Story #47 - Jellybean

Hi everyone. Merry Christmas! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays. This week's story has to do with spreading a little holiday cheer. Enjoy!

Title: Jellybean
Warnings: none
Summary: Eloise is unhappy, and Tina wants to fix that.
Length: ~ 2,500 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is "other."

Story #46 - Fall From Grace

Hello everyone! This week's story is an idea I've been toying with for a while. I wanted to write a story about angels, but in a fictional way that doesn't necessarily represent any religious beliefs. Eventually, I decided to try my own spin on the story of the devil's fall from heaven, like in Paradise Lost. It involves an angel choosing between the doomed Lucifer (the devil) or God. I do not mean to offend any religious groups. This is simply a fictional story based on a certain belief, because I doubt my version is exactly what happened. ;) Enjoy!

Title: Fall From Grace
Warnings: the devil as an angel... pretty modern talk between angels ;)
Summary: An angel must choose between his charismatic, rebellious friend Lucifer or God.
Length: ~ 1,700 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. This story could be viewed as historical fiction, but because the subject matter is religious, I'm going to say the genre is mythology.

Story #45 - Redemption

Hello everyone! As you can tell by the title, this week's story is essentially about redemption. I've always found redemption to be one of the most pure and beautiful concepts in the world, and I've always wanted to write a story about it. I don't think religion is always necessary for redemption, but in this case, it plays a role in the story. Also, this story doesn't reflect my views on capital punishment or religion or anything like that. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Title: Redemption (suggestions welcome)
Warnings: character death, discussion of murder, violence, and gang life, death row, improper grammar
Summary: Artie has one more day to live, and a lot of things to think about.
Length: ~ 3,600 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. I'm going to say the genre is "crime," although there are definitely other aspects, like tragedy, angst, and spiritual.

Story #44 - A Funny Little Thing Called Life

Hi everyone! This week's story was inspired by a picture I saw as I was surfing the Internet the other day. I've included it at the end of the story. Happy reading, and as always, thank you for the comments! :)

Title: A Funny Little Thing Called Life (suggestions welcome)
Warnings: slightly angsty
Summary: Nancy and her husband Wynn go to a high school reunion, and things don't turn out well.
Length: ~ 1,400 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. I'm not really sure what the genre is, so I'll go with drama.

Story #43 - Five Times Larry Got New Shoes (And One Time He Didn't)

Hello everyone! This week's story is what in fanfiction is called a "five things 'fic." Basically, it involves five different events occurring, usually with a central theme and focused on around one character. It often has an added "sixth" thing that is somehow different from the other five. I've always wanted to try one, so I figured I could give it a shot on my blog. I hope you enjoy it!  

Title: Five Times Larry Got New Shoes (And One Time He Didn't)
Warnings: eventual character death, mention of alcoholism
Summary: Self-explanatory. Larry gets five new pairs of shoes, and one pair that wasn't for him.
Length: ~ 2,500 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is a five things story.

Story #42 - A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

Hello everyone! This week brings us to Story #42 - meaning I only have ten more stories left before I've written a year's worth of stories!! Wow! I want to thank you all for sticking with me this whole time. Oh, and this is also my 50th post. Pretty exciting! This week we have another love story, but a more traditional one. Pay attention to a callback to my very first story. :) Enjoy!

Title: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose (taken from Gertrude Stein's poem Sacred Emily, which I do not own)
Warnings: none
Summary: Jack thinks he's found The One, and he goes to buy her flowers.
Length: ~ 2,400 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is romance.

Story #41 - Reason #1673985

Hi everybody! This week's story is a light-hearted sci-fi one about a robot who falls in love. It was inspired by an episode of the TV show How I Met Your Mother that included these lines: "The robot found love/Confusing my circuitry/My software's been hacked."

 

I hope you enjoy this story!

Title: Reason #1673985

Warnings: robots with feelings, a lot of numbers

Summary:  CleanBot #33422 has been malfunctioning lately and he's not sure why.

Length: ~1,800 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is sci-fi and romance and probably a little parody.

Story #40 - Live a Little

Hey everyone!! Wow, Story #40!! I've only got twelve left and then I'll have written a full year's worth of stories! I can hardly believe it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story!

Title: Live a Little (suggestions welcome)

Warnings: lightly implied sexual content

Summary:  A comment from Theresa's mom makes Theresa worry that she isn't having enough fun.

Length: ~2,400 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. I'm not sure what the genre is.

Story #39 - Uncle Edgar’s Burial (and How it Went Wrong)

This week, for Halloween, I wrote a silly story about zombies. ;) I hope you enjoy!!

Title: Uncle Edgar's Burial (and How it Went Wrong)
Warnings: zombies

Summary:  Uncle Edgar's burial goes drastically wrong.

Length: ~1,900 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is closest to parody, probably.

Story #38 - Breaking It Off

Hi everyone! This week's story deals with a heavy topic - an abusive relationship. It's all in the past, and nothing is too graphic, but I just thought I'd warn you. It's more about acceptance than anything else. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Title: Breaking It Off
Warnings: past abusive relationship, some language
Summary:  Julia needs to see Sean one more time to know that she made the right choice.
Length: ~1,600 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. Genre is closest to drama.

Story #37 - The SAT: > or < Friendship?

Hi! This week's story is a friendship drama about the SAT. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Title: SAT: > or < Friendship?
Warnings: a few swear words, questionable morals
Summary:  Cass has to do well on the SAT.
Length: ~2,800 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. Genre is drama.

Story #36 - Coffee

Hi everyone! For this week's story, I wrote about an age-group I haven't really tackled before - middle-aged! ;) As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially on how I did with this new perspective.

Title: Coffee (suggestions welcomed)
Warnings: none
Summary:  A middle-aged divorcee looking for romance.
Length: ~2,600 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is... drama, I guess.

Story #35 - Gift-Giving

Hi everyone! This week's story jumps back and forth in time, but it should be pretty easy to follow. It's a relatively fluffy, "feel-good" type of thing. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Title: Gift-Giving
Warnings: none
Summary:  Two gifts for two different yet similar occasions.
Length: ~1,800 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is probably closest to romance.

Story #34 - Of Knights, Dragons, and Maidens

Hello everyone! This week's story was inspired by the thought that I haven't done fantasy in a while, and never classic fantasy like the knights fighting a dragon to save a maiden kind of thing. That led into a good-natured parodying of that genre. ;) I hope you enjoy!

Title: Of Knights, Dragons, and Maidens
Warnings: none really, just parody, some silliness
Summary:  The medieval world from a Dragon's point of view.
Length: ~2,000 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is fantasy and parody.

Story #33 - Untitled

Hi! So for this week's story, I decided to challenge myself to write a story in "drabbles" - short pieces of writing that are exactly 100 words. Also, the way it turned out (I noticed this halfway through and then continued it deliberately) is that one drabble has dialogue in it, and the next doesn't. They alternate. Anyways... it was interesting to cut each section down to 100 words. I had to be more concise than I normally am. I hope you enjoy the story! :)

Title: Untitled (suggestions welcomed)
Warnings: one swear word, cancer
Summary:  Karen's mom is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Length: 1,700 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. Genre is... I'm going to go with "family".

Story #32 - Charleston County

Hi everyone! This story's a bit different than my usual. I had fun with it. It involves a sort of distant, semi-ominescent narrator and a more specific setting than is used in most of my stories. Also, it has only second-hand action and little dialogue, and a very specific voice. I'd love to know what you think about it! :)

Title: Charleston County
Warnings: references to bullying
Summary:  Charleston County - "Where even the squirrels can do no wrong."
Length: ~2,000 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is... um... I'm going to put it as "other" for the moment.

Story #31 - Prank Calling

Alright, here's this week's story. It's a memoir about the time I was a bad kid and prank called people, and then got caught. Man, was that a harsh lesson! ;) Enjoy!

Title: Prank Calling
Warnings: naughty children
Summary:  The night I decided to prank call was one of the worst nights of my life.
Length: ~1,100 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is memoir.

Story #30 - Speaking Again

Hi everyone! Today I will be posting two stories - one for last week and one for this week. This story is for last week. It's the longest storyI've ever written, and also the most convoluted. It has a lot of subplots. I'm thinking I might write a sequel or prequel to it later. Anyways... enjoy!

Title: Speaking Again
Warnings: mugging, trauma, discussions of trauma and violence... I'd say PG-14 in general.
Summary:  Chris gets mugged. But somehow, he seems to have lost his voice too. Can his friends get him to talk again?
Length: 5,450 words!
Notes: Third person point of view (two characters), present tense. Genre is drama.

Birthday Surprise Story

Hi everyone! Today's story was not written by me. My mom wrote it for me as a birthday present (my birthday's coming up). I'm still going to post my own story later this week, but I wanted to share my mom's wonderful story. I think there's a bit of the writing spirit in her, it's just been hiding all these years. So, without further ado:

Story #29 - Prince Charming

Hi everyone! This week's story is a weird, fairy-tale/historical fiction/romance mesh. Also, the main character has a cold, because I do. ;) What's writing if you can't make your characters suffer your problems, eh? Enjoy!

Title: Prince Charming
Warnings: ...a kiss? and slight old-fashioned language
Summary:  The story of Ellen and Prince Charming.
Length: ~1,600 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. Genre is fantasy, historical fiction, and romance. (Yes, all three.)

Story #28 - Untitled

Hello everyone! This week's story is certainly "different." It's a break-up story told in reverse, starting with the woman getting over the break-up and ending with the actual break-up. This was inspired by How I Met Your Mother ("a love story in reverse") and a song from it called Sandcastles in the Sand, which is about a break-up.

Enjoy!

Title: Untitled (I'd love any ideas)
Warnings: angst, drinking, one kiss
Summary:  A break-up story told in reverse.
Length: ~1,400 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. Genre is... I'm going to go with angst, although it could also fit drama or romance.

Story #27 - Identical

Hi everybody! This week's story was inspired by a building that I saw while I was in New York. It was an imposing brick building, labeled "Queenborogh Correctional Facility." It made me think of what it would be like to be living there. And then I had a conversation during dinner yesterday about identical twins. And, well, this is what the story turned into! I'm pretty happy with it. Enjoy! :)

Title: Identical (suggestions welcome)
Warnings: mentions of past criminal activity and possible present criminal activity, very slight languange
Summary: Neil and Nick like to trick people. And it's so easy, too.
Length: 2,450 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. I'm not sure what the genre is. There's a bit of romance, and then some kind of family/brotherly stuff. So I'm going to go with "other."

Story #26 - PDF, aka My Friend Kristin

Hi everybody! This week's story is more special than the others - it's my 26th story! This means that I am halfway through my challenge! Wow! It's been fun. I have to say, I'm more surprised to realize that this means I've been writing my blog for half a year, now. That's pretty intense!

This week's story is a tribute to my friend Kristin. Her birthday was on July 29th. Happy birthday, Kristin!

Title: PDF, aka My Friend Kristin
Warnings: none (tomfoolery?)
Summary: To my friend Kristin - the crazy times we've had!
Length: ~1,300 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is tribute.

Story #25 - Night Out in NYC

Hi everybody! Here's this week's story. It's a memoir about a recent experience I had. I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and I'm still traveling, but when I get back I'll add some pictures. :)

Title: Night Out in NYC
Warnings: none
Summary: A fun night I had a few weeks ago.
Length: ~2,100 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is memoir.

Story #24 - Cereal

Hi everybody! Sorry this story is a little late. I've had it ready for a while, but I've been traveling and couldn't get Internet until now. So, without further ado, here's this week's story!

Title: Cereal
Warnings: unplanned pregnancy, discussion of abortion, family feuds
Summary: A Garcia-Smith child cannot exist.
Length: ~3,300 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. Genre is drama.

Story #23 - For Natalie

Hello everybody! Today is my friend Natalie’s birthday. She will be turning seventeen. I have known her for five years now. We first met in seventh grade, and now, after eleventh grade, we are still good friends. For her birthday, I told her I’d write a story about her. So here's the story!

Title: For Natalie
Warnings: none (occassional sappiness?)

Summary: A tribute to Natalie, one of my best friends.
Length: ~1,100 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is tribute.

Story #22 - Eternal Fight

Hello everybody! This week's story is written as if it's a screenplay. It's not going to be like an actual screenplay, though, because I don't know the technical terms for camera positioning and stuff. But I thought it'd be fun to try out the screenplay style of writing. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Title: Eternal Fight (other ideas are like chocolate to me)
Warnings: Some bad language
Summary: A couple fights.
Length: ~1,250 words
Notes: Point of view is kind of difficult with screenplays. I guess third person. Genre is drama. Also I'm going to state screenplay as a genre, to set it apart. Tense is present, typical of screenplays.

Story #21 - Free Flier

Hello everybody! Here's this week's story. It's more character-based than most of the stories I've done so far. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Title: Free Flier (suggestions welcomed)
Warnings: None
Summary: Nancy Evans becomes someone else when she flies.
Length: ~1,400 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. I am not sure what the genre is.

Story #20 - For My Father

Hey, everyone. This may be rather predictable, especially after what I did on Mother's Day, but I couldn't leave my dad out on Father's Day! So, this is a tribute to my wonderful dad. Happy Father's Day, Dad! This one's for you. :)

Title: For My Father
Warnings: None
Summary: A tribute to my dad, for Father's Day. :)
Length: ~1,100 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense for the most part. Genre is one I'm kind of making up for have several stories that will fit into it, so - tribute.

Story #19 - Waiting For Mommy

Hello, everybody! This week's story includes something I haven't done before: different third person points of view. Also, I challenged myself to include no dialogue. I hope you enjoy the story! Oh, and thank you for the comments on last week's story. :)
Title: Waiting For Mommy
Warnings: none
Summary: One little girl is waiting for her mom to pick her up. One mom is desperate to pick up her little girl.
Length: ~ 1,150 words
Notes: Third person point of view (two perspectives). Past tense. The genre is probably closest to drama.

Story #18 - Rebellion

Hey! So this week's story is pretty different than my other ones. I figured it was time for a darker story. Although, depending on how you look at it, this story can be a tragedy or an inspiration. Anyway, this one's about suicide, so don't read it if that bothers you. It doesn't reflect my views about suicide. I am not suicidal, and I would urge anyone who is feeling that way to talk to someone. In the case of this story, I thought it would be interesting to explore the ethics of a society where suicide is impossible, or at least very difficult.

Er... anyway... enjoy?

Title: Rebellion
Warnings: suicide/suicidal themes, bad language, homosexuality (mild and unrequited)
Summary: "Suicide is the most powerful form of protest, the ultimate act of rebellion."
Length: 2,400 words
Notes: Shifting point of view - first person for the present and third person for the flashbacks. Present tense. This can fit a lot of genres, so I'll just list them all here: angst, tragedy, sci-fi, drama. I'd say it's predominantly angst.

Story #17 - On the Run

Hi! This week's story is sort of a cross between a spy parody and an action story. There's not a lot of dialogue in it, which I didn't intend on but is kind of funny considering last week's story. Oh, and interesting writer's insight about this story - sometimes the writer chooses the point of view, but sometimes the point of view chooses the writer. In this instance, it was the latter. I was going to write this in first person, but in the very first paragraph I realized that it wasn't going to work out, so I switched to third person. ;) Another fun fact - the main character was called Sarah the whole time I wrote this, but then I decided that Bella sounded more Italian and fit her better so I changed her name.

Title: On the Run
Warnings: car chase, shooting, but not really detailed or graphic or anything
Summary: It's time for one spy to make her escape.
Length: 2,300 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is action and parody.

Enjoy! :) And again, thank you for all the comments, and I'd love to know what you think about this story, too!

Story #16 - Scar Stories

Hey everybody. This week, I tried my hand at a dialogue-only story, meaning that there's literally nothing but dialogue. Except for a few ellipses ("...") which signal a pause in the conversation of a passing of time. Let me know what you think about it, and especially if it's too confusing, because without description to back up the dialogue it could be easily to get lost. :)

Oh, and of course, thank you for the kind comments on my previous story!

Title: Scar Stories
Warnings: mentions of war and violence
Summary: It's storytime, and the grandchildren want to know about the scars.
Length: 2,460 words
Notes: This isn't really in any point of view, because it's only dialogue. It's also not really in any tense, because it's only dialogue. I'm not sure what the genre is, but since its defining feature is that it only has dialogue I am going to place it in the genre of "dialogue only". ;)

Story #15 - True Love

Hello! This week's story is what in fanfiction we call fluff. Urban dictionary defines fluff as "a kind of fanfic which has a happy ending or generally happy content".

The premise of this story is that this woman is going to Britain to see the royal wedding to find true love.
As always, thanks for the comments on the previous story. (Mom, I'm glad you liked it. :))

Title: True Love (suggestions welcomed, fed, and given lots of love)
Warnings: one cuss word, kissing, fluff, muteness
Summary: A woman goes to Britian to watch the royal wedding and find true love.
Length: ~3,750 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. The genre is romance.
Disclaimer: I don't own Lady Gaga's song "Born This Way."

Story #14 - For My Mother

Hi everyone! Happy Mother's Day. This story is different from any of the other ones, because it's a "tribute story". It's for my mom, the best mom ever. It's not only Mother's Day today - it's also my mom's birthday. So this following story consists of a few of my most significant memories of our time together. Hopefully anyone who reads it will be able to find similar experiences!

Title: For My Mother
Warnings: None
Summary: A tribute to my mom. :)
Length: ~1,500 words
Notes: First person point of view, mostly past tense. I suppose this fits into the memoir genre, and inside that, it's a tribute. I don't know if tribute is a genre, but it should be!

Enjoy!

Story #13 - "The Bar Story" (Untitled)

Hello everybody! Before I talk about this story, I'd like to clear a few things up with last week's. Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who commented! I'm sorry if the angst of the memoir got anyone down. I want to assure you that I am well over "Beatrice", and that now I have the best friends that anyone could ask for and am very happy. Beatrice definitely taught me what kind of friends to avoid! So, yes, things did get better. Thank you again for the kind comments.

Now, about this story - wow! It really got away from me. It turned out to be over 4,000 words!! And it's really not very plotty! I went in with a vague idea of a bartender, misery, and a style of writing, and it really went crazy. I decided to write this in a nonlinear style - the events aren't chronological. In some ways, this was more freeing than linear writing, but in others, I found it more difficult. Sometimes I'd be like, "Wait, I can't put this scene next, that's too close to the actual order!" It was good fun, though. I'd love to know what you think of the end result. :) Oh, and I haven't edited this, so if you see typos, please let me know. Thanks!

Title: "The Bar Story" (suggestions, PLEASE!)
Warnings: I'd say overall this is a rating of about PG-13, so keep that in mind.
Summary: "Most men live lives of quiet despeartion." - Henry David Thoreau
Length: ~4,100 words!!
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. I've no idea what the genre is. It's got a bit of everything, and the main relationship can be interpreted many different ways. I suppose I'll go with "drama" because that's pretty much all-encompassing.

Story #12 - Three Little Words

Hi everyone! Man, I'm tired. I'm back home now, but I didn't get back 'till 2 AM. And now it's back to school already! Spring break sure passes quickly. Anyways, about this story - it's a true story about I not-so-great friend I had in elementary school. There's a bit of teen angst (even though technically I wasn't a teen in 6th grade). A huge thank you to everyone who commented on my previous story - I've never written horror before and I really appreciate the feedback. As always, I'd love feedback on this story too. Happy reading!

Title: Three Little Words
Warnings: depressing... bad friendship... negative feelings
Summary: "Today, I would finally do it. I'd finally say "I hate you" to my best friend of over six years."
Length: ~1,200 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is memoir, and inside of that, probably drama or angst.

Story #11 - Monsters and Demons

Hi, everybody! The travelling's going okay. Our plane got delayed a bit, but that gave me time to type up my entire story. I tried for all-out horror this time. It's not too gory, but I think it's rather creepy. I also experimented a bit with point of view and a slightly crazy narrator. Enjoy! :) Oh, and as always, a million thanks to those who have read and/or reviewed.

Title: Monsters and Demons
Warnings: creepiness, stalking, horror, murder, insanity (nothing too graphic on any of these, though)
Summary: An encounter between a killer and his victim.
Length: ~1,500 words
Notes: First person point of view, but also with a bit of second person ("you"). Present tense. Genre is horror.

Going Away

Hello everyone! I just thought I should let you all know that I'm going on vacation this week (it's my spring break). I'll be gone from tomorrow, April 17th, to next Sunday, April 24th. However, I should have internet access, so there shouldn't be any disruptions in the posting of stories. :)

As for this week's story - I have a lot of ideas floating around, but I haven't picked one to work on yet. So tomorrow's story will be a surprise to all of us!

Story #10 - Take My Hand

Hi everyone! This week's story is short, because I decided to try flash fiction - a short story under a thousand words. It was an interesting experience for me, because it ended up being pretty much all action and little backstory. I didn't really do any planning before writing this, and it was an exciting process watching the plot and characters unfold. I didn't know what was going to happen as I wrote it! :)

Title: Take My Hand (any better ideas, let me know)
Warnings: serious concepts (mostly death and destruction)
Summary: A moment of decision for two people.
Length: Exactly 999 words (not counting the words "the end")
Notes: First point of view, present tense. Genre is drama.

Story #9 - April Fool's!

I know it's not April Fool's Day today, but it's still the first week of April, so I figured this would count. I wanted to try out the diary format, so... this is written like a diary. Oh, and fun side note - one of the pranks featured in this story (the one with the cereal box cake) my family actually did, twice, with great success. You should try it next year if you're fond of April Fool's.

The misspellings and bad grammar in these entries are intentional. (The story starts when the girl is six!) However, if you see something that looks like a typo, let me know. As always, a huge thanks to anyone who read my previous story, and double thanks to those who commented! I hope you enjoy this one. It's pretty lighthearted. Here's the info:

Title: April Fool's!
Warnings: mischievousness?
Summary: Ten years of April Fool's jokes.
Length: ~ 2,300 words
Notes: First point of view, sort of a mix between past and present. Written in diary format. I have no idea what the genre is, so I'm going with drama.

Story #8 - A Different Way to Live

Here's the next story! This one's pretty wacky. It might be the weirdest idea I've had so far. The basis of the idea was "someone who feeds on tears or needs tears to live". Originally it was going to be a horror story, but I decided against that approach. There's still a slightly horrific scene, though, because I wanted to try my hand at writing horror. What else... Well, here's a little trade secret - the name of the main character ("MC") was inspired by what I kept on calling him in my notes. Which was MC, short for main character. ;)

As always, thank you to the people who read and reviewed my previous story, and happy reading for this one!

Title: A Different Way to Live
Warnings: violence, creepiness
Summary: It's tough needing human tears to live when you don't like to make people cry.
Length: ~ 2,700 words
Notes: First point of view, present tense. Genre is supernatural, which might be the same as fantasy but I'm going to say it's different. ;)

Story #7 - Temporary Insanity

Alright, this week, I have another memoir. As the title would suggest, this memoir details a crazy moment in my life. In short, it's the time I decided to jump off a building (ziplining, don't worry, not suicide). I had maybe a bit too much fun with Random Capitalizations in this story. Let me know if I overdid it. Also, I really wasn't sure how to end it, so the ending is very abrupt. That's about it, I think... True story, all of this really happened. I don't mean any offense by any of the things I say... Disclaimer, disclaimer, etc. As always, thank you to everyone who read and/or reviewed my last story. I hope you enjoy this one! :)

Title: Temporary Insanity
Warnings: ...Risk-taking?
Summary: The story of when I decided to jump off Sky Tower in New Zealand.
Length: ~ 2,500 words
Notes: First point of view, mostly present tense but there might be some mix-ups. Genre is memoir and... kind of a mix between drama and humor, I guess.

Story #6 - Untitled

Right, so here I am with my sixth story! (Only 46 to go!) This one is fantasy, but it's not another world or anything like that. It's just because it's from the point of view of a puppy and the dogs talk to each other. I figured it was about time for an animal story. I'd really appreciate opinions on this one, because it was especially difficult to write. And as usual, thank you very much to everyone who commented/read my previous story. And please let me know if you spot any typos. :) Enjoy!

Title: Untitled (if anyone has any ideas, please let me know, I'm totally blank on this one)
Warnings: None
Summary: Shadow the puppy goes on a search for his Mama.
Length: ~ 2,400 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is fantasy (talking animals).

Story #5 - Missing

Alright, here's my fifth story. The story's unedited, so there's bound to be some embarrassing typos. Don't be shy - please point them out! The story's ending is pretty cliche and the motives are rather strange, but what can I say - sometimes people are strange. :) It turned out shorter than I thought it would be, but I didn't want to drag it out unnecessarily.

Title: Missing
Warnings: One cuss word and some brief kissing/groping
Summary: Nina's at her bachlorette party when someone knocks on the door. It's the police, and they come with worrying news - her fiance is missing.
Length: ~ 2,900 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. Genre is mystery.

I'm going to put the Wordle up later (maybe tomorrow). Until then!

Still Alive (and Writing)

Gah... it's been a tough week for ideas. I usually try to post these "process posts" by Wednesday or Thursday, but this week, I was having a lot of trouble coming up with an idea. I went fishing for ideas, asking my parents and the people at my Ceramics table and friends in other classes... and I still couldn't find an idea I liked. Eventually, a suitable idea came to me as I was falling asleep. It wasn't very fleshed out but I knew I could make something of it. This was it - setting: bachelorette party. Event: the cops come.

It took me a while to figure out just what I was going to do with that idea. By now, I think I've got a fairly good plotline. I was going to write a kind of mystery story, but it's turning out to be more like romance. Ah, that's life, what can I say. ;)

So... for the usual details... genre romance/mystery, there's a bachelorette party involved, and the police. It should be a pretty light-hearted piece, but we'll see. :)

Also, a quick note on Wordle - thanks for the advice! I think I'll start doing it every fifth story or perhaps every month. (We're into my second month now!) So this week's story, you'll see the first Wordle!

Story #4 - Welcome to Scotland

Hi all! I'm here with my fourth story. To my surprise, this memoir turned out to be much harder to write than my fictional stories. Usually it's the other way around for me. Again, I'd like to thank you for your comments on my previous story (and stories). At the end of the story, I'm including a picture of our rental car in a... compromising situation. Read on to find out what that is! ;)

Title: Welcome to Scotland
Warnings: "Bad language" (think symbols)
Summary: The story of my first day in Scotland and how crazy it was.
Length: ~ 2,500 words
Notes: First person point of view, past tense. Genre is nonfiction/memoir and humor.

Next Story

Hello! I'm here with my next story idea. I've decided that it's time for me to write some nonfiction - in this case, a memoir. I've decided to do a slightly comic scene from my life - this time when my family and I travelled to Scotland and it seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong. Even at the time, we thought it was funny, so hopefully this Sunday's story will be a nice relief from the apocalypse of last week's story!

On a different topic, I'm thinking about using this cool site called Wordle to make "art" for my stories. Basically, I would copy and paste my story and it would have all the words I used the most frequently in an artistic arrangement. I might do that for every five stories I write or something, just to liven things up and have a cover art of sorts. Any thoughts?

Story #3 - The End of the World?

First, I'd like to thank everyone who read and commented on my second story. Your kind comments make me smile and give me the strength to keep this blog going! Second, this third story is pretty intense - just a warning. I wouldn't recommend it to any young children, it can get pretty dark! Also, I wrote this story in past tense, which I don't use a lot. I might've slipped into present tense on accident (if I did, please let me know!).

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about what would happen if an asteroid hit the earth, so this is not scientifically accurate. I also know very little about Tibet or Buddhism, so if I make any errors, I apologize.

Now for the story info!

Title: The End of the World As We Know It (again, I'd appreciate suggestions)
Warnings: Graphic imagery of death, bodies, injury, etc., a panic attack, the end of the world
Summary: The aftermath of an asteroid hitting the earth told by one of the few survivors.
Length: ~ 4,000 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is sci-fi, I guess, because it's an apocalyptic story.

As usual, I'd really appreciate it if you would read my story and leave a comment. I hope you enjoy the story!

This Sunday's Story

Hi everybody! It's been a bit quiet around here lately because I was working on my next story, but I've got it pretty much figured out by now. I'll give you the usual information/summary along with the tale of where I got the idea for this week's story.

This story is going to be a sort of post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama set in Tibet. I felt like after that cute Valentine's Day story, we could all use something a little... grittier. Although this story will probably have a happy/hopeful ending, because I like happy endings. (I'll have to add some sad stories to my list of what to write over the course of this year!)

The story about how I got the idea is this: A few weeks ago in AP Biology, we were studying evolution and extinction. My teacher said something that I thought was very interesting. He said, "Mass extinctions seem to happen like clockwork." I thought, Hmm. If that's true, then aren't we due for another mass extinction pretty soon?

And that's how my post-apocalyptic story was born. ;) Oh, the places we writers get ideas! The story'll be up on Sunday, as usual. Until then, readers!

Story #2 - Boy Meets Girl

Alright, it's nighttime here, but it's still Sunday and I've got my second story up! This one was a lot of trouble for me, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'd love to hear what you think. On that note, I'd like to thank everyone who read my first story, and especially everyone who commented on it! I really appreciate the feedback. Also, if you spot any typos or other embarrassing errors, please let me know. Anyway, here's the "stats" for my second story. Happy reading! And happy Valentine's Day! :)

Title: Boy Meets Girl (if anyone has a better title, let me know)
Warnings: One cuss word and some kissing
Summary: Alex works at Le Chat Noir. Amber likes to draw there. This is the story of how they met and fell in love.
Length: ~ 2,800 words
Notes: Third person point of view, present tense. Genre is romance, probably more on the comic/fluffy side.

Hey everyone! I hope all of you enjoyed my first story (or at least didn't hate it). This week, I'm going to be writing a love story in honor of Valentine's Day. This week's story is going to be fluffy and end happily and hopefully melt even the iciest of hearts. :) Although, I've never written a love story before, so we'll see how that goes. In any case, expect something this Sunday!

Story #1 - Pressed Flowers

Hello, all! I bring my very first short story!!! I looked it over, but if you spot any typos in it, please tell me. I'd really appreciate constructive critcism on this, especially because it's my first story. Even if it's not constructive, I'd love it if you could leave a comment and let me know what you think. :) I wouldn't say it's my best work, but I'm pretty pleased with it. Oh, and coming up with titles is not my strong suit, so if anyone has a better title, please let me know. Summaries are not my strong suit either, I apologize for that!

Title: Pressed Flowers
Warnings: Very slight bad language
Summary: Sophie hasn't seen Brian for twelve years. But that will soon change when they randomly meet in San Francisco.
Length: ~ 4,200 words
Notes: First person point of view, present tense. Genre is drama.

Click on the link below this to read the story. Happy reading!

Making Progress...

Hello, everyone! First, I just want to check in and reassure everyone that I am working on writing a story! So don't worry, this blog is not going to die any time soon. On another note, you might think that I already had something planned out for the first story of my blog, but that would would make this too easy, wouldn't it? ;) Never fear, though, I have a plot and characters now after much deliberation and brainstormage.

Second, here's some of the story's information. The genre is closest to drama. It's set in San Francisco. It involves a man and a woman but no romance... As for the rest, you'll find that out on Sunday. :) Hopefully this has caught your attention now!

Third, if anyone is interested, the book I'm using to make my character profiles (character's name, age, personality, etc.) is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing for Young Adults by Deborah Perlberg. It has a "Writer's Bible" in it (the aforementioned profile) which I'm finding quite helpful. Aspiring writers, I'd recommend that book, even if you're not planning to write for young adults.

Alright, that's about all I have to say for now. I might check in between here and Sunday, or I might just post my story on Sunday. 'Till then, my friends!

Hello!/My Mission

Hello, everyone! My name is Julianna and I'm very excited to get this blog started. As you might be able to tell from the title, my blog isn't going to be aimless. It has a purpose - to challenge me and to (hopefully) entertain you, the reader. Here is my mission: to write a short story every week for a year and post them on this blog.

I know you might have some questions for me, so I'll try to answer some the best that I can.

Why are you doing this?
I want to challenge myself. I've wanted to be a writer since before I can remember, but I often find it difficult to come up with a satisfactory plot and characters and bring them to a conclusion. I'll start a story but have trouble finishing it. So I figured that challenging myself to complete a short story every week would be a good way to become a good writer.

What exactly is a "short story"?
Good question. I researched this before setting up my blog, and I'm still not sure. The outlines of what a short story is are very vague. A couple characteristics of short stories are that they are less complex than novels and focus on one incident that happens in a short amount of time with a single setting and few characters. Short stories do not necessarily have to follow the exposition → rising action → climax → falling action → conclusion that longer forms of fiction follow. Some of the short stories have no exposition at all - a lot begin in media res, or in the middle of the action.

How long is a short story?
Again, the answers to this are very vague. One answer is that someone should be able to read a short story in one sitting. In regard to word count, a short story is usually between 1,000-20,000 words long. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America define a short story as having a word count of less than 7,500. Other definitions say a short story should be between 7,000 and 9,000 words. Yet another says a short story is usually less than 5,000 words.

So how long are your stories going to be?
I think I'll go with the 1,000-20,000 words definition because I don't want to limit myself. But I doubt that any of my short stories will be 20,000 words long! Expect most of them to be on the short side, maybe some of them medium-length. I'm writing these stories as I go, so I only have one week to write them. That will limit the length of my stories, especially if I have a busy week.

What will your stories be about?
Anything. Again, I don't want to limit myself. I want to try all genres. Some stories might be romance, some science fiction, some humor, etc. I'll probably even write nonfiction memoirs. I might write some fanfiction. I like to write in present tense third person, but I want to experiment with tenses and points of view too. So hopefully, when all of this is done, you'll be able to find a story that you like and maybe even have new interests. But conversely, some weeks you might dislike the story that I write and have a few new disinterests (is that a word?). I plan to blog about my story as I write it, so you'll kind of know what's going on and what type of story I'm writing that week.

When will you post your new short story?
I want to start on Sunday and end on Sunday. Sunday through Sunday will be my seven-day week. I live in California, so over in Australia and other places with a dramatic time change you'll probably see my updates on Monday. I'm going to start writing my first short story tomorrow, Sunday, January 30. (I know most people start these kinds of things at the beginning of the new year, but details, details.) I'll post my first story Sunday, February 6. In the meantime, I'll blog about my progress. So, until then, I'll see you!

That's all the questions I can think of right now. If you have any others questions, please comment here or email me at shortnsweet@gmail.com. I'm looking forward to this challenge and I hope you will enjoy this too! In the meantime, if you want samples of my writing, check out my fanfiction account. :)