☡Secret Shutin Santa Signup 19 ☡ Post Story Requests Here

You guys pretty much have the idea. We put in requests for a story, and the requests are maliciously randomly assigned to the participants, who then have until the aforementioned August date to complete a story of at least 500 words which meets that request. And, anyone willing to write a story is welcome to participate!

One of the mini games within this is to guess who wrote what story (and sometimes for whom), based on the title and an excerpt submitted or extracted from the story.

@Mad Alice anything else unique or fun we are doing in this particular exchange?
 
Btw welcome to the Chrons @Land Under Wave and @Kharn! Make sure to vote in the 75 Word Challenge over in the writing challenges, and if you haven't already post a little about yourself in the introductions thread!
 
My muse ran off and left me! I tell you, some of these creatures: if you don't write 10,000 words a day every day they get huffy and think you're taking them for granted. I wish her luck. My new one is due to arrive tomorrow, though with postal delays who knows. As long as the postman doesn't try to to stuff her through my letterbox!
 
Trollheart said:
My muse ran off and left me! I tell you, some of these creatures: if you don't write 10,000 words a day every day they get huffy and think you're taking them for granted. I wish her luck. My new one is due to arrive tomorrow, though with postal delays who knows. As long as the postman doesn't try to to stuff her through my letterbox!
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Be careful about mail order muses. They tend to be filthy creatures who promptly bite you on the posterior, especially when agitated by postal delays...
 
Joshua Jones said:
Btw welcome to the Chrons @Land Under Wave and @Kharn! Make sure to vote in the 75 Word Challenge over in the writing challenges, and if you haven't already post a little about yourself in the introductions thread!
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Thanks JJ. I've entered a few of the 75 word challenges and one of the 300 worders. I'll have to look into the upcoming 75 worder, as its too late to make it into this months.
 
Kharn said:
Thanks JJ. I've entered a few of the 75 word challenges and one of the 300 worders. I'll have to look into the upcoming 75 worder, as its too late to make it into this months.
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Nice! I joined this forum years back expressly for the purpose of entering the challenges. Between the required genre and theme pushing the writer out of their comfort zone, the minimal time needed to write the stories, and the feedback gained on the Improving thread, they are a fantastic means to develop as a writer.

I look forward to seeing you in the next challenge!
 
Land Under Wave said:
Huh. Hard to tell, reading back. Perhaps we're all supposed to compare stories and guess who wrote what?

Or...perhaps they're 'guessing paragraphs' because we have to guess what the phrase means in the first place! Recursion!
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Welcome to the Chrons.

The stories are written for the recipient. If the writer and the recipient agree that it can be shared more widely, them so be it but, otherwise, they stay as a 'Sekrit Santa' present. A paragraph of each story tends to be posted, though, and then guesses can be made as to who wrote them.

Some years back, I took part in one of these. A participant was left without a story when someone else dropped out, and left without contact*, so I jumped in and wrote something to cover the gap, although I'd never put a request in to be part of the project. If I remember correctly, nobody guessed it was my work.

*It happens. Who knows what situation they were dealing with? No judgement -- it's all meant to be fun.
 
Abernovo said:
Welcome to the Chrons.

The stories are written for the recipient. If the writer and the recipient agree that it can be shared more widely, them so be it but, otherwise, they stay as a 'Sekrit Santa' present. A paragraph of each story tends to be posted, though, and then guesses can be made as to who wrote them.

Some years back, I took part in one of these. A participant was left without a story when someone else dropped out, and left without contact*, so I jumped in and wrote something to cover the gap, although I'd never put a request in to be part of the project. If I remember correctly, nobody guessed it was my work.

*It happens. Who knows what situation they were dealing with? No judgement -- it's all meant to be fun.
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So I take it you will be participating this time without being anonymously compelled? I need someone to tackle my "truly alien" bit and it seems to have your name on it...
 
Sorry, JJ, but no. It was my only inclusion in these. Frankly, I don't have the time, right now. While many other people have been off work, I'm working from home in supply chain.

And I resent that "truly alien" jibe -- I was born on this planet. My second head, and shapeshifting abilities are an unpleasant side effect from visiting Dounreay and Sellafield in the same week.
 
Abernovo said:
Sorry, JJ, but no. It was my only inclusion in these. Frankly, I don't have the time, right now. While many other people have been off work, I'm working from home in supply chain.

And I resent that "truly alien" jibe -- I was born on this planet. My second head, and shapeshifting abilities are an unpleasant side effect from visiting Dounreay and Sellafield in the same week.
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No worries, and I understand about working from home. I'm now a grant writer for my city, so I was swamped for months trying to get funding for our city's response.

And while I am unfamiliar with those locations, I can sympathize with the effects... but the nature and origin of my... peculiarities... is presently a state secret. I'm sure one of your heads at minimum understands!
 
Abernovo said:
Sorry, JJ, but no. It was my only inclusion in these. Frankly, I don't have the time, right now. While many other people have been off work, I'm working from home in supply chain.

And I resent that "truly alien" jibe -- I was born on this planet. My second head, and shapeshifting abilities are an unpleasant side effect from visiting Dounreay and Sellafield in the same week.
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Well that supply list sounds like a story.
I mean if the man who wrote the princess bride could write it in the margins of a shipping manifest, think what wonders could be exuded from a modern supply chain list?
If your downtime between actually getting too important to pick up their phone people to actually get on the line is anything like what I experience, (today I had a three hour wait in queue, which I filled in with six other things getting done at once on two other phones, for instance) you could dredge out 500 words just in the time most waste plinking paperclips at voodoo dolls of the worst phone offenders
 
I'm looking forward to seeing these epistolary stories! I've been considering writing one inspired by a real story from my family, so I can't wait to see the exquisite examples put forth in response to these prompts!
 
Joshua Jones said:
I'm looking forward to seeing these epistolary stories! I've been considering writing one inspired by a real story from my family, so I can't wait to see the exquisite examples put forth in response to these prompts!
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It does sound quite interesting. I think it would be a welcome challenge, though it would probably require some research first. Can't say I've ever read anything written that way, at least that I can remember.
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
I'm in.

I request a story written in epistolary fashion, defined as broadly as possible. Not necessarily letters, but diary entries, journal entries, memos, e-mails; anything at all like that.
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Very interesting premise.
I've seen movies utilizing episodic message deliveries of that nature.
Telegrams. Homing pigeon. Messages in bottles. Post-its left on an appliance. Phone message. Text message.. Lots of stories with notes in books. Lipstick on a mirror. Superman's crystal with his father's instructions in it. The story with the temporal distortion time flickers in Star Trek Generations. Hieroglyphics slowly uncovered, becoming fully understood with the entire message revealed.
Graffiti on a city wall. Time capsules. Messages on a tape recorder. Even Morse code through knitted socks and sweaters. The story about the man with no short term memory that would tattoo important information on himself. And in that vein, "Fifty First Dates" journal and video messages. Harry Potter memory bubbles. The photos and journal and home movies used in "The Butterfly Effect".
Then there was the ghostly time traveling mail box in "The Lakehouse".
Lots of fodder for stories in that.
 
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