Calling all short story lovers!
May is National Short Story Month – and therefore the perfect time for an absolutely senseless idea.
Let me explain:
Short stories have a special place in my heart. They’ve helped me dabble with countless ideas, overcome writer inertia, and introduced me to communities like #fridayflash. Most importantly, they’ve helped me hone my craft by focusing on different techniques one at a time… And this where the senseless challenge comes into play.
THE SENSELESS CHALLENGE: THE FACTS
- We have five senses.
- May has five Fridays.
- Each Friday is dedicated to one of the senses.
- On that Friday, you post a flash fiction focusing on that sense.
- If you have twitter, tweet about your story with the hashtag #flashsense
Take sight. The story for that week could be about a ghost who can only see, but not hear or feel or smell or taste. On the other end of the scale, it could be about a blind man – and how he sees without seeing.
The aim of the challenge is to become more aware of how you use senses to convey description – and hopefully have fun too!
The schedule is:
There are no rules. You can take part for one week or all five. You can write about not having that week’s sense or only having it.
I’ll do weekly round ups so we can all enjoy each others’ stories.
PRIZES
At the end of May, I’m going to poll readers on which challenge story was their favourite (excluding my own, of course!).
The author of the winning story will win a print copy of one of my books.
EDIT: Far too many amazing people took part to make it fair to pick only one story. All entrants get a free ecopy of any of my books!
Each author can enter a maximum of 5 stories into the challenge – one for each sense. Winners will be announced on June 10th.
PARTICIPANTS
- A.M. Harte
- Nathan Payne
- Laura Besley
- N.M. Martinez
- Laura Amos
- Kiri
- Joseph
- Brinda Banerjee
- Peggy McFarland
- Christopher Munroe
- Kelly Stapleton
- Tim VanSant
- JP West
- Shelli Proffitt Howells
- Deanna Schrayer
- Chuck Allen
Want to join my senseless challenge?
Leave a comment on this post linking to your blog.
A.M. Harte 
Sounds like fun, Anna.
~jon
Seems like as good of an idea as any. Put me down and we’ll see what I can drum up.
Hurray! Added :-)
Sensational! (obv).
I would have commented “out of sight”, but that might have appeared tasteless.
On second thought, can something appear tasteless?
Please put me down to give this a try! :)
Put me down too. I know I have at least one story for this.
Reblogged this on Write Your Own Story and commented:
I am not one for writing prompts. I don’t know, maybe I’m just stubborn. Strange things can prompt an idea, but don’t you dare tell me to write based on a prompt.
Yet here I am pushing this on any and all writing friends. This writing prompt is so simple and open ended that it even got my brain churning. I needed a break from my current project, and this was the perfect chance to write on stuff not tied to any other stories.
Hopefully others will give this a try too. Please spread the word!
We’ll say Nina made me do it. She’s just so convincing! If she jumped off a cliff, I’d be screwed, lol! I’m in! :D
I also thought I’d mention that this challenge reminds me of the film Perfect Sense: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1439572/?ref_=sr_2
Have you seen it? It’s about two people falling in love as the world is plagued with a disease that causes the loss of senses. It’s brilliant and beautifully done. :)
I’ve never seen or heard of that film but it sounds good! I’ll have to try get ahold of a copy to watch.
Blame Laura and Nina. I’m in a writing slump, so they suggested this. And it sounds very interesting.
My Blog is http://celebkiriedhel.blogspot.com.au/
This is the other story I wrote based on the senses: http://celebkiriedhel.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/last-sunrise.html
BTW – Absolutely adored Hungry for You – it was wonderful and I loved the stories so much.
Added you to the list – and thanks :-)
I thought I’d left a comment before but I’d like to join this writing challenge. Saw this on Laura’s blog and it sounds interesting, and the perfect opportunity to keep writing during exam period.
My blog is http://www.pleasantviewsaga.wordpress.com
Thanks!
I’ve seen the film Perfect Sense. It’s very dark, but brilliantly done. Do give it a watch! :)
This is the best senseless idea I’ve heard in a while :) Please add me I’m going to give it a shot!
What other senseless ideas have you heard? :-)
Oh I have heard a couple – believe it or not – most from my ten year old :) Lets go roll down the hill in the rain mommy ( we did it)
Sounds like fun! I’ve been wanting to participate again in #fridayflash, but time and…eh, excuses. Thank you. This is the perfect way to get it all back on track.
Hurray! Look forward to seeing your pieces.
I love this idea! Count me in.
I’ll be participating on my blog http://www.shelliproffitthowells.com/amusings.
Here is my piece on sight: http://www.laurabesley.blogspot.com/2013/05/friday-flash-fiction-week-44.html
I’m in! Here’s my blog: http://kellystapleton.com/ Will be posting a story on sight shortly.
I’m a brand new writer, but I’m gonna give this a go!
http://jpwestblog.wordpress.com/
Pingback: FridayFlash: Fun Is Not Blind | Kelly Stapleton
I’m not sure where to post my link to sound…
I think you post to your blog then tweet with #flashsense . That’s what I did and I sure hope I did it correctly.
Ok. I did that, so hopefully that’s fine (for both of us!) :)
Yup you’re both right :-)