Flash Fiction - Gunslinger Ridge Experiment

FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: TEN MORE TITLES (ROUND TWO!)
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2017/02/17/flash-fiction-challenge-ten-more-titles-round-two/

More titles!
This time the titles were hand-picked based on how interesting they sounded.
I picked one 'Gunslinger Ridge Experiment' and below is the piece of short fiction that goes along with the title.

Target length: ~1500 words

The Gunslinger Ridge Experiment

Guppy Must Die

FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: TEN TITLES FROM YOU
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2017/02/10/flash-fiction-challenge-ten-titles-from-you/
Last week  three-word titles were submitted. Ten were  randomly chosen. I wrote a story using the title 'Guppy Must Die'.
Target Length: ~1000 words
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Guppy Must Die

How to Write a Short Story

Getting started in Flash Fiction and writing prompts, I often get bogged down in ... getting started. I start writing, like a pantser, and find myself unfocused and concerned that the narrative is not developing. So I've brought together some good suggestions for how to get started on a short story.

How To Outline A Short Story - For Beginners

Outline a Short Story in Seven Steps

7 Steps to Write a Short Story

How to Properly Outline a Short Story

How to Write a Short Story

Flash Fiction Challenge: A Scary Story, Part One

Daniel wandered off from his family. They stayed at the beach and Daniel climbed the rocks away from waves, looking for shells. Daniel was already 12 and felt like he could explore on his own and didn't need to drag along his sister with him.

Inspiration - 10 Sources of Daily Writing Prompts

I found that I've gotten sidetracked in an effort to write every day, losing focus and inspiration. So I have put together a quick research of Daily Writing Prompts for inspiration.

1. Writer's Digest: Creative Writing Prompts
Need an idea to help you get started writing? You’ll find hundreds of fun writing prompts here – perfect for beginning a new novel or short story, or simply giving your writing muscle a workout.

2. Story A Day
Check out StoryADay’s writing prompts. Each prompt is intentionally ambiguous, adaptable to any genre and style, and comes with a list of tips to help you delve deeper into the ideas. 

3. 365 Creative Writing Prompts
If you want to become a better writer, the best thing you can do is practice writing every single day. But we know sometimes it can be hard to think of what to write about! So we put together this list of 365 creative writing prompts to give you something to write about daily.

4. 365 Days of Writing Prompts
A prompt to fire your imagination, each and every day for a year

5. Creative Writing Prompts
Use the creative writing prompts and creative writing ideas to create stories, poems and other creative pieces from your imagination. The writing prompts can even help you come up with creative content for blogs and blog stories.

6. GIANT GOLDEN BUDDHA & 364 MORE 5 MINUTE WRITING EXERCISES
Daily 5 minute writing exercise addressing aspects of craft as varied as point of view, dialogue, plot, synthesthesia, body language, imagery, and beginnings.  May they be both fun and useful for your writing.

7. I Dare You To Write
This blog is meant to challenge you, to make you think about things that you’ve never thought about and maybe write something you’ve never written before.

8. Figment Daily Themes
Sign up for Figment Daily Themes to receive an original writing prompt every morning. Figment Daily Themes will push you to work on the range of your craft, focusing on character, setting, dialogue, personal essay, verse, and more—plus occasional prompts from acclaimed authors.

9. Trifecta Writing Challenge
The Trifecta Writing Challenge consists of two different types of writing challenges, Trifecta and Trifextra.  All challenges begin Mondays at 9 am EST.  All challenges close Thursday at 7 pm EST.

10. Writing Prompts that Don't Suck
Tired of only finding sucky writing prompts on the Internet? I know I am. Check back every day for a new prompt that totally doesn't suck.

Your Turn
Do you have any sites you recommend for Daily Writing Prompts?

10 Ways To Turn Your Real Life Experiences Into Science Fiction

An article from iO9 explores 10 different ways to turn our own life experiences into science fiction stories.

See the full article at: http://io9.com/10-ways-to-turn-your-real-life-experiences-into-science-1672787624

The Ultimate Source of Writing Prompts - Reddit

I discovered this week a writing prompts treasure. Reddit has a dedicated section to writing prompts called Reddit Writing Prompts. This section is constantly being updated and enriched with comments. Definitely worth coming back!

Neil Gaiman's Story Ideas from Twitter

I was listening to Selected Shorts this week and it was hosted by Neil Gaiman. He read two of his own stories, finishing with “July Tale,” in which a lovesick husband builds an igloo out of books. What was interesting was that Gaiman explained that the inspiration for July Tale came from a recent Twitter campaign where readers could share ideas for stories that he would write. The stories can be downloaded in PDF format at Blackberry.

150 Story Ideas

The Blacklist has a great new page compiling all the story ideas they have been sharing.

It is a 150 story ideas.

Writing Prompt: The Button Factory

I joined an online writing group.
The organizer gave a few writing prompts.

I chose this one:

The button factory had gone utterly silent. All eyes were on the birthday cake and it's 50 candles. Slowly, hesitantly, George...

More writing prompts

Some more good places to exercise the writing muscles

• Language is a Virus
• One Word
• Writing Prompts on Twitter

More Writing Prompts

LitBridge WHAT IF CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS
LitBridge is a space dedicated to the professionalization of contemporary writers. Each element of the site looks to aid poets, fiction writers, and essayists at every stage of their careers.

20 "First Lines" - 20 Creative Writing Prompts to Spark Your Creativity
Got Writer's Block? Don't Know How to Start Your Story? Find Your First Sentences Here

Free Creative Writing Prompts from the Heart, Part 1
Access something from your past

Free Creative Writing Prompts #3: Death
Thoughts on death majorly affect the way we live. Here are twenty free creative writing prompts that deal with death and the way you feel about it.

Free Creative Writing Prompts #6: Dark, Disturbing, and Weird
Write about the fantastical and otherworldly. Put pen to paper about the horror and joy that can come out of a downright strange situation.

7 CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS TO SPARK YOUR WRITING
7 writing prompts, a full week’s worth of writing exercises!

What If . . . ? 10 Creative Writing Prompts 
A selection of “What If…?” creative writing prompts to inspire you – let’s see what you can do with these!

Creative Writing Prompts Part One [1-50]
Great selection

Short Stories Prompts

I am trying to get my hands dirty with short story writing. I submitted one to the Triggerstreet site and got some reviews.
Some of the comments were:

• ya MIGHT have something worth developing, but it needs a LOTTA work.
• Overall, this story needs to be a bit clearer. 
• The ending is actually quite clever.

I knew it wasn't the best piece, and I was ready to get kicked a bit, which is pushing me to look into improving this writing.

Here are some places I am going for tips:

• Get Me Writing: Short Stories
• 12 Secrets To Being A Super-Prolific Short-Story Writer
• Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story
• How To Write Short Stories

I'll keep plugging away and keeping updates coming.

Writing Prompts

• 100 Short Story (or novel) Writing Prompts
  
• Writer's Digest: CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS
  
• 25 Creative Writing Prompts
  
• The Time Is Now

Story Triggers

This looks cool! 27 story triggers to get the creative juices flowing. No more writer's block. No more excuses.

Out Of Ideas? 27 INT/EXT     STORY TRIGGERS     DAY

Getting a Story Started

Here are some great places to guide the inner voice to get a story going

• Outline your Novel In 30 MinutesA quick exercise designed to sketch out the major events of a novel, only giving a map-- you have to make the drive yourself!
• How to Make a Novel OutlineEasy novel outline techniques to plan a book step by step, along with worksheets for planning characters and scenes, and links to related pages on how to write a novel.
• Outlining Your Novel: Why and HowOutlining is a matter of dispute among writers, but if you are just starting out – what is outlining, why should you do it and how do you do it.

And to help support the creative process here is a great parable:
Climbing Mt.Story: How to Survive the Creative Journey