Have you ever wished you could write like your favorite author, or wondered what it would be like to NEVER use the word “said” in a story? Do you ever wish you were better at “showing” and not “telling”? Are your descriptions blah and you conversations stilted? Perhaps you’ve experienced all of these feelings and others but you don’t know what to do about it.
If that is the case, keep reading.
When I first started writing, I wasn’t very good. Like everyone else, I had to learn. I had to find my style, my best way to write. And it didn’t happen overnight.
I wanted to write well, but that meant I had to practice. But how do you practice and what should you practice?
That’s when the Short Calendar Stories started.
I learned so much just from these short stories. I had fun trying out new and different writing styles, techniques, and story lengths. Some stories were more difficult to write while others just flew from my pen. Some I didn’t like very well, but those who read them did. Others I really liked. Some I really had to cut down to fit the word count while others I had to add more filler to reach the word count.
Since I know many of my readers are writers, I thought it was time for us to have a little fun. Each 3rd Tuesday of the month, I’m going to give you a new “Short Story” to write. I will give you the word count, the number of characters you can have, and the technique you should use. You either have to pick a calendar picture that you really like and set the story there, or use one of the pictures I post. (Calendars can be very important in a writer’s life for more things than keeping track of dates.) Once your story is finished, post it on your blog and leave a comment here with the link to it. I will then go and read your story and give you feedback. Sound like fun? If you don’t have a blog, you can always e-mail the story to me a readanotherpage [at] gmail [dot] com.
Okay.
Grab your pen and paper and get ready to write!
Your first assignment is:
Characters: 1 adult, 1 child
Word Count: 1500-2500
Tense: 3rd
Special Instructions: “omniscient narrator”– knows and shares characters feelings and thoughts, not just words, actions and setting. (The narrator takes us inside each character’s head.)
Pictures to choose from (if you don’t have one of your own):
Have fun, and let me know if you have any questions! I’m looking forward to reading your story!
Wow! This looks interesting! I may not have time for it tiday, but I am certainly interested in trying. 😉
Are the character specifications just for main characters or can we have more side/background characters? 😉
Don't worry, you have until the 3rd week of next month before another one of these comes out. 🙂
Great question. Those two are the only characters you can have in your story, though you can have others mentioned. It's a challenge to only have two. I know, I did it. 🙂 When you get yours written, I'll let you read mine. 🙂
Thanks for answering my questions! Wow, two characters is going to be challenging!! Looking forward to seeing yours…
Yes, only 2 characters can be a challenge, but some times we need those challenges to stretch us and our writing. 🙂
This looks like fun!!! If I'm not able to try it this month, maybe I can next. 🙂
If you have time before next 3rd Tuesday, I'd love to read your story.
Hey, Rebekah, I was wondering. In my story, I have the adult and the child, but can I still put in a Mom? Because I did.
Also, where did you get the barn picture?
You can have a Mom, but not actually physically there. In other words, she can't say anything, she can't be present in any of the scenes, but you can have one of your characters talk about her or mention her.
For example Mom can't call out the door to say that dinner is ready. But Dad can tell child, "Let's go see if Mom has dinner ready." And then you'd have to skip any part where the mom was there.
As for the picture, I can't remember which place I got it from. I was given a certain number of images free for signing up for a month.
Man, well I already finished the story, so I will have to make a copy of it and re do it. Other than that, it was pretty good. Okay, well I will take out the Mom scenes, but it won't make a lot of sense unless I change it majorly. I guess I will change it majorly then.
I also am going to use the idea of putting their stories on their blogs, like you did, in my challenge too. If that's okay with you.
As I would tell my writing students, if you followed instructions the first time, you wouldn't have to re-do it. 😉 I know it can be a real challenge to only have two characters, but that's the whole point of the assignment.
I'm not sure what you mean about putting their stories on their blogs, but I don't care if you want to post your stories on your blog. You can even include the instructions if you want.
I will just write another story. Sorry, it is sometimes hard to follow instructions I guess. I will try again. And what I meant was that in the writing challenge I am doing on my blog, I am going to tell them (the people who have blogs) that they can post the story on their blog and send me the link to it, like you did, to enter it.
I'll forward to reading your new story.