Bully for you
Hrm. Remains to be seen whether I take a bye this week or not. We've been so busy with the kids and work and other stuff going on that I haven't had near enough time on LJ these past couple weeks.
Also, probably my 'best' readily-available story for the prompt is a bullying story - and a self-aggrandizing hero story to boot. (I went to private school for a few years before entering the public school system, and I was tormented constantly for years after that. In fact, that's how I learned how to fight, ultimately, as around tenth grade I just started punching anyone who looked at me funny. I spent a reasonable chunk of time suspended.) I find this kind of story to smack distastefully of "Lookit how awesome I am, bro!!", so I'm trying to avoid it.
Needless to say, every person in the competition saw a wave of bullying stories crashing over the horizon when they saw the prompt "sticks and stones". Not that writing a bullying story in response is itself a bad thing, especially if you've got something compelling to share! But I began instinctively trying to find other avenues to take with the prompt, to 'branch out' a bit.
I don't usually talk spoilers beforehand, but I've been rolling around stories from my parent's house. Living in a wooded swamp dotted with volcanic boulders (i.e., sticks and stones), I'm sure there must be something lying around in my head's attic I can use. We'll see if something turns up sufficiently before the 9PM deadline.
Also, probably my 'best' readily-available story for the prompt is a bullying story - and a self-aggrandizing hero story to boot. (I went to private school for a few years before entering the public school system, and I was tormented constantly for years after that. In fact, that's how I learned how to fight, ultimately, as around tenth grade I just started punching anyone who looked at me funny. I spent a reasonable chunk of time suspended.) I find this kind of story to smack distastefully of "Lookit how awesome I am, bro!!", so I'm trying to avoid it.
Needless to say, every person in the competition saw a wave of bullying stories crashing over the horizon when they saw the prompt "sticks and stones". Not that writing a bullying story in response is itself a bad thing, especially if you've got something compelling to share! But I began instinctively trying to find other avenues to take with the prompt, to 'branch out' a bit.
I don't usually talk spoilers beforehand, but I've been rolling around stories from my parent's house. Living in a wooded swamp dotted with volcanic boulders (i.e., sticks and stones), I'm sure there must be something lying around in my head's attic I can use. We'll see if something turns up sufficiently before the 9PM deadline.