The pressure of his gaze weighs on me, like the compression of the machines in the dress factory. I switch on my face, but nothing I do can affect the outcome. He will chose me or he will reject me. I choke. In this bell jar, evacuated of love, it is hard to breathe. But at least, he might promise a bed for the night.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
It was wrong, I know, but I was angry. I struck out, at a Master. My nail caught in his cheek, and a layer of skin sloughed off.
Underneath, not bone and blood, but levers and pinions.
I ran and ran.
In the dormitory, my workmates crowded round.
“The Masters,” I babbled. “They’re machines, not people.”
“Okay,” Slabbert said,” and so?”
“And so we have to do something.”
“What can we do? Better to concentrate on the things you can control. Like the choice between skinny latte and macchiato.”
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
He opens the book, grabs its spine, and shakes. A heap of words tumble onto the table. Some verbs skitter and roll, ending up lost behind the pepper grinder. The scent of azaleas assails him from the vase. With the long forefinger of Michelangelo’s Cistine God, he stirs the lexical mound. Subjects swirl, encounter objects, and bind. Predicates zip on.
The battleship, the shoreline …. bombards.
Henry, the dog …. eats.
Nowhere is there love because that is one of the verbs that rolled away.
His brow dampens and his hands shake.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
The first shaft of morning sun lifts the courtyard from shadow, like an old-time cinema organ rising from the stage. Yes—another message. I smell gardenias and a hint of sulphur.
Hunkering down, viewing from a distance, turning round suddenly. I try stratagems to decipher the chalked words, but I can make out only the word all.
A threat or a promise? Give me all your money? You have been naught, you shall be all?
Of course, I could wait through the night to catch my mystery correspondent. But if you peek, Santa doesn’t come.
Perhaps the word is allo?
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
It might, of course, have been pure chance—a group who happened to be standing one behind the other. But I didn’t think so. This looked purposeful. These people were waiting for something. I joined the back of the line.
Leaning forward, I caught hints from the conversation of those ahead of me.
“Well, that one’s no better than she ought to be ….”
“Five-nil. What a ….”
It started raining. Some raised umbrellas but nobody left the queue. This must be important.
I rejoiced I’d chosen the right line, as water streamed down my face.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
There are many articles about winning writing competitions. Just do a web search to see them. This piece will take most of that advice as read, and concentrate on things that may be less obvious. These flow from my experience as creator and administrator of a writing contest and as reader for a literary magazine. I’ve also won a couple of competitions.
A brief summary of the obvious
The less obvious stuff
The final secrets
When things started falling upwards, I knew it wasn’t going to be an ordinary day. The colander and the beer tankard whirled above my head, making a tiny planetary system.
If life gives you lemons, as they say, make lemonade. I spread my arms and prepared to float into the roof lantern. We’ve all dreamed of flying, right? But my feet remained planted.
That’s my failing. If there’s a rule, I obey it. The law of gravity held me sullen in its grip as the cat began slowly to ascend the blue dome of the sky.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
We’re a long way from robots writing compelling stories, but software can make an author’s life simpler. There are three broad classes of software intended to help writers.
I list some of the main alternative here.
As I’ve said before, though I love software, I’m not a big fan of the Organisers for authors. I’m just as happy using an ordinary word-processor and a spreadsheet. So none of the programs in the Organiser category is in my toolkit and I haven’t attempted to test and review them. Remember, a computer program won’t write a single word of your novel for you. I do however recommend Beemgee from the Planner category and ProWritingAId from the Editor group. I’ve also tried Contour from the Planner group and it’s pretty good. I was less persuaded by the usefulness of Contour’s companion program, Persona, compared with Beemgee.
Planners
Most of the software in the organiser group below includes some planning functions. However, there are more dedicated planners
Organisers
This type of software acts as a word-processor and filing cabinet. They conveniently store your plot outline, timeline, notes on background research, and your stray snippets. Some include prompts for generating characters. All include a stripped-down and uncluttered word-processor. The particular advantage of word-processors for writers is that they’re designed for you to move chapters and chunks around easily. Scrivener is the best known of these.
In addition some include templates or other devices to help you build your story arc. I’d recommend treating this facility with some caution. Following templates may lead to mechanical stories.
For ease of presentation, I’ve listed all the features and the costs of the main products in a table.
Editors
In a previous blogpost I reviewed Fictionary (which implausibly claims to give your novel a structural assessment), and copy editors Autocrit and ProWritingAid, as well as some free alternatives. I recommended ProWritingAid as best value for money.
The bottom line
Many of the story Planners can be copied out as question templates. So you could try the demo version, copy the questions, and create your own tool. There’s pretty much nothing in the Organiser group you can’t do with a word-processor and a spreadsheet, or indeed paper and pencil. Only the Editing tools depend on algorithms and databases you can’t copy.
Yesterday was Tuesday. Much like Monday, nothing special. But today is totally changed. Until yesterday, you were in the world, and now you’re not. I don’t know how to comprehend this.
I pick up the book you were reading. Sniff it. But it smells of printers’ ink, not you. I try to read the words, the last words you saw, the same ideas that passed through your mind filling mine, as if some semblance of you might remain in them.
Until I reach the word “yesterday”, such an innocent word. But I cannot continue.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
The day before yesterday, it was charming—a sport of nature. I popped it into a wine glass and provided water to drink.
The seed grew so fast, tendrils unspooling and feeling along the walls. Even when I realised, I did nothing. Perhaps it was already too late, but I didn’t try.
These were not branches but emptiness, spreading cracks in reality. You’d expect to feel terror, but the mind adjusts, as if to an ache. I can admit only to curiosity about events.
Maybe the cracks will widen and something will come through.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 