Welcome to Reality Fan Fiction.
The basic concept is that once a week I will write a short fiction piece combining two motifs to make something entertaining (for me at least). The genres may change, the time period may waver but the title of the piece will always be the two motifs separated by a +. example: Umbrellas don't fit through doorways + elaborate Halloween make-up.
My reasons for doing this writing lab (in no particular order) is to challenge myself as a writer, to explore silly little ideas to see if they work, to build an audience, and eventually take audience suggestions as an added constraint/challenge.
I've heard that creativity requires pressure so I have created some constraints and rules.
The basic concept is that once a week I will write a short fiction piece combining two motifs to make something entertaining (for me at least). The genres may change, the time period may waver but the title of the piece will always be the two motifs separated by a +. example: Umbrellas don't fit through doorways + elaborate Halloween make-up.
My reasons for doing this writing lab (in no particular order) is to challenge myself as a writer, to explore silly little ideas to see if they work, to build an audience, and eventually take audience suggestions as an added constraint/challenge.
I've heard that creativity requires pressure so I have created some constraints and rules.
Constraints:
1) No more than 4 hours shall be spent writing and editing each piece.
2) Weekly updates at 12pm Wednesdays.Rules:
The Prime Directive: Have fun. Reality fan-fiction is a break from editing the novel not a third job I've been hired to work.
The Composite Directive: There will be no more than two motifs combined in a given story.
example a. War of the Worlds radio broadcast + Bank robbery = Good.
example b. War of the Worlds + Bank robbery + 1st summit of Mt. Everest = dumb (there are no bad ideas just dumb ideas).
The Triforce Dictum: No historical figure who died or didn't die shall be killed or brought back from the dead.
example: Instead of shooting himself, Hitler was captured and imprisoned
where he becomes a fortune teller. At the age of 71 he reads about JFK winning
the American presidency and reaches out to the Kennedy family anonymously warning
them not to trust LBJ and use a hardtop limo in all motorcades. Kennedy
survives and the US involvement in Vietnam is averted. This
one breaks a lot of rules. I'm not
sure what kind of geek (used endearingly) would read this, but it isn't me.
The Quad Ordinance: Conspiracy theories shall not be explored (see JFK assassination
above).
The Pentaic Commandment: Thou shall not x-punk, where x = steam, stone, cyber, etc. For purposes of this writing lab x-punk is already the combination of two motifs, which would break the second rule. This does not prohibit anachronisms of speech or tech as the main idea of the story.
example a. George Lucas wrote Star Wars as a satire after the invention of the Lightsaber in 1975 = Okay.
example b. George Lucas is from a galaxy far far away and Star Wars was the diary he was keeping as he worked as a double agent for the Rebels= dumb.
That's all for now!
Stay tuned for the first installment next week 1962 Homestead Act + Being a Weirdo.
That's all for now!
Stay tuned for the first installment next week 1962 Homestead Act + Being a Weirdo.