Are you a science fiction writer? Do you just love the Torchwood series? The latest issue of the official Torchwood Magazine has information on how you can write a short story, 1,000 to 1,500 words in length, for publication in Torchwood Magazine.
Pick up your copy of Torchwood Magazine at your local retailer or at Titan Magazines - Torchwood Magazine
See the magazine for details of how to enter.
Showing posts with label story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label story. Show all posts
Heir to Magic
Here's something I have not been able to do for a while - an update on Heir to Magic. ::wince:: I've been forced to restart my novel. It is an involuntary start brought on by a computer virus and the loss of the thumbdrive I had my backup copy on, so I have decided that I will work my way though my novel using Holly Lisle's How to Think Sideways course as a guide to help keep me on track so that I do not have the same problems I had before with the muses deciding that they wanted to follow random directions off course from the plot thread.
Mind you, I think I will still be keeping the scene where I toss a certain character over the side of the ship to force my lead character to behave, but me and the lead can negotiate on that as I work on the first half of the rewrite. For now, the tally for Heir to Magic is...
Heir to Magic
Current Chapter: 0
Today's Word Count: 0
Chapter Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 0
Current Favorite Method of Procrastination: Working
Story Prompts - do they work?
You've seen those story prompt things, they generate a random idea for a story that you can flesh out and build on. I have the Writer's Idea Bank, a random story prompt generator, on my iGoogle page. It's interesting sometimes to see what the thing comes up with for story prompts. Today as I am checking the page I get:
Hmmm.... intriguing. What can I build from that? Let's see...
The year is 1889 and the protagonist has just come out of the Thames after diving in and swimming in it during a storm. Why? The location must be somewhere near a school, because there is a group of bored schoolgirls clapping as the protagonist steps out of the Thames. And a girl in a nearby house, waiting for something, is significant to the story. Okay...
The protagonist dove into the Thames to retrieve something that was lost in the river. The item was thrown into it perhaps? As the protagonist exits the river they hold their prize high to show they retrieved it. A group of schoolgirls clap unenthusiastically, acknowledging that they see the victory, but really don't care much one way or the other. The protagonist has retrieved the item for the girl that is waiting in the nearby house. Perhaps it is something of hers that someone threw away into the river?
Who would have done that? A school bully perhaps? Her step-father? or Step-mother? Maybe it is her mother's locket, and her step-mother grew angry with her and threw the locket into the Thames as punishment for something that the girl had done. The boy who wants to be the girls' friend dove into the river and found the locket for her.
Will they run away together now? What is the significance of the locket, or is it merely his hope that retrieving the locket will get the girl he loves to notice him?
The Thames can, of course, be changed to any other body of water. The ocean, a pond, an old water-filled quarry, a deep well... simply taking random segments such as the story prompt offered by the Writer's Idea Bank can provide the basic foundation for a good short story, or even a novel. You just need to be creative in reading a story into the offered prompt.
You have just been swimming in the Thames
during a violent storm.
The year is 1889;
The bored schoolgirls are clapping,
in a nearby house, a girl is waiting for something.
Hmmm.... intriguing. What can I build from that? Let's see...
The year is 1889 and the protagonist has just come out of the Thames after diving in and swimming in it during a storm. Why? The location must be somewhere near a school, because there is a group of bored schoolgirls clapping as the protagonist steps out of the Thames. And a girl in a nearby house, waiting for something, is significant to the story. Okay...
The protagonist dove into the Thames to retrieve something that was lost in the river. The item was thrown into it perhaps? As the protagonist exits the river they hold their prize high to show they retrieved it. A group of schoolgirls clap unenthusiastically, acknowledging that they see the victory, but really don't care much one way or the other. The protagonist has retrieved the item for the girl that is waiting in the nearby house. Perhaps it is something of hers that someone threw away into the river?
Who would have done that? A school bully perhaps? Her step-father? or Step-mother? Maybe it is her mother's locket, and her step-mother grew angry with her and threw the locket into the Thames as punishment for something that the girl had done. The boy who wants to be the girls' friend dove into the river and found the locket for her.
Will they run away together now? What is the significance of the locket, or is it merely his hope that retrieving the locket will get the girl he loves to notice him?
The Thames can, of course, be changed to any other body of water. The ocean, a pond, an old water-filled quarry, a deep well... simply taking random segments such as the story prompt offered by the Writer's Idea Bank can provide the basic foundation for a good short story, or even a novel. You just need to be creative in reading a story into the offered prompt.
