Prompt: Thursday Scene Elements 1

So, on Thursdays I will give you elements to include in a scene.

An opening door

Light

That's it. I know it's only two elements, but think of the possibilities. Where does the door open? Is it opening to walk into an office building for work? A bedroom? It it a screen door that opens out into a garden? What if it's just a metaphorical door opening? Or maybe a door cut into the fabric of time...

Is the light natural or artificial? Does the opening door cast light on the scene? Is light filtering in through a window?

Prompt: Three Word Wednesday 1

So, in the interest of making this issuing of inspiration easier I'm trying to do a theme for each day of the week.

On Wednesdays I will open the thesaurus--the big one that I bring to meetings occasionally--and choose a word at random. Then, I will give you three alternatives to that word.
Today's word is grove:

Grove-- wood, copse, thicket

I challenge you to write piece about a wood...or perhaps a copse, but notice how different words that mean essentially the same thing change the tone of a story.
Never underestimate the importance of word choice.

Prompt: Short short stories, very short stories

Today's writing prompt is to write a short short story. Here is an example:



see more epicfails

Upcoming 2/20/12

I'm working on finishing a couple stories by the end of the week and need to keep this quick. So, upcoming for the Scribes of Lancaster:

Friday February 24th, Brainstorming meeting--for lack of a better term-- We'll be meeting up at IHOP in Lancaster, OH at 9pm to talk about whatever we're working on because, even though past meetings were not that word count productive during NaNoWriMo, it seemed to be good for motivation and new ideas.

March 10th- Book Exchange and 2nd Saturday Meeting at Happy Penguin. Bring your old books and trade with someone else, or just try to unload what books you don't want anymore. That's the premise of it.

I'll get the events posted to facebook later in the day.

Other events of interest:
Thursday, March 1st Columbus Creative Cooporative's Flash Fiction Championship at OSU's Urban Art Space in Columbus, OH.

Prompt: Religion Retold

Religion can inspire, confuse or annoy people in any multitude of ways, but the stories found within religion and mythology can be used as inspiration. Think about all the places that religion and mythology show up in popular culture.
Experiment with taking a Biblical story, or some mythology, or even some old legends and making it modern, or post-modern, or throw it into the 1950's somewhere. Take a message from a biblical story and apply it to a new story, or think about how another writer would approach a biblical story. What if Edgar Allan Poe had rewritten The Binding of Issac?

While you're at it check out King David & The Spiders from Mars Anthology

Big List of Publishing Deadlines 2/11/12

Publishing Deadlines
Ongoing One Buck Horror
Ongoing Scout and Engineer
Short Fiction Ongoing Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
Ongoing Less Than Three Gay Romance in various genres
Ongoing and themed mini issues Journal of Unlikely Entomology
Open as per theme each month Wily Writers Podcast
Open as per theme each month Penumbra Magazine
Open until filled Mortis Operandi Paranormal Police Stories
February 15th Fungi Anthology Speculative fiction involving mushrooms/mold/fungus
February 24th Strange Pulp Adventure-Oriented Sci-fi/Fantasy
March 1st The Old Weird South Anthology Odd stories from the American South
March 1st B.J. Rolfzen Creative Writing Contest Dylan Days Poetry and Fiction Contest
March 8th Erato: Orpheus GLBT Novel Contest Pitch letters due
March 15th Modern Pulp Heroes Larger than life adventurers and crime fighters
March 15th Torn Realities Anthology What lies beyond the edge of the universe?
March 15th Triangulation "Morning After" themed speculative fiction...you tell them what the theme means
March 31st Queer Fish 2 Gay speculative fiction
 March 31st Bibliotecha Fantastica Fantastical stories involving books
March 31st King David and the Spiders from Mars Anthology Biblical retellings
Reading Period Ends April 1st Ninth Letter
April 3rd You, Me & a Bit of We Must be written in 1st or 2nd Person
April 15th It Lives- Vol 2 Odd or beautiful stories of newborns, reborns and motherhood. Sci-fi, Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy
April 30th Loco-Thology Fantasy, Sci-fi and leaps
April 30th Aliens Among Us Fast-paced pulp and aliens
April 30th Dieselpunk Anthology It's like Steampunk, but Diesel (1920's-1950's)
Reading Period Ends May 1st New Ohio Review Literary Fiction and Poetry
May 1st Return of the Dead Men (and Women) Walking Must be undead with bodies, no ghosts
May 1st Mark of the Beast: New Legends of the Werewolf Horror Make it crap-your-pants scary
 May 1st The Future Fire: Outlaw Bodies Issue Bodies in the future...
May 15th Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous
May 31st Zombie Jesus and Other True Stories Alternate History Horror
 May 31st Daughters of Icarus Feminist Sci-Fi
May 31st Professor Challenger Anthology
June 1st Dark Trails Dark old westerns
June 5th Sense Five Use the senses in writing
June 15th Best Served Cold- Vol. 2 Revenge stories
June 30th Christmas Ghost Annual 2012
June 30th Extreme Planets Sci-fi
June 30th The Beastiary Monsters, mythical creatures and a gay or lesbian romance plot, need both
July 31st Steampunk Cthulhu
August 30th Kiss Me at Midnight Gay and lesbian romance involving a new beginning
October 1st Holidays and Mayhem- Vol Two Holliday Horror
December 31st Farmer's Almanac Anthology Must kind of relate to farming

Prompt: Bus Stop Exercise

I've only had to do this form of inspiration gathering as part of a college class, but I'm passing it on to you.

When you're in a public place such as a bus stop, airport, bar, restaurant, store, or pretty much anywhere, conversation happens around you. There's someone talking too loudly on a cell phone, or a couple arguing over dinner. These conversations can be picked up on and turned into inspiration. You can harness what other people talk about in various ways, but the important part of this exercise is listening. Take a piece of conversation you've overheard and turn it into something else, or just write about the experience of listening in.

If you happen to post your resulting piece on a blog or some other location online please link in the comments below so we can check it out and send others your way.

Weekly Article Wasteland: February 3rd 2012

Just some Articles of interest found in past week...it doesn't mean that they were all posted in the past week, but they're still useful:

The Big Reasons Indie Authors Aren't Taken Seriously

Terrible Minds: 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right Fucking Now)

Terrible Minds: 25 Things Every Writer Should Know

Deadlines: While You Were Out, Fungi and Politics

Columbus Creative Cooperative's "While You Were Out" Anthology--Due February 10th

Innsmouth Free Press' Fungi Anthology--Due February 15th

Penumbra's Politics Issue--Due February 29th

Prompt: Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know"

Write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by this music video. Use the video's content or just the song...however it inspires you is up to your discretion obviously.
If you happen to post your resulting piece on a blog or some other location online please link in the comments below so we can check it out and send others your way.