19 Apr

Posted at 15:30h in Story Continuation Challenge by
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With Camp NaNoWriMo in full swing and my Sikkim travel tales, the Story Continuation Challenge got second rate treatment, unfortunately. But here it is , with another interesting prompt this week. But first, over to last week's stories. I loved the stories that came in last week. Let me repeat that. Absolutely, loved them! With such a depressing prompt, I hadn't expected such a variety of responses. You continue to surprise me, week after week.

06 Apr

Posted at 11:48h in Random Ramblings by
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Camp NaNoWriMo began on April 1st and with it started my attempt to write a novel. I have no idea how it's done. I've been writing for about 6 months now. I started with a few prompts from Writing101 and from there ventured in writing short pieces of fiction, among other genres. A few of my fiction (and humour) pieces were well received and BAM!! I declared myself to be the 'Writer of the Year'. With the experience of only a short stories and a few non-ficton articles, I was still a novice. And yet, this March I decided to attempt a novel. Self-doubts, notwithstanding. Currently, I'm up to 5000 Words. I've given myself a target of 10,000 words. And it's just the 6th of April. I have ample time to complete the rest. That's what anyone would think. Maybe, even me. But no! I don't have ample time. Deduct the 4 days I'll be out on a family vacation, remove a few days of travel fatigue, laziness, sickness and binge-watching TV shows and I have just a day or two over two weeks. Which scares me a lot. 

05 Apr

Posted at 00:05h in Story Continuation Challenge by
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Thank you for participating in last week's challenge. Here are the best stories for last week's prompt. Sandra's story had maximum likes. (No surprises there! :D )
As the sun set over the horizon, a deathly stillness descended with it. Her ashes drifting away, he clutched the sacred box, dreading his new life without her.
My personal favourite was a last minute entry; by Ankita.
As the sun set over the horizon, a deathly stillness descended with it. They will come back for me but I ain’t scared anymore because I have got nothing to lose. As I hold your lifeless body in my arms, I pledge to avenge your death, my love.
I loved her story so much that it inspired me to go far beyond what was written. I'm also going to try to write my own take of the story she started. She is also working on a longer one. I'm sure it's going to be very interesting to see how both our stories turn out. You're free to do that too. Would love to read what stories you all come up with. (Remember to ping-back and include the mandatory mention/credits :) ) Here's this week's prompt - 

31 Mar

Posted at 00:15h in Random Ramblings by
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I recently read somewhere that if you are extremely passionate about something, then that thing is probably ‘your calling’. How many times has it happened that we really care about something deeply, only to not pursue it seriously? I know it happens to me frequently enough. The most recent instance being my desire to write a novel. It has been on my mind ever since I quit my job. That means almost six months now. It took me long enough to discover my calling for writing. Each time the thought was that I’ll get down to it some day, soon enough. Each time I convinced myself that I wasn’t yet ready for it. Each time I persuaded myself that my writing skills needed further improvement. (They still do!)

15 Mar

Posted at 04:47h in Story Continuation Challenge by
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To all those who participated to the Story Continuation Challenge last week : Thank you for taking up the challenge. I was overwhelmed to see the response. Your replies were not just hugely motivating to me, being host blogger, but also immensely creative and interesting. Funny, dark, realistic - each entry brought about a different reaction and vivid images of the story it told. The story that was most liked by us all was Oneta's -
Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jack, He crawled through a thorn bush and scratched his back.
My personal favourite was Aseena's -
Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jack. He was unhappy until surgeons helped change the name to Jacqueline. Now she’s happy…
Many congratulations to each participant for your amazing story-telling skills. I personally enjoyed reading each story. Here's the second prompt. Entries will be accepted till Sunday, March  20th, 2016.

06 Mar

Posted at 06:30h in Random Ramblings by
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I had a huge list of ideas to work on and weave stories out of, during my morning walk earlier today. Why is that the ideas have to strike me at the worst of times? Have you ever noticed they come visiting only when you are at a dinner party with the most chatty person in the adjoining chair or in the elevator when the boss is discussing that all-important career-altering project. Each time nothing is available to be able to jot down the ideas, nor is it feasible to take notes. Imagine using a lip gloss to scribble with on a dinner napkin!