The Cement Delivery

The Six Minute prompt was a weird photo of a truck and a construction project on the edge of a lake. After a few seconds of peering, I made out a biblical quotation. I groaned. The seconds were ticking away. What was I going to do with this?

A game of chance, fiction on Ruthless Scribblings When I visit the Six Minute Story site, I always choose a random prompt. This is like a dice game. I have no idea what Lady Luck will throw my way.

Once the prompt appears, I have six minutes exactly of frantic typing until I am locked out of the text box and can write no more. Continue reading “The Cement Delivery”

The Swing

Every time I visit, I wonder why I don’t do this more often.
I should be able to manage a story a day!

6-minute-storyI really love the 6 Minute Story site.

Every time I visit, I wonder why I don’t do this more often. In fact, I was disappointed to see I’ve only written six stories on the 6 Minute Story site! I should be able to manage a story a day.

Today I chose, as I usually do, the random prompt.

As soon as the prompt is revealed, you have six minutes to enter your story in the text box. There is a timer that counts you down. After six minutes, the box freezes and you can type no more.

The random prompt today was ‘Swing’. I started with a mental image of a little girl on a swing and the story just flowed from there. Of course it would benefit from further editing, but I was quite pleased with my 6 minute story.

You can read it here: The Swing

Choosing – a 6 minute story

happy faceI had forgotten how wonderful it is to write, free and unfettered, against the clock. No time for editing. No time for self-doubt. And when it is done, it is done.

I heartily recommend the Six Minute Story site. Here you can:

  • limber up with a six minute burst of free writing,
  • try your hand at flash fiction,
  • develop your create-an-instant-story skills,
  • work from a selected prompt or from a random prompt,
  • read what others have written and comment if you want to.

You may choose a prompt and consider your story options in advance. But once you start typing, the clock starts ticking and you must continue until the time runs out. After 6 minutes, you are forced to stop. There is no second chance to add, edit or to tweak.

When its done, you can save your story and choose a Creative Commons License. Or – if you really want to – you can trash your story.

I prefer to pick a random prompt and I like to start writing without giving myself any time to think. I just see what happens and the only internal ‘editing’ I do is to try to bring the story to some sort of conclusion within the six minutes. Luckily I am a very fast typist.

Here is a link to my latest Six Minute Story: Choosing.


Lost in Africa

Lost in Africa! How foolish. What a great story. Then they ran out of petrol.

The picture prompt for the Six Minute story today is a herd of deer, of some sort, in the mist.

deer in the fog The photo is by Siddy Lam on Flickr. It is taken in India, not Africa.

I had just read a short story about Africa, so I had Africa on my mind. The story is just a beginning really. I couldn’t get my brain in gear quickly enough to work out a good ending.



Lost in Africa

Mist and fog everywhere.

It had started off as a beautiful African day. 30 degree heat and so they only wore shorts and t-shirts and packed a few sandwiches. No point taking unnecessary baggage, they told themselves. This is an impromptu safari. Let’s be adventurous.

Then the fog came down. They weren’t expecting this. And the track just sort of faded out. Bumping over grass in the battered 4×4, they could see no familiar landmarks, nothing to lead them back to the road.

They were cheerful and amused at first. Lost in Africa! How foolish. What a great story. Then they ran out of petrol.

Shhh. They wind down the window, hoping to hear the noise of traffic.

There is only silence.

Then the deer arrived, silent and elegant. Not much help though. Deer can’t give directions. Deer can’t call for help.

Their mobile phones are dead. How we take technology for granted; until it stops working.

They eat the last of the sandwiches, saving their water carefully, and huddle together for warmth. It is getting dark. In the distance, they hear the roaring of a lion.