• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge #153 - "Fear Itself"

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Cyan

Banned
One more reminder: hangout in half an hour. For the new folks, it's a google+ based hangout where we'll chat for a few minutes, then have a half-hour writing period, then repeat until we've filled two hours. Though I'll have to bail about fifteen minutes early. ;)
 
C

Croll

Neo Member
Well, this is my first time submitting anything (and only my second time posting on gaf). I wrote this quickly and didn't edit with much scrutiny. I figured if I mulled it over too long, I'd decide against sharing altogether. If there's any problems with the format please tell me.

A Night at the Bar
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Soooooo. Who's done with their first draft? I was able to finish mine during the hangout just before ducking out. Needs some definite spicing up, but it's on the page!
 
S

SquiddyCracker

Banned
I had a dream about a story that I woke up and immediately wrote down, and will check it over tomorrow - or maybe just leave it because it is written in a way I never normally write.
 
A

Ainsz

Member
Cyan said:
Soooooo. Who's done with their first draft? I was able to finish mine during the hangout just before ducking out. Needs some definite spicing up, but it's on the page!
Click to expand...
Thought I had my story wrapped up but the trimming left it in a state where it didn't make sense in some places I missed, being tired.
 
T

ThLunarian

Member
Sort of off-topic, but I had a dream last night where my subconscious created an on-point satire of the rise of cynical sitcoms and the tropes that they have in common. I woke up and was really impressed with my brain. Too bad most of the details leaked out since waking up.
 
F

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
ThLunarian said:
Sort of off-topic, but I had a dream last night where my subconscious created an on-point satire of the rise of cynical sitcoms and the tropes that they have in common. I woke up and was really impressed with my brain. Too bad most of the details leaked out since waking up.
Click to expand...

It's okay, most of those details were probably stupid and/or spiders. Don't worry about them.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Hey, Squiddy's back! I was kinda bummed when you got banned right before the hangout last time, dude. Stop getting banned!
 
T

Tangent

Member
Doh! Another Sunday hangout I missed! The good news is that in a single half hour, I pumped out half my story! Score! Dunno how it reads since I didn't read back any of it yet.

Mully said:
What's everybody been reading lately?

I'm in the process of finishing up Jon Steele's, War Junkie, and some of Hunter Thompson's articles. It's been really fun using their work as a jumping point to create coherent, rambling, storytelling/reporting.

I've also binge-listened to a bunch of podcasts recently. The stories Risk! and The Moth have heavily influenced my personal essays.
Click to expand...

The Moth is the bomb! Binge-listening to podcasts is THE life. Well done. I finished reading Wind Up Bird Chronicles, which was good, and now I'm reading some boring non-fiction for work. My next task is to read everything on Cyan's good-reads list.

Elfforkusu said:
Yeah, I generally have the opposite problem. :p

Though I've been considering writing a novel in the piecemeal, Sherlock Holmes-style. Not necessarily detective genre, just serial short stories bound together by the thread of a few familiar characters. And at the end you bundle up the lot and call it a full length novel.
Click to expand...

I thought I'd have the opposite prob too but then I got too accustomed to our short story style for this thread. But yeah I was thinking of bundling together short-story ideas for NaNo. I'm still deciding if NaNo will be of any benefit for me though. I'll think about that thought until Nov. 1st. Or heck, until Thanksgiving.

Chainsawkitten said:
Nah, that's Coil!1!!!1!1 Maybe I should title my links something... I keep forgetting not everyone has that YouTube script.
Click to expand...
Nice.

Dresden said:
Objective: three word story

Secondary: use only two words
Click to expand...

All the entries for this were absolutely brilliant.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Did a second pass-through on my story, fixed up some of the busted bits, hurried up the slow bits, slowed down the too-fast bit.

This is also a very dark story. I think I already mentioned that it is about death.

Think I'll wait until tomorrow to post so I can do a final pass-through.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
I don't feel like I'm firing on all cylinders this week. Can't help but feel like I'm back in my purple prose phase.
 
T

Tangent

Member
Just wanted to say that going with this secondary has been a very liberating experience. I worked on my story essentially every day, but only for a few minutes at a time, with 30 min being the max amount. You'd think you can't get into anything in just 5 - 15 minutes -- but I did, with other distractions out of the way. And the best part was to be armed with a live, functional draft. I haven't actually read through it so IDK if it's sound, but I've literally had a relaxing WEEK due to not having an not-even-started, partially thought-out story hanging over my head for 10 days or whatever.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Tangent said:
Just wanted to say that going with this secondary has been a very liberating experience. I worked on my story essentially every day, but only for a few minutes at a time, with 30 min being the max amount. You'd think you can't get into anything in just 5 - 15 minutes -- but I did, with other distractions out of the way. And the best part was to be armed with a live, functional draft. I haven't actually read through it so IDK if it's sound, but I've literally had a relaxing WEEK due to not having an not-even-started, partially thought-out story hanging over my head for 10 days or whatever.
Click to expand...

Yes! Much nicer to have it almost finished, isn't it? :p
 
S

StormBrute

Member
For the Will Evilore eat my story? section in the FAQ, uploading it via Acrobat.com or Dropbox and password protecting it with PrimoPDF will cover everything as far as that's concerned, right? I'm using this as a challenge to write snippets in the world for my story and fill it out more, so I am looking to publish a larger story comprised of the same characters/setting later.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
StormBrute said:
Is there a free way to password protect the PDFs and make them non-public, etc.? (Protect the copyright on them essentially, like in the Will Evilore eat my story? section in the FAQ.) Uploading it via Acrobat.com seems to only have the option to make it public, though I did password protect it with PrimoPDF.

I'm using this as a challenge to write snippets in the world for my story and fill it out more, so I am looking to publish a larger story comprised of the same characters/setting later.
Click to expand...

The way I do it is in Word. When you go to Export to PDF, there is an Options button that includes a checkbox to "encrypt the file." Then I upload to Dropbox and share the link from there.

Not sure how it would work with Acrobat.com but if you have the above resources at your disposal I suggest that.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
ZdkDzk said:
Hey gaf, I wanna join in, but where do I post?
Click to expand...

Post right in here! Most of us are putting our stories up as passworded PDFs on our personal Dropbox (or similar) accounts, and then putting a link to those right here. You can do that, or you can post the text right here if you prefer.
 
A

Anjelus_

Junior Member
I should have liked to have joined in, but I only just saw this right as the deadline comes around. Next time then!
 
T

Tangent

Member
Cyan said:
Yes! Much nicer to have it almost finished, isn't it? :p
Click to expand...

Yes!!! That's what I thought at first. But now I'm wondering if there is some virtue to procrastination. I ended up tinkering with this story more than usual and being much more disgruntled and frustrated with how the tinkering didn't seem to improve anything. And with all the extra time, my solution was to just continue editing! I felt like I was running in circles on a very bland-looking track. Blech!

Maybe it was that, or maybe it was trying something new with the characters and plot..... *scratches forehead*

In any case, "Despite Magic" (1642 words)

Anjelus_ said:
I should have liked to have joined in, but I only just saw this right as the deadline comes around. Next time then!
Click to expand...
Definitely!
 
N

Nezumi

Member
I failed the secondary no matter how hard I tried not to. Oh well, let's just hope I won't fail at finishing my story in the next seven hours. That would be really frustrating.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
The Entries:
Ourobolus - "Just in Case"
Ainsz - "Dutch Courage"
Chainsawkitten - "New Deal"
Croll - "A Night at the Bar"
SquiddyCracker - "The Troupe"
theWB27 - "Be Who You Are"
mu cephei - "Dead and Gone"
Mike M - "The Box Rule"
Cyan - "A Grim Errand"
timetokill - "Symbiosis"
Tangent - "Despite Magic"
Zweizer - "Excerpts From a Lost Diary"
QuantumBro - "P.A."
StormBrute - "Carry On"
Nezumi - "Chasing Nightmares"
midramble - "Trinkets of the Immortal"
Charade - "Two Pounds" (over word count, ineligible)
Ashes - "the first of the cold days"
Mully - "Defensive Line"
 
M

midramble

Pizza, Bourbon, and Thanos
Ok... This will probably be my hardest entry I ever submit. This date and topic have very significant meanings for me. It's very hard for me to function during this week because it represents the only thing left in this world that I fear. That being said in that state I have trouble finishing things and give up on it. It's 6 so I don't have enough time to shave off the extra 300 words needed for entry to be valid, but I still wanted to submit it. So, here it is.

Trinkets of the Immortal 2557

The normal password.

Now that being said, I will still do the critique this week. Let me know if the spoilers I did on the previous critique got annoying.
 
C

Charade

Member
Two Pounds (2713 words) (ineligible)

So not only am I late, but I'm way over... :(

Don't feel obliged to read it. I figured I should at least post it to show I overcame at least some resistance :D
 
C

Charade

Member
blakep267 said:
How often do you have these threads? I was swamped with work lately and didn't get a chance to submit anything.
Click to expand...

Once every two weeks. Though I think the next challenge (which should start on Tuesday) will be the last one until NaNoWriMo is over.

Edit: late again! :p
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Cyan said:
The Entries:
Ourobolus - "Just in Case"
Ainsz - "Dutch Courage"
Chainsawkitten - "New Deal"
Croll - "A Night at the Bar"
SquiddyCracker - "The Troupe"
theWB27 - "Be Who You Are"
mu cephei - "Dead and Gone"
Mike M - "The Box Rule"
Cyan - "A Grim Errand"
timetokill - "Symbiosis"
Tangent - "Despite Magic"
Zweizer - "Excerpts From a Lost Diary"
QuantumBro - "P.A."
StormBrute - "Carry On"

I will update in the morning with grace period stragglers!
Click to expand...

Nezumi said:
"Chasing Nightmares" (1755 words)

Usual password.
Click to expand...

midramble said:
Ok... This will probably be my hardest entry I ever submit. This date and topic have very significant meanings for me. It's very hard for me to function during this week because it represents the only thing left in this world that I fear. That being said in that state I have trouble finishing things and give up on it. It's 6 so I don't have enough time to shave off the extra 300 words needed for entry to be valid, but I still wanted to submit it. So, here it is.

Trinkets of the Immortal 2557

The normal password.

Now that being said, I will still do the critique this week. Let me know if the spoilers I did on the previous critique got annoying.
Click to expand...

Charade said:
Two Pounds (2713 words)

So not only am I late, but I'm way over... :(

Don't feel obliged to read it. I figured I should at least post it to show I overcame at least some resistance :D
Click to expand...

Ashes said:
the first of the cold days

Click to expand...

raining_david_tennant.gif
 
C

Chainsawkitten

Member
Mike M said:
Um... is there a transcript or lyric sheet for this one?
Click to expand...

A host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
Click to expand...

Excerpts from Roosevelt's inaugural address (though not the famous line itself).
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Almost done reading. Not gonna comment this week though because I fear I might end up being way too harsh just because apparently I was in an overly critical mood this week...
 
T

timetokill

Banned
Nezumi said:
Almost done reading. Not gonna comment this week though because I fear I might end up being way too harsh just because apparently I was in an overly critical mood this week...
Click to expand...

Well, I'll take the criticism anyway if you don't mind giving it. I'm sure mine is terrible, I've never written anything in that style or frame before. But if you don't want to say anything then that's of course fine as well.
 
O

Ourobolus

Banned
I really need to find time to read these today.

Nezumi said:
Almost done reading. Not gonna comment this week though because I fear I might end up being way too harsh just because apparently I was in an overly critical mood this week...
Click to expand...

Nah, go for it. You can laugh at my German geography.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Would you guys like to participate in a little community-driven gaming challenge?
15
1K
DelireMan7 replied
Playstation Laying Off 900 People - Multiple Studios Effected (Insomniac/Guerilla/Firesprite) - London Studio Shuts Down
10 11 12 13 14
694
42K
Woopah replied
52 Games. 1 Year. 2024. [BacklogBeat]
Social Community 2 3 4
171
8K
Jack Videogames replied
If you like turn-based strategy, you should really try Unity of Command 2
5
601
Chairman Yang replied
PlayStation 3 Games That Desperately Need a PS5 Remaster/Remake
Opinion Platform 2
68
2K
Hoppa replied
Top Bottom