Another fun thing that might be worth doing is a group writing contest. Basically, an assortment of people all use some common thing in each of their separate stories. Could be a theme, a bit of dialogue, an opening line, an object or type of character, whatever. Also, there could be some sort of deadline so that everyone can put their stuff up at the same time. Who knows? Maybe it can be an honest competition, with the winner being whoever gets the most (positive) reviews? Something like that.

Anyway, I guess I should get the ball rolling since I am the author of this particular thread.

A horror story I'd like to see must simply include the following;

1.) A stress on autumn (I love the fall).

2.) A party (of whatever variety).

3.) This bit of dialogue: "Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up."

Uh... I don't want to throw an exact deadline on this one, so if anyone has an interest, just let me know about it, at the very least. And having it done by Halloween at the latest would be pretty cool, too. :D

Here's hoping I'm not wasting my time typing all this out. Also, if a few people are interested in a group writing contest, say so and we'll see what we can do.

--dreamshell--

I'll just leave it here and see what happens.

either something along the lines of

A girl wakes every morning to find bruises she didn’t have the night before. She realizes eventually that every night she is having a recurring dream of a guy beating her and trying to kill her.

or a story where a girl (cause it just has to be a girl) (or not, the victim can be a guy and the killer a girl) a guy/girl is being confronted by the killer.

The killer basically toys with him/her until the victim takes out his/her cell phone and dials a "random friends" number. The killer says it doesn't care.

Then the killers phone rings. The victim laughs nervously and asks if he/she is going to get it. The killer throws the phone at the victim smiling and says, "why don't you see it?" (or something of the sort)

I don't know, I just thought I'd throw those out here.

--dreamshell--

--dreamshell--

--dreamshell--

He kills anything, mundane or arcane; the exception is no full-on divinities (for examples, he might kill a kami or a corrupt CFO or something on a contract from an angel, then kill a philanthropist for a demon).

Try to make it (as much as possible) from the perspective of the victims.

800 word minimum. Post stories you want to be written here. Stories should be somehow connected to the horror genre, but other genres are allowed, too.

Special props to whoever can do a "no blood" horror story, courtesy of Monev. XD

--dreamshell--

I couldn't help it. I got started and then the ideas kept coming. Some of these I would *love* to do myself, but I'd like to see what you guys can do with some of them, too.

Uh... well, this might be against the rules, but since we don't really have many of 'em, take your pick!

-- Write a horror story with Fantasy as a sub-genre and include, in whatever manner, a party of orc troops raping and pillaging a small village, an evil cult that abducts and skins people as a sacrifice to their god(s/dess/es), and a paladin with a sword that's been possessed by the spirit of a serial killer.

-- My original challenge (see first post). Stress autumn. Setting: a party. Use: "Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up."

-- Write a story giving some supernatural motive to the murders committed by Jack the Ripper (this one's a little hack, but could be fun).

-- Write a murder mystery in which the prime suspect (based on eye witness accounts) is someone who's been dead for X years.

-- Write a horror story in a "splatterpunk" style (as in, a WHOLE lotta gore) that takes place in the Old West. Have someone be converted to a different faith than their own by the end, and include some sort of surreal vision.

Hey, at least you got a few to choose from. FYI, probably won't get any points in the "no blood" pseudo-challenge with that last one, but damn, it'd be a fun read. :D

--dreamshell--

Just the three of us this time, guys. Cam's incapacitated.

Am I to presume it works like so; I write Mon's, Jave writes mine, Mon writes Jave's?

--dreamshell--

--dreamshell--

In short, how much "Setting: a party" does there need to be?

--dreamshell--

Simple enough. Same idea as before, write a horror story based off of someone else's synopsis. This time, however, the challenges must have a Christmas and/or winter theme (I guess Hanukkah and whatnot is fine, too). So Jave, Mon, Cam (hope you join this time around), and any others, come up with some appropriate story ideas and post 'em. I'm hoping this time we'll actually meet the "deadline".

500 words min, 800 max sound okay to everybody? Could go to 1,000 if you feel you'll need it. And how about we try and have the stories in by the first Sunday of January '08 (which I think is the 6th)?

Put up some challenges ASAP, guys and dolls.

--dreamshell--

--dreamshell--

Just to nip this in the bud, let's not start any squabbling, okay? Thanks. ;)

--dreamshell--

"If the world was full of good writers there would be no need for Fiction Websites"

"If the world was full of good writers there would be no need for Fiction Websites"

The problem is that Stephen King has already done the idea better than you have (and probably ever will).

Your "alternative variant" or whatever doesn't even make sense.

Wow. Just because one author has taken that idea and created a story out of it, that makes her idea unoriginal?

The idea of misfits taking revenge over their tormentors is a concept that many creators have used to great effect. What about "Willard", the man who sics his rats on people as revenge, or "Psycho", the sexually repressed Norman Bates who takes revenge on the girls who scorn him? The idea of the victim biting back has definitely NOT been done to death. You simply need to find a way to make the idea wholly original. It's not impossible, but it's unfortunate that you're being dissuade by people who don't have the imagination to consider it possible. And as for your idea not making sense; of course it does. All it takes for a victim to stop being a victim is for them to realize they are stronger than their antagonist, and what better way to do that then gather up a gang of like-minded individuals. Many people tired of the abuse they receive from the favored few, and decide to do something about it. Write on! Be brave!

Firstly, SWAD, thanks for resurrecting an issue that was left to die about ten months ago. Commendable and not annoying in the slightest.

Secondly, the idea IS unoriginal. You yourself say the following RIGHT after asking about that axiom's validity;

Wow. Just because one author has taken that idea and created a story out of it, that makes her idea unoriginal?

The idea of misfits taking revenge over their tormentors is a concept that many creators have used to great effect.

So, as far as that argument goes, case closed.

Moving on, however, I think you're missing what our point was. That being that ishtargoddessofsultry's idea had the potential to conjure up and perhaps even support some rather unsettling and/or amoral viewpoints.

For instance, your examples of "Williard" and "Psycho" only help to support this, since the supposed "victims" of those pieces end up deciding that the appropriate response to their mistreatment is violence. As Jave Harron pointed out, ishtar's comment did bring to mind the Virginia Tech shooting, if in only the most basic ways. With that said, the idea's commonality coupled with its conceivable anti-social implications, seemed very, very, very bad to us.

To remark somewhat personally, I am indeed NOT of the opinion that an old idea can't be given new life. I very much believe that is possible. To be perfectly honest, though, I had and still have no faith that ishtar would be the one to do that.

As well, if someone can be so easily dissuaded, that speaks volumes of that person's character, anyway. We're just a bunch of forum-posting schmucks, after all.

Ta. ;)

Pardon me, I think your point was, 'she's a sucky writer.' I merely pointed out that just because you find her story idea objectionable, does not mean that she shouldn't continue writing it, but that in order to avoid claims that her story was unoriginal, she should take a new perspective (like "Willard" or "Psycho"). Your claim that the topic would be inappropriate due to events like the Virginia Tech shooting is unfortunate. I believe that such topics are always important; understanding the psyche of the people who perpetrate such crimes is as relevant today as it was when Stephen King wrote about it. As for my restarting a topic that had apparently died so long ago; I apologize. The thread seemed like an interesting one, and I didn't glance at the dates until after I had posted my comment. However, if you are so intent to let a subject die, perhaps you shouldn't have commented in the first place.

My/our point was that the idea was bad, for various reasons. Whether or not you want to intrepret that as us thinking she was/is a "sucky writer" is your call. And it's not the objectionable quality that won our scorn, but rather the admittedly presumed glorification of the objectionable content. Even in that context, I agree, writing those types of stories is worthwhile, but forgive us if we collectively thought the hypothetical story in question would more than likely have spawned a Misaimed Fandom (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisaimedFandom), not to mention be written by a member of such.

You could argue it's wrong to have such a prejudice, but it was there nonetheless. None of this seems inherently criminal to me, as we were merely stating our opinions. What Ishtar chose to do with them was entirely up to her.

As for my replying to you, well, I just figured you'd want someone to. Besides, it's always good to sharpen one's deliberating skills. =P

Now you're carrying things too far. I never referred to your points as "criminal", nor do I think her intent was to "glorify" the subject. I think she merely wished to create a character her readers could identify with, no matter how heinous the characters misdeeds may be. I think most sane, reasonable people would agree that resorting to such actions is wrong, regardless of the motivations.

Why do I keep replying? I think my desire to always have the last word has dragged me into an argument I can't win. An argument I honestly never thought would occur, since my replies always seem to have the effect of ending any thread. Well, it was nice debating with a clearly intelligent person (a rare occurrence) , perhaps I'll read and review some of your stories. I enjoy being the proverbial thorn in the side, so I won't go easy on you. Maybe you could do the same?

Well, I wasn't trying to escalate things, just explain where my group was coming from. See, to be up front, we're fairly elitist when it comes to writing. We regularly read or notice less-than-spectacular work put up on this site and, while it's absolutely anyone's site to put work on, we're a bit embittered by all of it and like to try and weed out what "Sues" we can. It's aggressive and mean, sure, but we usually try not to be particularly petty about it, though I won't say it doesn't ever degrade to that. XD

Really, you might consider it our own unique way of trying to help other writers improve. Not exactly "constructive criticism", more like... "deconstructive"? Or perhaps "survival of the fittest" in which the fittest are those up to the challenge of bettering their abilities. We're blunt about what we find lacking with the stuff we read, so I suppose we naturally rub some (most?) people the wrong way.

Anyway. =P I'll give you that your points weren't especially unwarranted and will concede that you are superior to many of those I've debated in the past. I think this is a stalemate and the birth of a grudging respect, SWAD.

...Unless, of course, I read something that destroys that respect. XD

So, sure. I'd be willing to exchange attention to one another's work. You might also want to check out some of my friends, but that's your prerogative. ;)

I prefer the term "Vivisective Criticism," myself.

The problem I saw with her story "idea" is it felt like it was inclined to be a subpar rehash of other works, done in a way that is not especially creative, more the venting of a frustrated teen than a serious literary work. If she had taken action to prove us wrong, I would have been delighted, but she has not, apparently. Plus, getting defensive... we don't like that. *CoughIrritusCough*

I don't do challanges.

I do hope I'm not annoying anyone by bringing back a supposedly dead thread again. I just wanted to mention that I would like to try my hand at writing the story challenge about the person being tormented by a killer, and then she tries to call someone and the killer's phone rings (I forgot who issued the challenge, now :/ ). It sounds like a fun idea, and I cannot wait to try. ^.^

Unfortunately, I have a rather combative personality, so I cannot help but comment on some of Dreamshell's comments about Virginia Tech and how a story about misfits rising up and taking revenge might be offensive. Ummmm, it'll be a horror story? Dude, if your horror is not offensive to someone, you're not doing it right. Blood and death and gore are always offensive. Do you think a story about kidnapping that ends in murder will not be offensive to those who have had a family member or other loved one abducted and found months or years later dead in a ditch (or even never found at all)? Do you think any store that revolves around pain and death can fail to be offensive to someone? Her idea was perfectly legitimate, perhaps even more so because of the recent shootings at Virginia Tech. Nothing horrifies so well as that which hits closest to home.

For the argument that you think she will be a bad writer (even if she IS a bad writer), why not let her write her story anyway, and then give her decent criticism? I hear people say so often that they are tired of sh1t fiction and they are doing everyone a service by weeding out the bad writers (and besides, bad writers don't take nice criticism anyway!!1!one!). Well, that attitude makes me bitter and angry, and thus I lash out at people I see as being rather dumb. (IE, you flamers and "unconstructive criticizers".) I've given several people long, constructive reviews full of criticism that were in no way rude or flame-like, and I saw people improve their writing from it. I don't think I'm the most brilliant writer ever, or even terribly brilliant at all, but that means I've made enough mistakes of my own to notice when others make the same mistakes. And I know how to point out mistakes in a somewhat nice way that occasionally gets people to listen. And hey, if I can help someone improve their writing and become a good writer, not only has a bad writer left the world, but a good writer has taken the empty place. That's my policy.

*Ahem* Anyway, I suppose I'll go write my story now. It sounded like such a fun thing to play with.

EDIT: Twas halfbloodlycan's challenge.

Oh really? Cool. Let me know how it turns out. :)

*Sigh*

I already gave my reasons for feeling the way I did about Ishtar’s idea. To clarify (again), it was because I thought the idea unoriginal to begin with and, for one reason or another, didn’t put much faith in a well-written, complex, interesting rendition of that plot to be written by her. I didn’t even bring up the VA Tech thing, Jave Harron did.

Furthermore, about writing “offensive” content, my argument was as follows;

And it's not the objectionable quality that won our scorn, but rather the admittedly presumed glorification of the objectionable content. Even in that context, I agree, writing those types of stories is worthwhile, but forgive us if we collectively thought the hypothetical story in question would more than likely have spawned a Misaimed Fandom (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MisaimedFandom), not to mention be written by a member of such.

You don’t agree? Fantastic! I still don’t care.

As well, I’ve already explained my stance on reviewing. I do it A) when I like what I’ve read, or B) when I’m too aggravated by something written to not smash it to pieces. What the author does with my criticism (which are not “flames”, but rather harsh appraisals of things like plot, dialogue, spelling, character depth, etc.) is entirely up to them.

I’m not stopping anyone from writing anything. Doesn’t mean I can’t say they do or will write **, though. It's of virtually no interest to me to help anyone get better, unless I already see a sliver of potential in them. Let the rest figure it out for themselves.

um...not to start anything, but I don't think that person was trying to start an arguement, just state their opinion. *shuts up*

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