Tag: NaNo

10 ways to get a girlfriend?

Time for some light relief…

Yoga forms the basis of this short story by Ruth LivingstoneIt’s day ten of NaNoWriMo and #30days30shorts of story writing. (And, yes, I should have posted this yesterday.)

Question: What do you do if you realise you’re too boring to attract a girlfriend?

Answer: Find some new hobbies, the sort women enjoy.

So far, the main love of Jimmy’s  life has been football, but on Valentine’s Day he decides it’s time to find a girlfriend. So he consults his friend, Monica, who advises Jimmy to take up new hobbies to attract girls. Continue reading “10 ways to get a girlfriend?”

A black day

A story about a wall. Day 9 on 9/11

The building of a Wall. Mexico.

I was planning to write a funny short story today, but woke to hear the news and didn’t feel in the mood for humour. So wrote a short piece about building a wall instead.

Ironically, one of the short stories I was planning to write this month for NaNoWriMo was a dystopian fantasy. It had the following plot: Trump loses the election in the USA, comes to the UK, becomes leader of UKIP, and wins the 2020 election over here. Continue reading “A black day”

Birth of a novella?

What do you do when short story gets too complicated?

birth of a novellaI started off writing a short story, for day 5 of NaNoWriMo #30days30shorts, and it just blossomed into something beyond my control.

2,000 words down, and I hadn’t even got to the crux of the story I had originally planned.

Actually, my main protagonist was based on a minor character in my Tang dynasty historical novel. Now I’m beginning to wonder if she can be contained in a short story or whether I need something larger… like a novella. Continue reading “Birth of a novella?”

Spanner in the Works

NaNoWriMo and day 3 of writing short stories

machinery-500
This one was more of a challenge. The task? To write a short story using dialogue only.

I cheated a little by turning it into a chat show interview, with an obnoxious host and a young lad who everyone believes is a hero… until he confesses all.

Another sci-fi theme. Need to find a different genre for the next one.

Day three of #30days30shorts.

Can I take my hamster into space?

hamster-500
NaNoWriMo day two, and a second short story is in the bag. Well, the first draft completed anyway. It needs more work before I allow anybody to read it!

I’m staying with the sci-fi theme, but this piece consists entirely of emails written by a harassed young graduate on a placement with Leicester I E Scheme (LIES). Continue reading “Can I take my hamster into space?”