Wow!
What an awesome response!
I really thought this 500 Words thing would be a little fun exercise between Robyn and Lynn and that nobody else would be interested in having a go, but boy howdy!
You guys are amazing.
And what brilliant results.
I'll post links here to all the stories that come in, so you can check each one out whenever you have a coffee break and comment on one another's.
Here is the sentence (for any latecomers, you should write 500 words including and based on this sentence, which this week is from Nabokov's Lolita):
"And again next day a thinly populated sky, losing its blue to the heat, would melt overhead, and Lo would clamour for a drink, and her cheeks would hollow vigorously over the straw, and the car inside would be a furnace when we got in again, and the road shimmered ahead, with a remote car changing its shape mirage-like in the surface glare, and seeming to hang for a moment, old-fashionedly square and high, in the hot haze."
And here are the stories so far (in order of submission):
Robyn's "Me and Lo".
A delightfully bittersweet tale of a daughter's fraught road trip south with her elderly and cranky mom.
As usual with Robyn's writing, the dialogue is natural and believable and the little emotional details pin-sharp.
Dive's "Prodigal".
The return of the prodigal (how weird that Old Dive should write an updated Bible story).
Prudence's "Untitled" road trip story.
A great twist toward the end of what could develop into a tragic "noir" tale or a perfect romance … the reader can make up their own mind.
Lynn's "Lo's News".
A very clever and funny subversion of a "classic" story from the twisted, fecund mind of one of our "real" writers.
Lulu's "Lulu and Lola".
A wonderful surprise from our girl of seventeen syllables; what happens when a haiku writer explodes and 500 words spill out.
I must confess that - much as I love all the others - this one just edges it for me on first reading. The Lu and Lo thing, the wry humour, the poet's observational acuity …
All this and Brad Pitt, too.
Wonderful.
Mind you, they've all been wonderful so far, and of course this is not in any way a competition; more a sharing thing and a bit of fun.
If any other stories trickle in I shall add them here.
I have particularly enjoyed the "different strokes for different folks" thang of seeing just where our individual minds wander from a fixed starting point, but I was a little surprised by the similarities of our great - and occasionally twisted - minds thinking alike; the particular words and phrases that are shared between the stories provided not a little amusement.
This sentence was deliberately long and precise and made it pretty difficult to write anything other than a road trip story; the next shall be short and less restrictive (I already know what it is, but that's the privilege of being Official Sentence Setter … hee hee).
What with your wonderful response and the general fun of it all, I have brought things forward a little and shall be announcing the next sentence on Friday, so we can have the weekend to think about it.
Sharpen your pencils …
Addendum:
Neetzy has joined us, too! Yay!
Read Neetzy's "untitled" story here.
It's a tale of a new start (in fact three) that really makes me care for the people she's written about and hope as desperately as them for a happy outcome.
Neetzy's found yet another twist on the road trip genre.
Bittersweet yet full of hope, and beautifully written.
Read Katherine's untitled story here.
A fabulous road trip / acid trip / family hell funfest, chock full of sharp dialogue and nasty, hidden truths.
Katherine is an awesome writer.
18 comments:
Wow what great little short stories, am loving them all.....clever folk on here...
'twisted'? lol Eek. I most certainly am not.
There's a conspicuous absence of young Katie..........?
I'm in, if I'm still breathing.
Fecking swine flu!
Mum, there are some very clever folk indeed in Blogville.
Lynn: There is?
Not all Blogville's residents conform to the blogger stereotype of "frustrated writer"; I'm just amazed we got so many wanting to join in.
Kate: Get well soon. You can start writing when you feel better, otherwise it might get kinda trippy.
Lynn I'm way too busy to write a story, but in response to your assertion that I'm conspicuously absent from these writing posts, I've instead reformulated the sentence as a limerick:
The sky melts from blue to pale pink
As straw-sucking Lo takes a drink
"Look sis, a toaster!"
She says from our roaster
But I have no clue what to think.
So there's 32 words for you, since brevity is the soul of wit and all.
Wow, Katie!!! Holy smoke!!!
I think a new group writing project is in order, but I could never hope to do as well as that.
(Or as well as any of these short-fiction writers, either. I'm just happy to sit here and enjoy it all.)
Ah, I'm still recuperating from my vacation, but maybe the next go-round.
Good job, Katie! You couldn't come up with a limerick for your Nantucket postcard? ;)
I am enjoying my ringside seat. Please continue . . .
Thanks for the plug Dive. I don't consider myself a writer by any means. The gift of gab does run in the family, however. An opportunity to ramble on is a challenge I couldn't pass up. I will be spending the rest of the evening visiting all the "good" writers!
All the stories are superb! And Katie's limerick would be great on a postcard.
I'm pressed for time, too. But if I can squeeze out a little space, I'll give it a go, too.
Katie: Hee hee! Excellent if slightly surreal limerick.
It would be a tough job to string out a limerick for 500 words, but it would be cool to see them as captions for your postcards.
Sarah: Aww, c'mon! Join in! It's more fun than it looks.
Maria: Cool! It will be fantastic to have another real writer joining us, especially one of your calibre.
Cali: There was a young man from Nantucket …
Er … I'm sure not going to finish that one, as the words "bucket" and "Fuck-it" are sure to raise their heads.
Neetzy: You just proved yourself a writer. The gift of the gab is obviously a good thing to have, as is your artist's eye.
Ms.M: Woohoo! That would be cool! If you don't fancy this one, the next sentence will be along tomorrow.
Love it Katie! Yay.
Dive, I'm not a frustrated writer. I've years of it and files of published work. I am a bit of a frustrated reporter these days though, with print news dropping off more and more. Hence the photography return. lol.
Lynn: You and Robyn are real writers and so exempt from that description.
It's the rest of us who don't do any published writing - or who haven't for decades - who are not.
It's true though, that most bloggers are frustrated writers; after all, it's what we do … sit an type out our thoughts day after day.
Perhaps, though some of us write fiction and post photos. I might do a 'thoughts' blog one day, who knows, but I imagine people would be bored rigid by it.
Not at all, Lynn; I'd imagine some of your thoughts are as startling as some of mine … hee hee.
Had to do this one, too!
http://luxuriouschoices.blogspot.com/2009/08/500-words.html
Totally awesome, Katherine!
Never mind that parts of it were written before, it is wonderful!
Thanks, Dive! If you think it's sick in the car, you should read the book. Heh heh.
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