Challenge #30 Announcement
Challenge #29 (May 2008) has now officially ended. Thanks to all of you who participated, as writers and/or readers.
The stories submitted for this challenge can be found here: Challenge #29 Stories.
Challenge #30 (June 2008). 'Five Things Challenge'. I would venture to guess that most people have come across this particular challenge elsewhere, but I will explain. Basically it's a story pretty much told in five parts.
For example my Five Stories Ducky Will Never Tell and Five Emails The Children Never Sent.
Or things like 'Five times Gibbs got married', 'Five autopsies Ducky will never forget', etc.
Or it can be a Four and One, e.g. lonelywalker's Four Emails Gibbs Still Hasn't Read (And One He Has).
Other ideas 'Four times Gibbs head-slapped DiNozzo and one time he didn't' 'Four time Ducky called Jimmy Mr. Palmer' and one time he called him 'Jimmy',' etc.
Pretty much think of five things, either as a five or a four and one and voilà, write about it.
Challenge #31 (July 2008). 'First And Last Lines' - suggested by adriannacoylho.
Behind the cut are six blocks of seven first and last lines taken from a variety of books, and you choose one block and incorporate five of the seven sentences into your story. There is also a blank block for anyone who wishes to find their own 'first and last lines' from their own books. You will see there are some words in [ ] e.g. [character] that means you can insert the character of your choice - obviously we didn't include any specific book character of location, etc.
When posting your story, please state in the header which block you have used.
BLOCK 1
1. It all began some time in the last century, in an age when lovers wrote letters to each other sealed up in envelopes.
2. There didn’t seem to be any alternative.
3. Everything had gone right with me since he had died, but how I wished there existed someone to whom I could say that I was sorry.
4. One tiny, red, liquid drop of blood was visible in the centre of the small, neat hole in [character’s] forehead an inch or so above his right eye.
5. And, as everybody knows now, he has never returned.
6. Love, [character].
7. After dinner I sat and waited for [character] in my room over [specific street]; he had said, "I'll be with you at latest by ten," and when midnight struck I couldn't stay quiet any longer and went down into the street.
BLOCK 2
1. [character] had enjoyed a satisfactory day in which none of his patients had died or got any worse.
2. Time would tell.
3. His hair was white, close-cropped, and his skin deeply tanned.
4. That was all.
5. You have a fine brain.
6. Thank you, Mr. President.
7. What I saw that morning in [character]'s bedroom remains to this day the most tender, the most moving sight I have ever seen.
BLOCK 3
1. It had to be the shock of the moment, [character] thought.
2. [character] let the wind whip it from his hand.
3. "Yes," she said and put her arm around his waist as they walked back to the car.
4. Darkness.
5. His daughter was curious enough to want to stop and look in, but they were late, and she thought it best just to keep moving.
6. [character] laughed and turned back into the room.
7. The light hadn’t even officially turned green at the intersection of 17th and Broadway before an army of overconfident yellow cabs roared past the tiny deathtrap I was attempting to navigate around the city streets.
BLOCK 4
1. "I could cheerfully murder my boss," [character] said.
2. The scent of woodsmoke and roses always took him back there, to the boy he was and would never be again.
3. Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.
4. Thud . . .
5. And if it's not then I'll just have to make it up as we go along; like I always do.
6. "But . . . why do you think you're all here?"
7. "I knew I was safe if only I could get to the bridge."
BLOCK 5
1. [Character] was not unused to being urgently summoned to non-scheduled meetings with unspecified people at inconvenient time, but usually with one purpose in common: he could be confident that somewhere there lay a dead body awaiting his attention.
2. She had to die.
3. It was the perfect murder.
4. "She's usually so reliable."
5. She caught [character]'s eye and they both smiled.
6. The pain, I knew, would eventually recede . . . melting in time as inevitable as the early snow.
7. "So help me, I will."
BLOCK 6
1. It's seven o'clock on Monday morning and the removal men have been here since six.
2. It was seven minutes after midnight.
3. "Shall I expect you next Wednesday for our game as usual?" asked [character].
4. How does one describe [character]?
5. "In private."
6. But that's another story.
7. Nevertheless, it was close enough for now.
BLOCK 7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Behind the cut are the specific books Adrianna and I used and if anyone is interested, I do have a list of which lines came from which books.
A Friend of the Family - Lisa Jewell
A Good Hanging - Ian Rankin
Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Berniere
Cuba - Stephen Coonts
Dangerous Davies The Last Detective - Leslie Thomas
Divas Don't Knit - Gil McNeil
Equus - Peter Shaffer
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
Fortunes of War - Stephen Coonts
Hong Kong - Stephen Coonts
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Striding Folly - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Colour of Magic - Terry Prachett
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
The Headhunters - Peter Lovesey
The Liar - Stephen Fry
The Lighthouse - P. D. James
The New Rector - Rebecca Shaw
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
The Quiet American - Graham Greene
The Secret Purposes - David Baddiel
The Stars' Tennis Balls - Stephen Fry
The Time Machine - H. G. Wells
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
The Warrior Heir - Cinda Williams Chima
Through The Grinder - Cleo Coyle
Thud! - Terry Prachett
As always if you have any ideas for future challenges, i.e. you have a story you'd really like to write but as yet it hasn't fitted into any of the themes, or even a theme you'd really like to read, then please suggest it to me. Ideally I would like to be able to intersperse member's ideas with my own.
Happy writing.
Nikki
The stories submitted for this challenge can be found here: Challenge #29 Stories.
Challenge #30 (June 2008). 'Five Things Challenge'. I would venture to guess that most people have come across this particular challenge elsewhere, but I will explain. Basically it's a story pretty much told in five parts.
For example my Five Stories Ducky Will Never Tell and Five Emails The Children Never Sent.
Or things like 'Five times Gibbs got married', 'Five autopsies Ducky will never forget', etc.
Or it can be a Four and One, e.g. lonelywalker's Four Emails Gibbs Still Hasn't Read (And One He Has).
Other ideas 'Four times Gibbs head-slapped DiNozzo and one time he didn't' 'Four time Ducky called Jimmy Mr. Palmer' and one time he called him 'Jimmy',' etc.
Pretty much think of five things, either as a five or a four and one and voilà, write about it.
Challenge #31 (July 2008). 'First And Last Lines' - suggested by adriannacoylho.
Behind the cut are six blocks of seven first and last lines taken from a variety of books, and you choose one block and incorporate five of the seven sentences into your story. There is also a blank block for anyone who wishes to find their own 'first and last lines' from their own books. You will see there are some words in [ ] e.g. [character] that means you can insert the character of your choice - obviously we didn't include any specific book character of location, etc.
When posting your story, please state in the header which block you have used.
BLOCK 1
1. It all began some time in the last century, in an age when lovers wrote letters to each other sealed up in envelopes.
2. There didn’t seem to be any alternative.
3. Everything had gone right with me since he had died, but how I wished there existed someone to whom I could say that I was sorry.
4. One tiny, red, liquid drop of blood was visible in the centre of the small, neat hole in [character’s] forehead an inch or so above his right eye.
5. And, as everybody knows now, he has never returned.
6. Love, [character].
7. After dinner I sat and waited for [character] in my room over [specific street]; he had said, "I'll be with you at latest by ten," and when midnight struck I couldn't stay quiet any longer and went down into the street.
BLOCK 2
1. [character] had enjoyed a satisfactory day in which none of his patients had died or got any worse.
2. Time would tell.
3. His hair was white, close-cropped, and his skin deeply tanned.
4. That was all.
5. You have a fine brain.
6. Thank you, Mr. President.
7. What I saw that morning in [character]'s bedroom remains to this day the most tender, the most moving sight I have ever seen.
BLOCK 3
1. It had to be the shock of the moment, [character] thought.
2. [character] let the wind whip it from his hand.
3. "Yes," she said and put her arm around his waist as they walked back to the car.
4. Darkness.
5. His daughter was curious enough to want to stop and look in, but they were late, and she thought it best just to keep moving.
6. [character] laughed and turned back into the room.
7. The light hadn’t even officially turned green at the intersection of 17th and Broadway before an army of overconfident yellow cabs roared past the tiny deathtrap I was attempting to navigate around the city streets.
BLOCK 4
1. "I could cheerfully murder my boss," [character] said.
2. The scent of woodsmoke and roses always took him back there, to the boy he was and would never be again.
3. Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.
4. Thud . . .
5. And if it's not then I'll just have to make it up as we go along; like I always do.
6. "But . . . why do you think you're all here?"
7. "I knew I was safe if only I could get to the bridge."
BLOCK 5
1. [Character] was not unused to being urgently summoned to non-scheduled meetings with unspecified people at inconvenient time, but usually with one purpose in common: he could be confident that somewhere there lay a dead body awaiting his attention.
2. She had to die.
3. It was the perfect murder.
4. "She's usually so reliable."
5. She caught [character]'s eye and they both smiled.
6. The pain, I knew, would eventually recede . . . melting in time as inevitable as the early snow.
7. "So help me, I will."
BLOCK 6
1. It's seven o'clock on Monday morning and the removal men have been here since six.
2. It was seven minutes after midnight.
3. "Shall I expect you next Wednesday for our game as usual?" asked [character].
4. How does one describe [character]?
5. "In private."
6. But that's another story.
7. Nevertheless, it was close enough for now.
BLOCK 7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Behind the cut are the specific books Adrianna and I used and if anyone is interested, I do have a list of which lines came from which books.
A Friend of the Family - Lisa Jewell
A Good Hanging - Ian Rankin
Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Berniere
Cuba - Stephen Coonts
Dangerous Davies The Last Detective - Leslie Thomas
Divas Don't Knit - Gil McNeil
Equus - Peter Shaffer
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
Fortunes of War - Stephen Coonts
Hong Kong - Stephen Coonts
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Striding Folly - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Colour of Magic - Terry Prachett
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
The Headhunters - Peter Lovesey
The Liar - Stephen Fry
The Lighthouse - P. D. James
The New Rector - Rebecca Shaw
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
The Quiet American - Graham Greene
The Secret Purposes - David Baddiel
The Stars' Tennis Balls - Stephen Fry
The Time Machine - H. G. Wells
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
The Warrior Heir - Cinda Williams Chima
Through The Grinder - Cleo Coyle
Thud! - Terry Prachett
As always if you have any ideas for future challenges, i.e. you have a story you'd really like to write but as yet it hasn't fitted into any of the themes, or even a theme you'd really like to read, then please suggest it to me. Ideally I would like to be able to intersperse member's ideas with my own.
Happy writing.
Nikki