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lilfluffThoughts a third and a thirtieth of the way through Ravenswept's 30 Days of Flashfic
I was going to do an, "A Third of the Way" post, but yesterday got a touch busy and next thing I knew it was Oh-My-Goodness-Way-Too-Late O'clock. So, an extra thirtieth of the way in, here are my thoughts.
The original post called for 250 +/- 50 words a day, but I quickly discovered that my mind isn't wanting to work at that size (which means I'll probably work at doing some that size later, as a sort of mental muscle stretching). So I've switched to a target size of 1/2 to 1 page at OpenOffice Writer's mostly default settings (I have done a few things like switching off smart quotes). Based on a quite check of three days I'll say I'm averaging around 550-600 words. Hey, come November that's already almost a third of the rate that would be needed for NaNoWriMo.
While I have had a few days where I tossed out the first try or two (or three) at a prompt where they either wouldn't fit within the size or just weren't coming together, I have been able to complete each day. After the first day I thought I'd do more sooner with the characters I came up with then, although I did return to them on day ten. More of a surprise was how much fun I had going back to an old RP character from a short attempt at a superhero game.
Mainly for my own use, under a cut I've got a summary of the eleven days scenes.
Days 1 - Hello and Day 10 - A scene focused around a musical instrument
Setting: The Unnamed Colony. Three college students are given the task of caring for a refugee child as part of their studies. Alicia, Melissa and Richard share a suite of rooms and are picked in part because they have a room for Thomas who is an orphan and former slave. In Hello the students discuss their feelings about the program and in Music Therapy Alicia starts to break open Thomas's shell by giving him her old three-quarter size guitar.
Day 2 - A scene with a drunken mythological figure
Setting: Old gods in the modern world.
Bacchus just wants to throw a party and why shouldn't he? Unfortunately the modern view of Cupid has de-aged him from a young man to a precocious (and armed!) toddler. No problem, right? Unfortunately Bacchus's poker game with Thor and Inari is interrupted by Hercules bringing over a very drunk Cupid. Have we mentioned for those who don't know that Cupid's father is Mars?
Day 3 – Write a query letter for a fantasy novel
Setting: Tales of the Mascot
Kyle Ashton is your normal geek just making his way through high school. Until he's pulled over into a fantasy world and made the cute animal mascot and advisor to a group of young heroes to be. The enemy has wizards, monsters, and an army. Kyle has genre awareness from years of reading and watching fantasy stories.
Day 4 – A Hostage Situation and Day 5 – A Scene Written Only in Dialog
Setting: Modern Day
Jeffery didn't mean to be cruel, he just has poor impulse control. After ruining his younger sister Becky's basket of freshly laundered clothes by pouring a soda on it, his older sister Beth decides to embarrass him into behaving. First by making him serve as a mannequin as she put the finishing touches on some dresses she made for Becky. Then later that day he finds himself going out to a restaurant in some of Becky's clothes when he talks back to Beth one too many times.
Days 6 – A Scene with people talking but no actual dialog, 7 – Write Something Dirty, and 9 – Write to the prompt "Roses are Red, Violets are Dead"
Setting: Superheroes
Tonya Thompson had her mutant powers kick in at an unusually young age. She can hear radio signals, produce electric shocks, and possess electronic devices. Unfortunately she learned most of her skills after being kidnapped by a villain who called herself a mutant revolutionary. In Day 6 Tonya takes advantage of current events and slipping mind control to set up the band of villains, handing them over to an ambush by the authorities. Luck isn't with Tonya as the team leader is an anti-mutant bigot who grows bloodthirsty after some of his people fall while capturing the villains. The only good thing for Tonya is that she overhears him ordering one of his team members to arrange for her to be "shot while resisting arrest". In Day 7 Tonya discovers the disadvantages and advantages of fleeing through sewer tunnels. Day 9 comes five years later, when one of the agents who was chasing her in the Day 7 story meets her at the scene of the ambush in Day 6's story.
Day 8 – Write a Scene as a Cat
Setting: Unnamed fantasy world
A wizard made plans within plans and even planned for the risk of being struck down in a duel with one of his rivals. Only he hadn't planned to wake in the body of a newborn kitten... Perhaps he should have treated his servants and apprentices better.
Day 11 – Prompt: A Dragon and A Princess
Setting: Unnamed fantasy world
Baron Erik of Tellany didn't expect to be kidnapped by a dragon, that kind of thing just doesn't happen anymore. He didn't expect to be asked to rescue a princess either. When the dragon and princess are one and the same he realizes life is about to become complicated.
I'm not planning on doing more with Tonya immediately. Although who knows, on some of these days I haven't decided just what to do until sitting down and starting the file. Day 10 was pretty much in mind from the moment I finished Day 1. I will probably make a post sometime soon with some notes for the setting for those two days. Tomorrow's prompt, "Write a scene in a sushi bar," looks to be one of the days where I will have no idea what I'm going to write until I sit down and start writing. On the other hand, day 14's "Write the final scene of a romance novel 'Never Been Caught'" has had an idea percolating in my head from pretty much the start. I'm also hoping my idea for Day 26 "Write a personalized rejection letter for the YA novel 'Sparkle Lust'" will be well received.
It's been fun so far. Quite looking forward to the next nineteen days.
I was going to do an, "A Third of the Way" post, but yesterday got a touch busy and next thing I knew it was Oh-My-Goodness-Way-Too-Late O'clock. So, an extra thirtieth of the way in, here are my thoughts.
The original post called for 250 +/- 50 words a day, but I quickly discovered that my mind isn't wanting to work at that size (which means I'll probably work at doing some that size later, as a sort of mental muscle stretching). So I've switched to a target size of 1/2 to 1 page at OpenOffice Writer's mostly default settings (I have done a few things like switching off smart quotes). Based on a quite check of three days I'll say I'm averaging around 550-600 words. Hey, come November that's already almost a third of the rate that would be needed for NaNoWriMo.
While I have had a few days where I tossed out the first try or two (or three) at a prompt where they either wouldn't fit within the size or just weren't coming together, I have been able to complete each day. After the first day I thought I'd do more sooner with the characters I came up with then, although I did return to them on day ten. More of a surprise was how much fun I had going back to an old RP character from a short attempt at a superhero game.
Mainly for my own use, under a cut I've got a summary of the eleven days scenes.
Days 1 - Hello and Day 10 - A scene focused around a musical instrument
Setting: The Unnamed Colony. Three college students are given the task of caring for a refugee child as part of their studies. Alicia, Melissa and Richard share a suite of rooms and are picked in part because they have a room for Thomas who is an orphan and former slave. In Hello the students discuss their feelings about the program and in Music Therapy Alicia starts to break open Thomas's shell by giving him her old three-quarter size guitar.
Day 2 - A scene with a drunken mythological figure
Setting: Old gods in the modern world.
Bacchus just wants to throw a party and why shouldn't he? Unfortunately the modern view of Cupid has de-aged him from a young man to a precocious (and armed!) toddler. No problem, right? Unfortunately Bacchus's poker game with Thor and Inari is interrupted by Hercules bringing over a very drunk Cupid. Have we mentioned for those who don't know that Cupid's father is Mars?
Day 3 – Write a query letter for a fantasy novel
Setting: Tales of the Mascot
Kyle Ashton is your normal geek just making his way through high school. Until he's pulled over into a fantasy world and made the cute animal mascot and advisor to a group of young heroes to be. The enemy has wizards, monsters, and an army. Kyle has genre awareness from years of reading and watching fantasy stories.
Day 4 – A Hostage Situation and Day 5 – A Scene Written Only in Dialog
Setting: Modern Day
Jeffery didn't mean to be cruel, he just has poor impulse control. After ruining his younger sister Becky's basket of freshly laundered clothes by pouring a soda on it, his older sister Beth decides to embarrass him into behaving. First by making him serve as a mannequin as she put the finishing touches on some dresses she made for Becky. Then later that day he finds himself going out to a restaurant in some of Becky's clothes when he talks back to Beth one too many times.
Days 6 – A Scene with people talking but no actual dialog, 7 – Write Something Dirty, and 9 – Write to the prompt "Roses are Red, Violets are Dead"
Setting: Superheroes
Tonya Thompson had her mutant powers kick in at an unusually young age. She can hear radio signals, produce electric shocks, and possess electronic devices. Unfortunately she learned most of her skills after being kidnapped by a villain who called herself a mutant revolutionary. In Day 6 Tonya takes advantage of current events and slipping mind control to set up the band of villains, handing them over to an ambush by the authorities. Luck isn't with Tonya as the team leader is an anti-mutant bigot who grows bloodthirsty after some of his people fall while capturing the villains. The only good thing for Tonya is that she overhears him ordering one of his team members to arrange for her to be "shot while resisting arrest". In Day 7 Tonya discovers the disadvantages and advantages of fleeing through sewer tunnels. Day 9 comes five years later, when one of the agents who was chasing her in the Day 7 story meets her at the scene of the ambush in Day 6's story.
Day 8 – Write a Scene as a Cat
Setting: Unnamed fantasy world
A wizard made plans within plans and even planned for the risk of being struck down in a duel with one of his rivals. Only he hadn't planned to wake in the body of a newborn kitten... Perhaps he should have treated his servants and apprentices better.
Day 11 – Prompt: A Dragon and A Princess
Setting: Unnamed fantasy world
Baron Erik of Tellany didn't expect to be kidnapped by a dragon, that kind of thing just doesn't happen anymore. He didn't expect to be asked to rescue a princess either. When the dragon and princess are one and the same he realizes life is about to become complicated.
I'm not planning on doing more with Tonya immediately. Although who knows, on some of these days I haven't decided just what to do until sitting down and starting the file. Day 10 was pretty much in mind from the moment I finished Day 1. I will probably make a post sometime soon with some notes for the setting for those two days. Tomorrow's prompt, "Write a scene in a sushi bar," looks to be one of the days where I will have no idea what I'm going to write until I sit down and start writing. On the other hand, day 14's "Write the final scene of a romance novel 'Never Been Caught'" has had an idea percolating in my head from pretty much the start. I'm also hoping my idea for Day 26 "Write a personalized rejection letter for the YA novel 'Sparkle Lust'" will be well received.
It's been fun so far. Quite looking forward to the next nineteen days.
