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The Senseless Challenge: Smell Round Up

Senseless ChallengeThe celebrations for National Short Story Month continue with even more #flashsense stories this week.

Missed previous weeks? Check out Sight (May 3rd) and Sound (May 10th).

The third Friday of the month, May 17th, was dedicated to smell.

Here’s a round up of week three’s stories.

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THE SENSELESS CHALLENGE: SMELL

Private Nose by Peggy McFarland
It’s going to rain today, mark my words. I can smell it.

Smell by Christopher Munroe
A month after you quit smoking, you get your sense of smell back.

Sweet by N.M. Martinez
Blanca’s nose burned as if being licked by a little flame.

Mouse by Shelly Proffitt Howells
You are such a mouse, Harold.

StorySkippers Anonymous by Laura Amos
Bars didn’t smell like cigarettes anymore.

Making Sense by Chuck Allen
She loved the smell of being clean.

Bottled Shame by Kelly Stapleton
I smelled Missy before I saw her.

Oh, Nose! by Tim VanSant
There was something rotten in the state of Denmark.

A Great Story by Laura Besley
The only smell in the tiny dark room was her own.

Fumes of Love by Brinda Banerjee
It was dank, reminiscent of the garbage landfill nearby.

The Hunter by A.M. Harte
The air was sweet and cold, moonlight-sharp.

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Did I forget to include your story? Drop me a link in the comments.

This Friday 24th is dedicated to taste – join in and tweet your story with #flashsense!

It’s not too late to get involved – just drop me a comment on the challenge post or tweet your story using #flashsense.

The Senseless Challenge: Sound Round Up

Senseless ChallengeThe celebrations for National Short Story Month continue with even more #flashsense stories this week.

Check out the May 3rd round up if you missed any stories about our sense of sight.

The second Friday of the month, May 10th, was dedicated to sound.

Here’s a round up of week two’s stories.

* * *

THE SENSELESS CHALLENGE: SOUND

Beyond The Thin Blue Line by Laura Besley
I wish I could tell my children not to fear death.

Deaf Ears by Peggy McFarland
In a few short hours, Jack should hear again.

Fireworks by The Lord by Deanna Schrayer
Buying a new car has never been louder.

Noise by Chuck Allen
Memories can be loud, too.

Noise by N.M. Martinez
The cheerful daytime music made the hairs in her inner ear quake.

Thub-thub, Thub-thub by Tim VanSant
The underground bunker smelled like a sewer.

Stephanie by Laura Amos
There were other voices in the background.

Antichrist, Interrupted by Kelly Stapleton
The voice has been with me since I was 13.

Silence, Sound by JP West
I’m telling you, Amanda, he’s not the same.

Silenced by Shelly Proffitt Howells
I hear it, faintly, while I’m rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.

Bunty hears a snake by Brinda Banerjee
There it was again, a soft, scraping sound.

Sound By Christopher Munrow
There’s no greater joy than listening to your favorite band.

War On Noise by A.M. Harte
The crackle of gunfire has long since lost its meaning.

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Did I forget to include your story? Drop me a link in the comments.

It’s not too late to get involved – just drop me a comment on the challenge post.

The Senseless Challenge: Sight Round Up

Senseless ChallengeI must admit I was a little nervous that no one would join me in my senseless idea… but I’m so pleased that I am not the only one out there wanting to celebrate National Short Story Month!

The first Friday of the month, May 3rd, was dedicated to our sense of sight.

Here’s a round up of week one’s stories.

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THE SENSELESS CHALLENGE: SIGHT

Amber’s Unseeable Eyes by Laura Besley
A young girl can see what others cannot.

Eye Contact by Peggy McFarland
“A watery blue tear bounced off her cheek, rolled onto the floor board and disappeared into a crack.”

Vision by Christopher Munroe
The pros of the graveyard shift.

Gold by N.M. Martinez
All that glitters is not gold…

Fun Is Not Blind by Kelly Stapleton
Would you go dancing in the dark?

Rita by Laura Amos
“How was it possible a person could exist in this world for nineteen years and leave behind so few imprints?”

Eye Spy by Tim VanSant
Size matters.

Aura of Gold by Brinda Banerjee
A kitchen maid has eyes like none other.

Sight by JP West
To see is to know.

Sights Unseen by Shelli Proffitt Howells
Can you see the truth behind the words?

City of Ghosts by A.M. Harte
London is slowly turning into a city of ghosts.

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Did I forget to include your story? Drop me a link in the comments.

It’s not too late to get involved – just drop me a comment on the challenge post.

The Senseless Challenge: Prizes!

Senseless Challenge If you haven’t signed up for the Senseless Writing Challenge yet, you should now.

Because now, there are PRIZES!

At the end of May, I’ll be polling readers on which challenge story was their favourite.

The author of the winning story will win a print copy of Hungry For You, PLUS three 1889 Labs ebooks which celebrate short(er) stories: Bears, Recycling & Confusing Time Paradoxes, Kidney Disease Gave Me Heart Failure, and MERGE.

The runner-up will receive the 3 above mentioned ebooks.

Each author can enter a maximum of 5 stories into the challenge – one for each sense.

Obviously, since I’m running the show, I won’t take part in the poll. :-)

What are you waiting for? Head over to the Senseless Writing Challenge intro post and sign up now!

Join The SENSELESS Writing Challenge!

Senseless ChallengeCalling 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

  1. We have five senses.
  2. May has five Fridays.
  3. Each Friday is dedicated to one of the senses.
  4. On that Friday, you post a flash fiction focusing on that sense.
  5. 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

  1. A.M. Harte
  2. Nathan Payne
  3. Laura Besley
  4. N.M. Martinez
  5. Laura Amos
  6. Kiri
  7. Joseph
  8. Brinda Banerjee
  9. Peggy McFarland
  10. Christopher Munroe
  11. Kelly Stapleton
  12. Tim VanSant
  13. JP West
  14. Shelli Proffitt Howells
  15. Deanna Schrayer
  16. Chuck Allen

Want to join my senseless challenge?

Leave a comment on this post linking to your blog.