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Nezumi · Jan 17, 2017

Theme - "Lure"

Word Limit: 3000

Submission Deadline: Friday 27th January by 11:59 PM Pacific.

Voting Deadline: Monday 30th January at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Optional Secondary Objective: New Weird

Wikipedia said:
Various definitions have been given of the genre. According to Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer, in their introduction to the anthology The New Weird, the genre is "a type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy, largely by choosing realistic, complex real-world models as the jumping off point for creation of settings that may combine elements of both science fiction and fantasy." According to Gardner Dozois, however, the VanderMeers' anthology "ultimately left me just as confused as to what exactly The New Weird consisted of when I went out as I'd been when I went in."Robin Anne Reid notes that while the definition of the New Weird is disputed, "a general consensus uses the term" to describe fictions that "subvert cliches of the fantastic in order to put them to discomfiting, rather than consoling ends". Reid also notes the genre tends to break down the barriers between fantasy, science fiction and supernatural horror. In comparing The New Weird to Bizarro fiction, Rose O'Keefe of Eraserhead Press claims that "People buy New Weird because they want cutting edge speculative fiction with a literary slant. Its kind of like slipstream with a side of weirdness."

Part of this genre's roots derive from pulp horror authors, whose stories were sometimes described as "weird fiction". The "weird tale" label also evolved from the magazine Weird Tales; the stories therein often combined fantasy elements, existential and physical terror, and science fiction devices.

Submission Guidelines:

- One entry per poster.
- All submissions must be written during the time of the challenge.
- Using the topic as the title of your piece is discouraged.
- Keep to the word count!
- Follow this rules when posting your entry for easy collection of entries:

Voting Guidelines:

- Three votes per voter. Please denote in your voting your 1st (3 pts), 2nd (2 pts), and 3rd (1 pt) place votes.
- Please read all submissions before voting.
- You must vote in order to be eligible to win the challenge.
- When voting ends, the winner gets a collective pat on the back, and starts the new challenge.

Important side note: A lot of our regulars like to write out short critiques/comments for the stories, but you can always opt out by simply adding a note like "I'd prefer no critiques" in the post where you submit your story. We're an understanding group and respect that not everyone wants comments on their work. Above all, we just want to read your story.

NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge FAQ
Previous Challenge Threads and Themes

Afrocious · Jan 17, 2017

Subbed.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 17, 2017

Oh huh, I thought for sure you were going to do the collab challenge this time. Not complaining, I think this looks really cool.

Mike M · Jan 17, 2017

What was wrong with old weird? It was a perfectly good weird.

Cyan · Jan 17, 2017

Ooooh. I have no idea where to start with New Weird but this should be fun.

Nezumi · Jan 17, 2017

FlowersisBritish said:
Oh huh, I thought for sure you were going to do the collab challenge this time. Not complaining, I think this looks really cool.

Nah, thought about it, but the last one hasn't been that long ago so I decided not to do it. Next time I win is a given though. I hate coming up with secondaries.

Mike M said:
What was wrong with old weird? It was a perfectly good weird.

Funny enough, this secondary was inspired by the fact that I'm currently listening to the first Gormenghast book which is without a doubt old weird. And I'm loving the book with every minute that passes so there is definitely nothing wrong with old weird. Maybe I should have just made the secondary "Weird"

dangerbyrnes · Jan 17, 2017

is new weird like david lynch weirdness, or something else? i need an example.

EDIT: oh i see, its like lovecraft or horror-fantasy.

still a Twin Peaks + Lovecraft sounds weirdly fitting. nobody steal this!

LMAO i mixed up david fincher and david lynch. i knew that was wrong

Freeza Under The Shower · Jan 17, 2017

Huh, I really thought Mike had that last one in the bag.

But basically this new weird is just a catchy name of saying 'everything that is not urban romance fantasy and manages to be horror' ? Cool,

finally a good reason to write Superroach, a half-man, full-roach superhero with a secret hunger for fresh babies.
(because that metrostation scene in Mimic with the kid -formerly plural- was cool as hell. Seriously, Guillermo del Toro was doing this 'new weird' two decades ago. :'D )
Maybe the Tick can be his nemesis, and of course: The Swatter. And Bugcrusher. The only good bug is a dead bug!
... okay, screw it, I'm in.

spoiler-tagged because maybe not everyone wants to read that when they open this thread.

edit: I mix up Lynch and Fincher all the time too. Though using Dune as a reminder of which is which works.

Royal_Flush · Jan 17, 2017

That's a really cool secondary. Let's see what I can come up with.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 17, 2017

dangerbyrnes said:
still a Twin Peaks + Lovecraft sounds weirdly fitting. nobody steal this!

I might just steal this. But no, I think David Lynch would probably get classified in the New Weird strokes.

Carlisle · Jan 18, 2017

Congrats Nezumi!

Oooh interesting prompt+secondary. Still not sure I fully understand it even with all the discussion in the thread, but hey let's see what pops out.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 18, 2017

Making up my absence last challenge with an early start this week. Don't care if my eyes are almost completely shut, I will finish this first draft.

MilkBeard · Jan 18, 2017

This is definitely an interesting topic. In the past, I loved writing weird kind of stories with dream-like qualities, so I think this one will fit in with that style.

I have not been on a roll with finishing stories this year, but I will definitely put some effort here. At the very least, I will have an interesting idea started that I can finish sometime in the future.

Blargonaut · Jan 18, 2017

hey, I'll give this one a try

*sweats from commitment*

Cyan · Jan 18, 2017

Blargonaut said:
hey, I'll give this one a try

*sweats from commitment*

It's a trap, don't trust her!

Rösti · Jan 19, 2017

Considering lure has multiple meanings as a noun, this should allow for quite a few different stories. I should be able to put together something, the secondary objective is intriguing.

Cyan · Jan 22, 2017

I may not be available for the usual google hangout time tomorrow.

Nezumi · Jan 22, 2017

Cyan said:
I may not be available for the usual google hangout time tomorrow.

I'll be there to greet any visitors old or new. Or do you want to change the time? I certainly wouldn't mind a somewhat earlier meeting

Cyan · Jan 22, 2017

Nah, just not going to make it.

Also looks like Google may have broken things again.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 22, 2017

I'm going to have to miss out on it too. Inauguration week's got me down and spending the day with some family and friends to cheer me up.

Nezumi · Jan 22, 2017

It's working on my end. Bummer you can't make it. Guess I'll take over hangout duty then.

Reminder!

Our biweekly writing hangout starts in a little under two hours. If you want to get together with some fellow gaffers for a bit of chatting and writing this is the place to be. We usually have ten minutes of talk followed by 30 minutes of writing and repeat this until the two hours are up but since the timer of doom is not attending this time around, things might be a little bit more lenient

Drop by if you need some extra motivation or just want to bitch about the current theme.
We'll use google hangouts but a webcam is not required. A mic is recommended but also not necessary since there is also text chat. I'll post the link for the hangout about half an hour before the hangout starts.

Nezumi · Jan 22, 2017

Writing hangout in a little over half an hour.

The hangout link is (quote to see):

Chainsawkitten · Jan 22, 2017

You need an end tag as well to hide stuff.

Nezumi · Jan 22, 2017

Ups, I should pay better attention to my copy pasting next time...

Royal_Flush · Jan 24, 2017

I wanted to complain about how hard it is to actually write poems that actually rhyme, even if it's just supposed to be a children's rhyme. But looking at my current word count I don't think it would fit in anyways

I have to say this "new weird" is a really inspiring setting to write in. I could easily do 5000. But I'm so incredibly slow. I have no clue how you NaNo guys do that. I'm at 2500 and already invested at least 6 hours, probably closer to 8.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 25, 2017

Royal_Flush said:
I wanted to complain about how hard it is to actually write poems that actually rhyme, even if it's just supposed to be a children's rhyme. But looking at my current word count I don't think it would fit in anyways

I have to say this "new weird" is a really inspiring setting to write in. I could easily do 5000. But I'm so incredibly slow. I have no clue how you NaNo guys do that. I'm at 2500 and already invested at least 6 hours, probably closer to 8.

There are a lot of benefits that come with stickng with these challenges. One is you start to develop a decent grasp of how long a story your planning really is, especially since we usually keep them to about 2,000 or so. Jealous at the six to eight hours though, I am so bad at time management I haven't really been able to sit down and write again until now. Doesn't help that politics is a black hole that can suck away an entire day without you noticing :<

Wensih · Jan 25, 2017

I always see these challenges too late, typically after they're over. Anyway here's ~100 words in 5 minutes; it's something ¯\_(&#12484

_/¯

An incarnadine sun stares down upon the desert, watching fish float down a stream created by a torrent that waited decades to be unleashed. A hook was cast. The fish did not take. Another hook. It continued to float. The alacritous reflections follow the fish on the acrylic water's surface. Surprise bubbles as one of the hooks drags. The boys haul in their catch.

"That ain't a fish. It has a leg. Throw it back in. Let it float."

The only tourists that arrive are attracted by the UFO conspiracy. They are ushered into the town by wilted sunflowers, a failed attempt to purify the soil.

Freeza Under The Shower · Jan 25, 2017

You have three more days, actually.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 25, 2017

Honestly, I think a problem these threads have had for awhile is that we don't really talk too much in them. People only see them at the end when we dump all our stories. Now I kind of want to look back at the challenges where we got the most entries with how frequently the thread was posted in those two weeks.

So how's everyones stories going? Enjoying the 3,000 words?

Wensih · Jan 25, 2017

Freeza Under The Shower said:
You have three more days, actually.

Yeah, we'll see. I don't think I will have the time to do the required research that the topic deserves.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 25, 2017

Minishdriveby said:
Yeah, we'll see. I don't think I will have the time to do the required research that the topic deserves.

Bah, we wing it all the time here. Research is great, but I think it can sometimes bog you down if you're having trouble starting.

Nezumi · Jan 25, 2017

FlowersisBritish said:
So how's everyones stories going? Enjoying the 3,000 words?

Of course I haven't started yet but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. Though like last time I fear some serious trimming is needed to fit everything in the word count. I might actually write the ending first this time, to see how many words it eats up before I write the beginning.

Royal_Flush · Jan 25, 2017

FlowersisBritish said:
So how's everyones stories going? Enjoying the 3,000 words?

Only need the end now. I'm not entirely happy with a part in the middle but I don't think I have the time to redo it since today (that's Wednesday; EU person here) and Friday will fall completely flat.

That part also turned out longer than expected so I had to cut a conversation and shoehorn the worldbuilding into an earlier one but in general I had a pretty good idea how long each scene would be after the first 300 words were done. It was pretty accurate.

MilkBeard · Jan 25, 2017

Eek, I have about 700-800 words written, without any closure. Time to get cracking.

KNT-Zero · Jan 25, 2017

Whoa! I literally just found out about this. Is the theme description meant for the main theme or the optional theme? If its the latter, what does "Lure" mean? Like, "luring" people into something?

Royal_Flush · Jan 25, 2017

KNT-Zero said:
Whoa! I literally just found out about this. Is the theme description meant for the main theme or the optional theme? If its the latter, what does "Lure" mean? Like, "luring" people into something?

As far as I understand there is the main theme in the thread title which you can interpret however you want. Then there's the secondary objective is some kind of guideline that is encouraged but not mandatory to fulfil I think (I'm also new to this). This time it's a setting, last time it was to create a "charismatic villain", etc.

These challenges start every two weeks so if you think there might be too little time for this one just subscribe and join the next one

Or search for "writing Challenge" in OT next Tuesday.

KNT-Zero · Jan 25, 2017

Royal_Flush said:
As far as I understand there is the main theme in the thread title which you can interpret however you want. Then there's the secondary objective is some kind of guideline that is encouraged but not mandatory to fulfil I think (I'm also new to this). This time it's a setting, last time it was to create a "charismatic villain", etc.

These challenges start every two weeks so if you think there might be too little time for this one just subscribe and join the next one Or search for "writing Challenge" in OT next Tuesday.

Thank you so much for the heads up! I'm gonna try and come up with something with this short deadline anyway

Nezumi · Jan 25, 2017

KNT-Zero said:
Whoa! I literally just found out about this. Is the theme description meant for the main theme or the optional theme? If its the latter, what does "Lure" mean? Like, "luring" people into something?

You can interpret "Lure" however you like. Hell, we get a few entries every time where there is no apparent connection to the topic at all, we really aren't all that strict in that regard. Secondaries are always optional and can be totally ignored.

Honestly, the only thing we are really strict about is the word limit. Going over it will make your entry ineligible for winning. Everything else, including the deadline to some degree

, is rather flexible.

Cyan · Jan 25, 2017

KNT-Zero said:
Whoa! I literally just found out about this. Is the theme description meant for the main theme or the optional theme? If its the latter, what does "Lure" mean? Like, "luring" people into something?

It's really whatever works for you. Sometimes the theme gives me an idea that just clicks right away. Like "oh, Lure, maybe I could write about talking anglerfish!" and then I go write it. Sometimes I have to sit down and brainstorm a little on ways to think about the word before I find something I like. "Hmm, ok, Lure could be literal like bait on a fishhook or cheese in a mousetrap. Or like a kidnapper in a van saying he'll give kids candy. Or maybe like an old school hero story where their friend is abducted and tied up somewhere so they have to fight the villain, yeah!" Sometimes I go off on little tangents. "Ok so Lure is like bait on a fishhook. What if we go metaphorical and make it a general kind of bait that leads to something unpleasant. Somebody lured into a job by money. So they really need money for medicine and they end up getting pulled deeper and deeper into this crime ring and..."

Sometimes, as Nezumi said, you go far enough down the rabbit hole that it's hard to tell how you even got there from the theme. That's ok! The point of the theme is to give you somewhere to start, a little push in what to write. If you write something, you're achieving a substantial part of the point of these challenges.

Royal_Flush · Jan 26, 2017

3142... Guess I have to rewrite that part I wasn't entirely happy with after all *sigh*

Ward · Jan 27, 2017

Allure of the Laserdisc
1007 words

#entry

Royal_Flush · Jan 27, 2017

Well, I won't edit this anyway so I might just post it now. Here's my #entry

Where The Owls Keep Watch

3000 Words. Achievement Unlocked?

My writer actually counts *** and single dashes as words. So only 2997 actual words I guess. I don't know how you guys interpret the word limit, so I cut those additional three words somewhere

Also a quick reminder to those who already submitted and are yet to submit: There is a script collecting the entries so it would be easier for everybody involved if you follow the submission guidelines in the OP.

FlowersisBritish · Jan 27, 2017

Blah, people are already submitting stories and I'm sitting here thinking "Mabye I should rewrite this whole thing?"

KNT-Zero · Jan 27, 2017

Yeah guys, I was shooting for the sun on this one. I will keep an eye for the next one so it gets me right at the start.
Best of luck to all contestants!

Nezumi · Jan 27, 2017

Already know I'll be running late again

I'll get as much down tonight as I can but I have to finish the rest tomorrow after work (on my phone, while on my way to my brother's birthday... yay) and I'm not off work before 3pm so...

Oh! Wait! This is my challenge... Super awesomely flexible deadline for everyone!!!

mu cephei · Jan 27, 2017

FlowersisBritish said:
Blah, people are already submitting stories and I'm sitting here thinking "Mabye I should rewrite this whole thing?"

Blah, people are already submitting stories and I'm sitting here thinking "Maybe I should start writing this whole thing?"

Nezumi said:
Already know I'll be running late again I'll get as much down tonight as I can but I have to finish the rest tomorrow after work (on my phone, while on my way to my brother's birthday... yay) and I'm not off work before 3pm so...

Oh! Wait! This is my challenge... Super awesomely flexible deadline for everyone!!!

<3 <3 <3

Mike M · Jan 27, 2017

FlowersisBritish said:
Blah, people are already submitting stories and I'm sitting here thinking "Mabye I should rewrite this whole thing?"

Nezumi said:
Already know I'll be running late again I'll get as much down tonight as I can but I have to finish the rest tomorrow after work (on my phone, while on my way to my brother's birthday... yay) and I'm not off work before 3pm so...

Oh! Wait! This is my challenge... Super awesomely flexible deadline for everyone!!!

mu cephei said:
Blah, people are already submitting stories and I'm sitting here thinking "Maybe I should start writing this whole thing?"

<3 <3 <3

Cyan · Jan 27, 2017

Fiiiiinally finished my novel edit last night. It's been months. Now maybe my brain can do other things.

Rösti · Jan 27, 2017

Due to fatigue I won't be able to finish my story. Hopefully I can meet the deadline for the next challenge.

Nezumi · Jan 27, 2017

What's a good thing to do when you are already pressed for time? Well throwing your entire outline out of the window and starting anew of course... At least I'm happier with this idea and it might even fit in 3000 words...

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