the seed for your beanstalk, the frenetic atom that sets a new universe in motion with a bang.
Our week four contest is for the prompt, "The beginnings of all things are small." Use it as inspiration for an idea or even your first sentence, the choice is yours. All entries should be no more than 400 words and are due by 11:45 pm EDT on Saturday, August 1st. Only one entry per person, no JFF entries accepted.
Thank you all for writing with us this month! We have enjoyed your writing and your feedback.
Registered writers for week four:
Shane Bell
quill-quirks
Kristina Van Hoose
B.Nafeeza
Heather
skyllairae
Sonya
Kathy Boles-Turner
ayumidah
bluegerl
hwango
alethessa
Good writing!
Just a reminder for those who are new to Brigit's Flame. Your entry should be posted to an online blog or journal with public reading access for the duration of the voting process (anywhere from three days to a week). Work you submit to the contest always belongs to you. It should be original work and first written for the prompt provided.
Submit Here
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One last contest in our Month-o-Minis!
Sign up now to write with us for Week Four.
Your prompt will be posted on Sunday (7/26).
This contest will be limited to those who sign up to participate by Friday, July 24. Get your name in before midnight Eastern time.
Shane Bell and quill_quirks made a blanket sign-up for the whole month, so they are already counted on the list.
In addition to the verbal prompt you'll get this weekend, the week four contest will have a word cap of 400 and only one submission will be accepted per writer.
Put your name in below and look for the prompt on Sunday.
Be sure you are following us on facebook, twitter, tumblr, or wordpress so you don't miss a deadline.
Hello my friendly Flames,
Let’s talk about humor. Do you write funny?
I had a couple of free hours at work the other day, so I slipped into sneak-a-peek-at-the-internet mode (thank you Samsung). I was looking for advice on a completely different topic when I stumbled across an article labeled: “15 tactics for writing humor”. I had to read it because I like to be funny, but I have trouble syncing my humor with my intent.
This is just one example of me trying to be funny and slamming face-long into the glass.
So what I want to know is, are there really only 15 tactics? Because I need way more help than that. I’m thinking a full battle plan with that involves a map and those wooden carvings that represent troops.
What first made me lean in and really connect with the above article was the author’s statement that he disagreed with the notion that humor cannot be taught/learned. I’ve always thought that the assumption of native talent was logical because some people are funny and some aren’t. Realistically though, most of the unfunny people I’ve met did not even want to be funny. So maybe there is hope for those of us are willing to work for it.
Here are the fifteen tactics from the article in handy bullet points:
There are tons of examples (with links to visuals) in the article from pop culture and the author conveyed his points well, so I won’t rewrite the article. But pulling solely from the resource of the TV show “Arrested Development” I’d like to pick some laugh out loud moments and tie them to their bullet point.
My sense of humor is not typical. I adore the dry British humor and I find stupid humor personally embarrassing. I stay away from exploiters of it like: Ben Stiller, Will Farrell, Adam Sandler. That said, all three of these guys have one or two films in their body of work that I enjoy. Jason Bateman, on the other hand, rarely makes a movie I don’t like. This is how I got sucked into watching “Arrested Development” and evangelizing it like I’d just discovered comedy.
In the very first episode, the family matriarch (an aged, boozy, narcissist who strikes me as the dark mirror version of Nancy Reagan) points out a group of protesters on a party boat near the family’s yacht.
“Just look at those homosexuals. Everything they do is soooo dramatic. It makes me want to set myself on fire!” - That one is a combo of 1 and 14 with a little 5a thrown in.
Her daughter is standing next to her and makes a shocked face over the spoken prejudice, then she points out one of the protesters (dressed like a pirate) and muses that she thinks she has that same shirt. Her mother - ever the caustic wonder - snarks, “It looks better on him.” Mother Bluth makes a face that says she is definitely keeping score and just gave herself a point. Then sips her drink. This speaks to 3/3a, but it’s part-way through the first episode so you can only suspect. The last tidbit of humor the writers squeezed from this scene is that the daughter’s husband is on the party boat of protesters. He joined the group due to a miscommunication (10) and, also due to a miscommunication, he is the only one dressed like a pirate. It is indeed his wife’s shirt.
The whole scene played out in 30 seconds - with a bit of set up throughout the 30 minute episode for the husband falling in with the protesters. To some this might be offensive, but the writers aren’t against homosexuality, they have one character whose tiny mind is exaggerated. She looks down on everyone with equal measure, including her own family.
As a humor bonus, I’ve included this seven-minute video of visual comedy tactics for film that I find really interesting. Edgar Wright (no relation) is a British director I’ve admired for a while. He and his cohorts (Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) make excellent comedy together.
[vimeo 96558506 w=500 h=281]
Edgar Wright - How to Do Visual Comedy from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.
*in case that embedded link doesn't work right, here's another - https://vimeo.com/tonyzhou/edgarwright
Talk to me about your favorite expressions of comedy. What gets you laughing? What kind of humor is a struggle for you? Is there a line or scene in one of your stories that you are particularly proud of? Do you have a favorite comedic writer? Do they write storied fiction or ironic commentaries on life? There are so many things we could talk about under this umbrella, maybe we’ll cover a few specific works in future chatter posts.
Reminders:
There is a sign-up sheet for June writing. Don’t miss out.
The reading list has been up since Tuesday. There are a few more days to cast your vote.
Read. Comment. Vote.
Our next flamestorming session in Google Hangouts is scheduled for June 14th. Join us for the storm.
Let’s talk about humor. Do you write funny?
I had a couple of free hours at work the other day, so I slipped into sneak-a-peek-at-the-internet mode (thank you Samsung). I was looking for advice on a completely different topic when I stumbled across an article labeled: “15 tactics for writing humor”. I had to read it because I like to be funny, but I have trouble syncing my humor with my intent.
For example -
When leaving a job interview the other day, I found myself in the elevator lobby with a young man wearing a backpack sporting the company logo. He was also sipping from a large plastic cup with the logo and holding a paper gift bag in company colors with the three letter acronym emblazoned on the side. I’m not one for small talk, but I’d just left a very chatty meeting I was nervous about. Before I’d really considered my no talking to strangers Suburb Girl rule, my mouth started up and I found myself awkwardly saying,
“Soooo you got all the swag…”
Young man sips something like lemonade, then looks up at me with a question in his eyebrow. I sort of flap my hand around to draw a vague circle around his logo-ed stuff. He shifts his shoulder to look at his backpack in the elevator door reflection.
“I’m leaving the company,” he says. “Today is my last day.”
…
…
…
“Was the backpack not big enough?” I ask with a silly smirk.
Quite obviously, it was a joke. Yet he seemed annoyed like I was prying and explained, “I found a better position.”
This is just one example of me trying to be funny and slamming face-long into the glass.
So what I want to know is, are there really only 15 tactics? Because I need way more help than that. I’m thinking a full battle plan with that involves a map and those wooden carvings that represent troops.
What first made me lean in and really connect with the above article was the author’s statement that he disagreed with the notion that humor cannot be taught/learned. I’ve always thought that the assumption of native talent was logical because some people are funny and some aren’t. Realistically though, most of the unfunny people I’ve met did not even want to be funny. So maybe there is hope for those of us are willing to work for it.
Here are the fifteen tactics from the article in handy bullet points:
- Overstatements and Exaggerations
- The Understatement
- Playing Off a Sense of History and/or Predictability
- On-going Jokes
- Relatability
- Presentation
- Emphasis
- Don’t Laugh at Your Own Jokes
- Fish Out of Water
- Beating Around the Bush
- Stating the Obvious
- Over-complication and Over-simplification
- Miscommunication
- Defying Expectations
- Thoughts vs. Words
- Awkward and Reactionary
- Gutter Humor
- Stereotypes
- Stupidity Humor
There are tons of examples (with links to visuals) in the article from pop culture and the author conveyed his points well, so I won’t rewrite the article. But pulling solely from the resource of the TV show “Arrested Development” I’d like to pick some laugh out loud moments and tie them to their bullet point.
My sense of humor is not typical. I adore the dry British humor and I find stupid humor personally embarrassing. I stay away from exploiters of it like: Ben Stiller, Will Farrell, Adam Sandler. That said, all three of these guys have one or two films in their body of work that I enjoy. Jason Bateman, on the other hand, rarely makes a movie I don’t like. This is how I got sucked into watching “Arrested Development” and evangelizing it like I’d just discovered comedy.
In the very first episode, the family matriarch (an aged, boozy, narcissist who strikes me as the dark mirror version of Nancy Reagan) points out a group of protesters on a party boat near the family’s yacht.
“Just look at those homosexuals. Everything they do is soooo dramatic. It makes me want to set myself on fire!” - That one is a combo of 1 and 14 with a little 5a thrown in.
Her daughter is standing next to her and makes a shocked face over the spoken prejudice, then she points out one of the protesters (dressed like a pirate) and muses that she thinks she has that same shirt. Her mother - ever the caustic wonder - snarks, “It looks better on him.” Mother Bluth makes a face that says she is definitely keeping score and just gave herself a point. Then sips her drink. This speaks to 3/3a, but it’s part-way through the first episode so you can only suspect. The last tidbit of humor the writers squeezed from this scene is that the daughter’s husband is on the party boat of protesters. He joined the group due to a miscommunication (10) and, also due to a miscommunication, he is the only one dressed like a pirate. It is indeed his wife’s shirt.
The whole scene played out in 30 seconds - with a bit of set up throughout the 30 minute episode for the husband falling in with the protesters. To some this might be offensive, but the writers aren’t against homosexuality, they have one character whose tiny mind is exaggerated. She looks down on everyone with equal measure, including her own family.
As a humor bonus, I’ve included this seven-minute video of visual comedy tactics for film that I find really interesting. Edgar Wright (no relation) is a British director I’ve admired for a while. He and his cohorts (Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) make excellent comedy together.
[vimeo 96558506 w=500 h=281]
Edgar Wright - How to Do Visual Comedy from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.
*in case that embedded link doesn't work right, here's another - https://vimeo.com/tonyzhou/edgarwright
Talk to me about your favorite expressions of comedy. What gets you laughing? What kind of humor is a struggle for you? Is there a line or scene in one of your stories that you are particularly proud of? Do you have a favorite comedic writer? Do they write storied fiction or ironic commentaries on life? There are so many things we could talk about under this umbrella, maybe we’ll cover a few specific works in future chatter posts.
Reminders:
There is a sign-up sheet for June writing. Don’t miss out.
The reading list has been up since Tuesday. There are a few more days to cast your vote.
Read. Comment. Vote.
Our next flamestorming session in Google Hangouts is scheduled for June 14th. Join us for the storm.
Well, here we are, Wednesday. The last week of May. Exciting, no?
The deadline for the May contest was yesterday and I would like to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of everyone in this community. Thank you so much for your participation and support. I know we all can’t wait to read the fruits of all your hard work and dedication to writing.
For today’s chatter. I would like you to consider the words of poet Carolyn Forche. I was fortunate enough to remember to schedule a reading she gave in Conway, Arkansas, earlier this year, into my calendar. I almost didn’t go; my car had a flat tire and was running on the spare. But I’m glad I went because, as she read, she offered this piece of advice: get to the end.
The way I write, I do not think of where the end will be, what will happen, what message I want to leave my reader with. Today I encourage you to talk about your process of ending and how you crafted the end of your month-long journey here.
If you did not participate in this month’s challenge, please join the conversation and tell us how you decided to end something, anything.
#govoteflames for your favorite May story/poetry collection now! The posts are up and the writers have spoken! #goread and support your fellow Flames and be sure to share your thoughts on the awesome work everyone has done this month.
Then #gosignup for the June contest now!
The deadline for the May contest was yesterday and I would like to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of everyone in this community. Thank you so much for your participation and support. I know we all can’t wait to read the fruits of all your hard work and dedication to writing.
For today’s chatter. I would like you to consider the words of poet Carolyn Forche. I was fortunate enough to remember to schedule a reading she gave in Conway, Arkansas, earlier this year, into my calendar. I almost didn’t go; my car had a flat tire and was running on the spare. But I’m glad I went because, as she read, she offered this piece of advice: get to the end.
The way I write, I do not think of where the end will be, what will happen, what message I want to leave my reader with. Today I encourage you to talk about your process of ending and how you crafted the end of your month-long journey here.
If you did not participate in this month’s challenge, please join the conversation and tell us how you decided to end something, anything.
#govoteflames for your favorite May story/poetry collection now! The posts are up and the writers have spoken! #goread and support your fellow Flames and be sure to share your thoughts on the awesome work everyone has done this month.
Then #gosignup for the June contest now!
Soft. What light through yonder window breaks? It is the Flame and I am the moon.
Last week Act III rounded out our stories leaving us one more approach of the audience to deliver our epilogue. For what is past is prologue.
How did our writers deliver that fond farewell?
Your reading list:
Title: Ilya's tale.
Author: bluegerl
Word Count: 850
Warnings: None.
Title: In Destruction Lies The Seed Of Birth
Author: darlinleo/Kathy
Word Count:143
Cento Poetry
Title: Happy Launch Day
Author: jlly_Tami
Word Count: 2,676
Warnings: One profanity and death.
JFF
Title: King Richard III.
Author: bluegerl
Word Count: 820
Warnings: no
The polls close by 11:45pm on Wednesday (EDT).
With this competition the goal is to write a four part story, so we will suspend weekly eliminations and choose the best, complete work that meets the three acts and an epilogue criteria at the end of the month. There will be a poll each week to provide feedback for the writer on how well received their story was, but the votes that choose a winner will not happen until May 1st.
Remember when you are voting to consider how well the writer has met the criteria given.
The contest is now closed to new competitors, but we encourage any latecomers to submit as JFF if their inner bard is provoked by a prompt.
Be sure to spread some comment love, let your fellow writers know they are appreciated. If it's an off-site blog and you have trouble with commenting, feel free to share your comments here and we'll pass them along. In fact, I encourage you to share some [constructive] public thoughts below with the community. Let's talk about what we read, together.
We love it when our Embers write, but we also need the community to come together and read what's being submitted. Even if you didn't have time to write this week, please take a few minutes to read and encourage your friends to read as well. Share our fire!
VOTING POLL
Last week Act III rounded out our stories leaving us one more approach of the audience to deliver our epilogue. For what is past is prologue.
How did our writers deliver that fond farewell?
Your reading list:
Title: Ilya's tale.
Author: bluegerl
Word Count: 850
Warnings: None.
Title: In Destruction Lies The Seed Of Birth
Author: darlinleo/Kathy
Word Count:143
Cento Poetry
Title: Happy Launch Day
Author: jlly_Tami
Word Count: 2,676
Warnings: One profanity and death.
JFF
Title: King Richard III.
Author: bluegerl
Word Count: 820
Warnings: no
The polls close by 11:45pm on Wednesday (EDT).
With this competition the goal is to write a four part story, so we will suspend weekly eliminations and choose the best, complete work that meets the three acts and an epilogue criteria at the end of the month. There will be a poll each week to provide feedback for the writer on how well received their story was, but the votes that choose a winner will not happen until May 1st.
Remember when you are voting to consider how well the writer has met the criteria given.
The contest is now closed to new competitors, but we encourage any latecomers to submit as JFF if their inner bard is provoked by a prompt.
Be sure to spread some comment love, let your fellow writers know they are appreciated. If it's an off-site blog and you have trouble with commenting, feel free to share your comments here and we'll pass them along. In fact, I encourage you to share some [constructive] public thoughts below with the community. Let's talk about what we read, together.
We love it when our Embers write, but we also need the community to come together and read what's being submitted. Even if you didn't have time to write this week, please take a few minutes to read and encourage your friends to read as well. Share our fire!
VOTING POLL
Tags:
Good morn’, Flames.
The voting for Week Three is open.
The topic has been launched for Week Four — what shape does your Epilogue take?
The last few days of APAD are ticking away — check it out here.
My biggest writing project was meant to be a massive collaboration between myself and a friend. That friendship has since fallen apart and the rights (and work) have all been passed onto me. It’s looking like it’s gonna take at least five books to cover, so it’s going to be a huge undertaking every step of the way.
This happens to me fairly routinely. People come to me — “Hey, Cheyenne, you know how you can do that writing thing? Well how I about I tell you an idea and you just, like, write it?” It’s happened at least four times, and the pitch is identical every time. They tell me what they want, and I do the labor. The only reason the first one took on such a life of its own is because I contributed a great deal of the intellectual material, so it still feels like my own. The other endeavors, however, feel a lot like work.
The most recent project comes from my own boyfriend, who can write a bit, but apparently not enough. He has a brilliant mind and a vivid imagination, so stepping inside his ideas is always enjoyable. What isn’t enjoyable is trying to make sense of the timeline of his ideas. He’s one of those people who thinks “a guy shows up and saves everyone with a magic weapon” is sufficient to fill the bulk of 400 pages, because “that’s what happens!” It takes a lot of interrogation to get him to put fine detail on every single thought he has. As a writer (and a talker), I have difficulty tolerating his succinct nature. As a man of few words, he has difficulty understanding what my problem is. We’re a match made in heaven. I’m looking forward to the project, but this hang up may kill me.
Have you ever, or are you currently collaborating to complete a literary project? If not, have you ever considered it? Why or why not? What might be most difficult for you?
Tags:
Welcome to Week Four! Acts I, II, and III are now behind us, and it is time to conclude your tales. Today, I launch this topic at precisely 0626MST (that’s 0826 CDT, as I was born in Iowa), in honor of the exact moment of my birth, on this day, twenty-eight years ago. I was even born on a Sunday. Let’s talk topic! Remember, April is a themed month, so if you need help understanding the goal, visit this link to read the preamble I presented before the prompt for Week One. We can also address questions in the comments, if you need a little clarification. To put it basically, we are dividing up the four weeks of April into four parts of a “play” (the entries do not have to be plays): ACT I, ACT II, ACT III, and Epilogue. Visit the aforementioned link for specifics!
Are you ready for a deliberately contradictory quote to round off the month?
Epilogue – “What is past is prologue.”
The last lines of dialog are spoken, the last gestures are made; the lights dim slowly as the curtain glides with a soft finality toward the stage. The production seems to have come to an end. Then, a lone figure crosses from stage right to stands beneath a center stage spotlight to speak into the otherwise darkened theater. The epilogue — defined as “a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work” — brings closure to what has been seen here, and the audience sighs, soothed by the final resolution of the evening.
I enjoy epilogues. A poweful, distinctive last moment before the true end of a tale. I realize there is a generally accepted definition of a prologue as aforementioned, but I feel as though they can take many shapes. Truly, there may be myriad ways to reinvent and re-imagine the concept of the “final words”. Because I am nowhere near the closing and final thoughts of my life, I will share a classic bit of epilogue instead, from the very mind of the artist we have spent the month quoting and celebrating.
”If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.”
In the tradition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Puck, and in whatever format you desire, spin me a conclusion to your tale worthy of quotation. I challenge you to a concluding thought, scene, or stream of consciousness so powerful, it will ring in my mind for weeks to come. Interpret this as you will, and write what you must.
Remember that entries are meant to complement one another as a series, and that the concepts of “Epilogue”, Puck’s Epilogue, and the Shakespearean quote provided are for inspiration and do not necessarily represent a requirement for content or word use.
The poll is here. Week Four closes at 2345EDT on Sunday, May 3rd.
Tags:
Good morning, Flames and Readers of the Flame!
This month has seen some great inspiration. Not just in topics, but for genre as well. Sadly, this is our last reading for March, but after a brief interlude for art, RicoChey will be taking the reigns and delivery our prompts for April.
Also, you might want to join Bardi and Kathy (darlinleo) in writing A Poem A Day for April. We'll have a sub-menu on the wordpress page for you to share links to your APAD poetry, or message me with your wordpress url and I'll give you author rights to share your APAD directly to the page on the Brigit's Flame wordpress site.
Our week four assignment from darlinleo was to ramp up the suspense while writing for the theme "The Devil I have Not Met".
Our own cedarwolfsinger was on a musical retreat this weekend and was not able to contribute so bluegerl wins March by default, but check out her competitive submission as well all of the just for fun entries and share some love.
Your reading list awaits:
Title: Come Again
Author: Bluegerl
Word Count: 190
Warnings: none
JFF
Title: The Cheap Thrill
Author: skyllairae
Word Count: 560
Warnings: suspense, hopefully :)
Title: The Devil's Apprentice
Author: Bluegerl
Word Count: 488
Warnings: none
Title: Waking Up
Author: jlly_Tami
Word Count: 2,555
Warnings: some violence and adult situations/references
Get your reading done early and cast your votes by 11:45pm on Wednesday. Since the winner is predetermined, you can have as many votes as you want.
Don't forget to drop a note to your fellow writers to let them know they are appreciated. If it's an off-site blog and you have trouble with commenting, feel free to share your comments here and we'll pass them along. In fact, I encourage you to share some public thoughts below with the community. Let's talk about what we read, together.
We love it when our Embers write, but we also need the community to come together and read what's being submitted. Even if you didn't have time to write this week, please take a few minutes to read and encourage your friends to read as well. Share our fire!
VOTING POLL
This month has seen some great inspiration. Not just in topics, but for genre as well. Sadly, this is our last reading for March, but after a brief interlude for art, RicoChey will be taking the reigns and delivery our prompts for April.
Also, you might want to join Bardi and Kathy (darlinleo) in writing A Poem A Day for April. We'll have a sub-menu on the wordpress page for you to share links to your APAD poetry, or message me with your wordpress url and I'll give you author rights to share your APAD directly to the page on the Brigit's Flame wordpress site.
Our week four assignment from darlinleo was to ramp up the suspense while writing for the theme "The Devil I have Not Met".
Our own cedarwolfsinger was on a musical retreat this weekend and was not able to contribute so bluegerl wins March by default, but check out her competitive submission as well all of the just for fun entries and share some love.
Your reading list awaits:
Title: Come Again
Author: Bluegerl
Word Count: 190
Warnings: none
JFF
Title: The Cheap Thrill
Author: skyllairae
Word Count: 560
Warnings: suspense, hopefully :)
Title: The Devil's Apprentice
Author: Bluegerl
Word Count: 488
Warnings: none
Title: Waking Up
Author: jlly_Tami
Word Count: 2,555
Warnings: some violence and adult situations/references
Get your reading done early and cast your votes by 11:45pm on Wednesday. Since the winner is predetermined, you can have as many votes as you want.
Don't forget to drop a note to your fellow writers to let them know they are appreciated. If it's an off-site blog and you have trouble with commenting, feel free to share your comments here and we'll pass them along. In fact, I encourage you to share some public thoughts below with the community. Let's talk about what we read, together.
We love it when our Embers write, but we also need the community to come together and read what's being submitted. Even if you didn't have time to write this week, please take a few minutes to read and encourage your friends to read as well. Share our fire!
VOTING POLL
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Good morning, Flamfolk!
Our topic this week is nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, suspenseful thrill writing in the form of "The Devil I Have Not Met". (I probably blew up the comma rules on that sentence. Forgive?)
I absolutely love a good thriller. Though I prefer psychological thrillers to the gore and mayhem kind - Elizabeth George is a good writer for that. One of my favorite books of hers is in the Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley series and is called "In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner".
I enjoy that moment when you get to the last line of a chapter and you slowly turn the page wondering through all of the possible outcomes - those Sherlock brain cells firing off theories mere nanoseconds before you find out What Happened. It's almost as much fun as the ratcheting haul up the roller coaster just before gravity swoops you down the other side.
Have you read any good thrillers lately? Share please?
Be sure to join in the writing fun for this week's topic.
Congrats to cedar and bluegerl on making it to week four. Don't forget that JFF entries are still welcome - if the devil gives you a reason to write.
Our topic this week is nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, suspenseful thrill writing in the form of "The Devil I Have Not Met". (I probably blew up the comma rules on that sentence. Forgive?)
I absolutely love a good thriller. Though I prefer psychological thrillers to the gore and mayhem kind - Elizabeth George is a good writer for that. One of my favorite books of hers is in the Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley series and is called "In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner".
I enjoy that moment when you get to the last line of a chapter and you slowly turn the page wondering through all of the possible outcomes - those Sherlock brain cells firing off theories mere nanoseconds before you find out What Happened. It's almost as much fun as the ratcheting haul up the roller coaster just before gravity swoops you down the other side.
Have you read any good thrillers lately? Share please?
Be sure to join in the writing fun for this week's topic.
Congrats to cedar and bluegerl on making it to week four. Don't forget that JFF entries are still welcome - if the devil gives you a reason to write.
Goooooood morning, Brigit’s Flame!
The final topic for March is up and it’s delicious. How will you encounter The Devil I Have Not Met?
I have both a sentence AND an anecdotal question for you this morning. First, let me tell you how I spent my weekend. I went out Friday night with a friend to watch her have her septum pierced, and now I am obsessed with the idea of having my ears redone.
In 2010, I have 10g horseshoes in both ears. I was working up to a 6g because that’s where all the good jewelry starts. While visiting friends, I had an accident which led to the left one being RIPPED OUT by a car door. It took ten stitches to put my earlobe back together and eventually I let the right one close up on its own. I hadn’t considered starting over. Now it’s all I can think about.
I’m not one for body art, at least not for myself. For one thing, I don’t like needles. For another, I don’t like permanence, commitment, or damaging small parts of me irreversibly. So, ya know, piercings and tattoos are beyond me. They’re so beautiful though, when well executed. I always think someday I’ll be brave and inspired enough to have something done, but I ALWAYS punk out. I’m just a big weenie.
Are you a fan of body modification? Do you have any pieces you’d like to tell us about, or even show us? As with many, is it an addiction for you, or just a whimsy?
I also have a starter sentence for you! If you don’t remember the rules, just make sure you’re only contributing ONE sentence at a time, and that you’re allowing at least two turns in between your last turn and your current one. Here we go!: “I awoke to the shrill sound of something scraping along the length of the tall, glass windows…”
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(eadard00dlesandcheese Mar. 2nd, 2015 06:18 am)
eadard00dlesandcheese Mar. 2nd, 2015 06:18 am)Good morning, Brigit's Flame!
Today is the final reading list for February's Drabble mini-contests. I hope you all had fun writing your tiny tales.
This list is made up of submissions written for the drabble prompt - “Ha!—would a madman have been so wise as this?”.
Title: End Game
Author:ayumidah
Word Count: 100
Warnings: none
Title: At Last
Author:darlinleo
Word Count: 48
Warnings: none
Title: Wiseman
Author: missflyer
Word Count: 14
Warnings: none
Title: The Path
Author: Bluegerl
Word Count: 92
Warnings: none
The voting will not be open all week, so get your reading done early and cast your votes by 11:45pm on Thursday. There will be only one winning drabble, but we'll give you three votes to weigh in with the other readers.
Don't forget to drop a note to your fellow writers to let them know they are appreciated. If it's an off-site blog and you have trouble with commenting, feel free to share your comments here and we'll pass them along. In fact, I encourage you to share some public thoughts below with the community. Let's talk about what we read, together.
We love it when our Embers write, but we also need the community to come together and read what's being submitted. Even if you didn't have time to write this week, please take a few minutes to read and encourage your friends to read as well. Share our fire!
VOTING POLL
Today is the final reading list for February's Drabble mini-contests. I hope you all had fun writing your tiny tales.
This list is made up of submissions written for the drabble prompt - “Ha!—would a madman have been so wise as this?”.
Title: End Game
Author:
ayumidahWord Count: 100
Warnings: none
Title: At Last
Author:
darlinleoWord Count: 48
Warnings: none
Title: Wiseman
Author: missflyer
Word Count: 14
Warnings: none
Title: The Path
Author: Bluegerl
Word Count: 92
Warnings: none
The voting will not be open all week, so get your reading done early and cast your votes by 11:45pm on Thursday. There will be only one winning drabble, but we'll give you three votes to weigh in with the other readers.
Don't forget to drop a note to your fellow writers to let them know they are appreciated. If it's an off-site blog and you have trouble with commenting, feel free to share your comments here and we'll pass them along. In fact, I encourage you to share some public thoughts below with the community. Let's talk about what we read, together.
We love it when our Embers write, but we also need the community to come together and read what's being submitted. Even if you didn't have time to write this week, please take a few minutes to read and encourage your friends to read as well. Share our fire!
VOTING POLL
Tags:
Good Morning Flamelings!
Let’s talk about life’s little distractions.
I am a creature of habit. I love making lists, checkmarking them off and having a routine on which I do these things. Part of the reason I do this is because I have a terrible memory so it helps things run smoothly in my life and the other part of why I do it is that I’m inherently lazy. There, I said it. I don’t like the fact that I am lazy but I am. I find shortcuts to everything that I can. Unfortunately that only truly gives me joy when I’m at work, playing in Excel.
This coming weekend I am going to visit my mother so it was doubly important that I stick to my weekend routine last week because I essentially had to do two weekends worth of stuff in one weekend and introduce some of the to-do list into the week work, which I hate doing. List was made, plans were set and then, bam. I fell sick with a sinus infection; not one of those piddly little bounceback ones, but make me fall to my knees, don’t want to get out of bed, someone chop off my head so I’d feel better ones.
I didn’t do anything on my list. I simply didn’t have the energy. Now my whole routine is down the drain and I’m all willy nilly about everything. It increases my stress and my memory loss. I’ve also suffered from not knowing what day it is and what I still need to do to prepare for my visit to my mother’s to making sure my cats are okay while I’m gone.
One little distraction in life has burst my bubble. Do you ever put yourself into these situations where one tiny little bump throws off everything? Is it worse when it’s a big distraction or a little one? On the other hand, do you sail through everything that life throws at you?
Reminders:
Voting deadline for week 3 heart-shaped paper is Thursday, February 26th 11:45pm EST (tonight). Show some love to the Flamelings that got inspired.
Submission deadline for the mini contest for week 4 ‘Ha!—would a madman have been so wise as this?’ is Sunday, March 1st 11:45pm EST.
Workshops are still ongoing; click here to find both the dialogue and drabble ones!Good morning to you, Flamefolk.
Do your characters get along?
I have a novel I started back in 2008 that is a far-future, full sci-fi, epic adventure through the stars. It is very precious to me as it was the first work of long fiction that I was ever able to commit myself to intensely and it was my NaNoWriMo project for that year. I reached a word count of about 165k after NaNo (without an ending). Exhausted, I put it away for a bit. When I took it back out I saw that it was not an unfinished novel but a great word beast that needed cropped, tamed, trained, deloused, and quite possibly exorcised.
My solution to this was to start rewriting the tale in snippets that condensed scenes to the best parts I'd written the first time around. I shared one such snippet with Boyfriend, my official beta reader, who (upon reading it) grabbed me by the shoulders and demanded to know why he had never heard about any of this before. Or he may have texted the question, the whole shoulder thing sounds a bit dramatic for him. I explained about the beast and the Catholic church's unwillingness to send a priest. Boyfriend dashed his stein to the floor and demanded I send him the entire work so that he might judge its worthiness. In the end, he didn't like it. The really boring stuff I was writing around with the new snippets intrigued him, but the parts and characters I loved he didn't.
One of his major complaints was that everyone got along.
To explain, I have two complete story tracks following one main character each. Main 1 is alone on her track and provides much of the history of the story in her reminiscences. The other is the hero who picks up stray humans he finds in destroyed or unsuitable ships as he travels across the Milky Way. The population on his ship goes from one to about eighty over the course of his journey and there are about twelve key players who provide the meat of the story in dialog and interaction with Main 2. These are the people who get along in a way that bugs my reader. I contend that they are being polite and respectful after having been rescued and that they are working together as a team against a common enemy. He says there's no way those twelve people would all play nice with no interpersonal conflict.
I figure there's a way that we are both right in this, but I haven't found that mix yet so I haven't rewritten the scenes. Since he brought it up, it's something I've started paying more attention to when reading or viewing TV shows and movies. The Walking Dead is a great example of a group of people who are bonded in adversity, need each other, and are always surfing through interpersonal conflicts while dispatching their enemy as a team. I need those guys on my spaceship. We are also watching our way through one of the Stargate franchises where all of the characters are trapped aboard an ancient Ancient alien vessel that is something like seven billion light years from Earth. They are in constant interpersonal conflicts and the four key characters are always scheming in ways that make me dislike them. I don't really want any of them on my crew, but if I maybe had one of them things might be more interesting.
This novel has a long way to go to get from beast to writer's best friend.
What are your thoughts on interpersonal conflict between characters in your writing and in your chosen form of entertainment intake?
Does that conflict happen naturally as you write or do you have to work at it? Do you have an ideal ratio?
Enlighten me :)
Just a few reminders and announcements and such -
February series of mini-contests 1 of 4 was won by RicoChey for the topic "Curioser & curiouser".
February series of mini-contests 2 of 4 was won by RicoChey for the topic "PBJ".
February series of mini-contests 3 of 4 is in the voting phase right now. Please put an end to RicoChey's reign of terror when casting your vote for the topic "Heart-shaped Paper".
Do you want to do more in the fight against RicoChey? Then join us for the final week of writing drabble in mini-contest 4 of 4. Submissions are due Sunday by 11:45 pm. The topic is "Ha! -- would a madman have been so wise as this?"
There are also a few workshops for dialogue if you want to work, work on the talking in your writing. You really need to stop procrastinating and do that. (Note to self.)
#gowrite #fiction #writing #nonfiction #poetry #drabble #brigitsflame
Do your characters get along?
I have a novel I started back in 2008 that is a far-future, full sci-fi, epic adventure through the stars. It is very precious to me as it was the first work of long fiction that I was ever able to commit myself to intensely and it was my NaNoWriMo project for that year. I reached a word count of about 165k after NaNo (without an ending). Exhausted, I put it away for a bit. When I took it back out I saw that it was not an unfinished novel but a great word beast that needed cropped, tamed, trained, deloused, and quite possibly exorcised.
My solution to this was to start rewriting the tale in snippets that condensed scenes to the best parts I'd written the first time around. I shared one such snippet with Boyfriend, my official beta reader, who (upon reading it) grabbed me by the shoulders and demanded to know why he had never heard about any of this before. Or he may have texted the question, the whole shoulder thing sounds a bit dramatic for him. I explained about the beast and the Catholic church's unwillingness to send a priest. Boyfriend dashed his stein to the floor and demanded I send him the entire work so that he might judge its worthiness. In the end, he didn't like it. The really boring stuff I was writing around with the new snippets intrigued him, but the parts and characters I loved he didn't.
One of his major complaints was that everyone got along.
To explain, I have two complete story tracks following one main character each. Main 1 is alone on her track and provides much of the history of the story in her reminiscences. The other is the hero who picks up stray humans he finds in destroyed or unsuitable ships as he travels across the Milky Way. The population on his ship goes from one to about eighty over the course of his journey and there are about twelve key players who provide the meat of the story in dialog and interaction with Main 2. These are the people who get along in a way that bugs my reader. I contend that they are being polite and respectful after having been rescued and that they are working together as a team against a common enemy. He says there's no way those twelve people would all play nice with no interpersonal conflict.
I figure there's a way that we are both right in this, but I haven't found that mix yet so I haven't rewritten the scenes. Since he brought it up, it's something I've started paying more attention to when reading or viewing TV shows and movies. The Walking Dead is a great example of a group of people who are bonded in adversity, need each other, and are always surfing through interpersonal conflicts while dispatching their enemy as a team. I need those guys on my spaceship. We are also watching our way through one of the Stargate franchises where all of the characters are trapped aboard an ancient Ancient alien vessel that is something like seven billion light years from Earth. They are in constant interpersonal conflicts and the four key characters are always scheming in ways that make me dislike them. I don't really want any of them on my crew, but if I maybe had one of them things might be more interesting.
This novel has a long way to go to get from beast to writer's best friend.
What are your thoughts on interpersonal conflict between characters in your writing and in your chosen form of entertainment intake?
Does that conflict happen naturally as you write or do you have to work at it? Do you have an ideal ratio?
Enlighten me :)
Just a few reminders and announcements and such -
February series of mini-contests 1 of 4 was won by RicoChey for the topic "Curioser & curiouser".
February series of mini-contests 2 of 4 was won by RicoChey for the topic "PBJ".
February series of mini-contests 3 of 4 is in the voting phase right now. Please put an end to RicoChey's reign of terror when casting your vote for the topic "Heart-shaped Paper".
Do you want to do more in the fight against RicoChey? Then join us for the final week of writing drabble in mini-contest 4 of 4. Submissions are due Sunday by 11:45 pm. The topic is "Ha! -- would a madman have been so wise as this?"
There are also a few workshops for dialogue if you want to work, work on the talking in your writing. You really need to stop procrastinating and do that. (Note to self.)
#gowrite #fiction #writing #nonfiction #poetry #drabble #brigitsflame
Happy Monday, Flames. The final topic of February is up, and it’ll get your heart going. Need help finding the words? Try a workshop.
In keeping with the theme of short fiction, let’s have some short non-fiction: I have this friend, and though I’ve known her since we were in grade school, we stopped talking for several years right toward the end of high school. We split, led two completely different lives, and somehow crashed back into each other last year. Now, barely a year after reuniting, her husband (also an old friend) has moved to Washington to start a new life for them and she plans to follow him some time in the next year.
I know exactly how difficult it’s going to be for her, missing her husband and eventually having to start a whole new life. I’m pretty much an expert on missing your significant other, and I’ve hauled off and started over twice so far. What’s new for me this time is being the one watching someone else move on and go away. Typically, it’s me doing the leaving. Now I’m not so sure I wasn’t too harsh when I told my friends, “You’ll be fine. I’m just moving, not dying.”
Of course I plan to be supportive, but I’m prepared to take it as a personal affront. I’M supposed to be the one who leaves and gets missed, not the other way around. How am I supposed to process this? Guess I’ll just have to, I dunno, grow or something.
Have you ever had the tables turned on you, quite unexpectedly? How did you deal? Do you think you could have been more graceful?
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