February 25, 2008

PFC #2

It is time to present another Picture Fiction Challenge.

The first one turned out a raging success, and I think a lot of us enjoyed writing and reading the stories. I hope those who took part in the first one will take the time to write a story based on the pictures below as well.

Hopefully we'll see a couple of debutants as well.

If you've missed reading any of the stories from the first PFC, you will be able to find the links to all participants on the sidebar here. I will keep them up there until the new stories are due. Then that sidebar will be updated and show the stories for PFC #2.

Do you all think I should add some kind of archives to this? A place of reference where you can go back and find stories of PFC's of the past? Take the poll on that one to the left here as well!

I've decided to put the deadline for PFC #2 at 19-21 of March, so that should give us all plenty of time to write our stories.

Let's review the rules of this little game before we go on to the pictures:

THE PICTURES:
Each picture below represents a certain aspect of the story. Analyze each picture and try to interpret what you see into the specific category the picture represents.

Character(s): The main character(s) of your story. This is the person(s) whose perspective the story is told through. You can have any number of additional characters, but the one(s) on this picture are who we will relate to.

Objective: This is the overall objective of the story. That which our main character is trying to achieve - what the MC is trying to reach. This is the objective of the story.

Setting: The place where the story unfolds. (Only the place in the picture need be considered, if people or other things are present in the picture they are optional to include)

Item: An item of significant* importance to the story.

Random: This could be a picture of anything at all, and what you see on that picture must have a significant* importance in the story you write.

*significant. That means that these things do not simply appear in a fleeting moment in the story. They hold an importance to the events that unfold, and are as such necessary to the outcome and progression of the story.

THE STORY:

All of the picture representations must be present in the final story.

The story you write can be as long or short as you wish.

You can write the story in either first or third person perspective.

The story must be a fictional story.

DEADLINE & POSTING:

The deadline to post the story on your blog will be between 19th - 21st of March. Not sooner - not later! (Ideally, everyone posts on the 19th, but I'm giving you a couple extra days because there are many reasons one may not be able to post on a specific day)

Let me know in a comment when you have posted your contribution, so I can add a link to your blog (and story) in a list of all participants on my sidebar.

Read the other people's stories (only after you've posted your own) and comment on their writing.


If you want a step-by-step "tutorial", or walk-through... check THIS out.

That was easy, wasn't it? For me it was... all I had to do was copy what I wrote last time, and change the date of the deadline. Oh, and I added a line on the "setting picture explanation", which states that you only need to focus on the location of the shot... as in this one's picture there is an elderly couple as well. You can include them (not as main characters) in your story if you want, but feel free to ignore them completely if you don't want them in your story.

Ok... so here are the pictures we get to work with this month:

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Ok! Get crackin' on those stories. As usual, I can hardly wait for the day this is due, so I can read all your stories, and recieve all that fun feedback from all of you who read mine.

Tomorrow it's time for another "feature" - the Weekly Words Challenge. The words for this week are WOOD and METAL.

Until then...

30 comments:

Dana said...

EGADS R.E.H.! Tigers and green M7M's in a Starbuck's cup?? If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to torture us!

Here's to PFC #2 and all of the madness it may bring!

Tequila Mockingbird said...

those old people look gross. now i'm even more paranoid about my silver hair i found this weekend. *sighs* will you still love me when i'm old?

Leighann said...

Wow.... those pictures are.... odd! LOL

Absolutely NOTHING came to mind as I looked over them. I'm going to print them out and see what comes along!

Jay said...

Wow! Watching tigers play while eating green M&Ms with the grandparents at the beach. Yeah, this could be complicated.

Not to mention the fact that I really can't tell if the main character is male or female. I guess it can be either. LOL

Knight said...

A whole story line formed as I scrolled down. If only I could write!

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

Whoo-Hoooo! Tigers and green M&M's! My story is gonna' be all "Blossoms and Sunshine" this time! Feeling Ha-Ha-HAPPY!!

[I woulda' been the first comment but I had to take care of a bunch of business on the d@mn phone -- Sheeeze I HATE the phone] (Gripe, Grumble) But, Yipeeee! for PFC #2!

knight awwww, come on....just give it a try?

Anonymous said...

I have no Creative anything, just to think I am taking a creative writing class!
I would love to do it but my story would sound like SHIT!!! LOL!!!

Single!

Jay said...

oh wow that's a hard one.. i'm not going to even try to try that!

but i await what you come up with!

Anonymous said...

Hmm the wheels are turning already in my head. Should be interesting, for sure. I have a feeling a lot of them might feel forced. I hope that isn't the case.

Em

R.E.H. said...

Dana: Tigers and M&M's I can pair up some way... I'm not quite so sure how I'm going to get the tigers onto the friggin' beach though ;)

Tequila Mockingbird: When you're old and grey I'm afraid I'll be bar hoppin' hoping to get lucky with some 19 year old ;)

Joking! Sure I'll still love you.

Leighann: Well, I'll sure be looking forward to reading what you DO come up with.

Jay: Yeah, there are some odd combinations here. I sure hope you don't "bail out on me" this time ;)

But... that's a woman in the picture, isn't it? I didn't see a man at all...

Knight: But, you already DO write? Come on... don't be shy - if you already got a story line, all you need to do is write it down. I'd love for you to participate.

R.E.H. said...

Farmer's Wife: Cut the cords. Or just do as John Malkovich did in that clip yesterday, and yank the phone right out and drop it on the floor.

Tigers and green M&M's... yeah, I think we'll se some interesting stories in March ;)

And yes, knight awwww, come on....just give it a try?

Single In The City: Oh, no you don't!

You take creative writing, and so you NEED to play this little game ;)

Seriously - I am POSITIVE your story would not sound like SHIT.

Give it a go... don't be shy!

Jay Cam: We'll I'd look forward to reading yours if you change your mind.

I'll do my best to entertain you with mine though ;)

Emmeline: We all have plenty of time, so I don't think they'll be forced at all. I can already picture one or two scenarios to build upon. Once we find that story line in these pictures, our brains will work towards "perfecting" the story.

Right?

Jo said...

Bluck, those kitties are difficult...and now I'm worried if my bottom will deflate when I'm 70. I'm going to not think about it until I jump in to write, otherwise I'll talk myself out of it. I think an archive would be great!

Karen said...

What is up with all these beach photos???? LOL.

And now I want m&m's

R.E.H. said...

Jo: Those tigers are cute, right? The woman's butt, not so much - but, hey! You can ignore the old couple you know... that way you don't have to worry about your own bottom so much ;)

Karen: I know. There are like millions of beach pictures on Flickr. Everybody wants to take pictures on the beach, I guess.

Dianne said...

I'm glad a few folks said they were green M&Ms in the Starbucks cup - I was thinking Holy Crap - St. Patricks Day coffee beans - how topical.

Maybe I'll keep thinking that and see where it takes me.

I think the old folks are beautiful. Hell my ass doesn't look that perky now (did I overshare?) and I love photos of people looking away. One of the best photos I ever took was of my nephew, looking away from the camera toward a mountain of toys at Toys R Us. He seemed so invincible and full of possibility.

Tink said...

I'm totally going to try and play this month. But don't be offended if I make something completely ubsurd out of it, K?

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

Oops, almost forgot to vote. :) So I was dreaming about tigers eating green M&Ms and then I woke up mid dream at 3:00 a.m. again.

PHEW! Lost my story line.

Aunt Jackie said...

Neato! I didn't know about this... I might try to do it if I can find the time, looks really fun!

Came by for your WWC. Where are ya?!?

Anonymous said...

Just messin with ya'. It's really ME, Farmer*swife. I think I found my funny bone today, LOL!!!

Catch ya' later when you're home from work and have added your WWC. See, I'm starting to realize you're like six hours (I think) ahead of me.

Hey? That means you'll see tomorrow before I do.

Like that movie the "Lake House." We could be communicating at the "same time" and yet you are in the future hmmmmm?

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

This one's just to let you know that the previous post was really me and that some other anon wasn't pretending to be me.

LOL, I kill me! Guess you gotta' be in my head to get me.

Anyhow, in case the last comment didn't count I had to make sure I got my "third" in ;)

Raven said...

Hi REH,

Dianne told me about your site. This looks to be a real challenge and I'm looking forward (nervously) to sinking my teeth into it. Meanwhile I invite you and your readers to join in my Saturday Words exercise. Not nearly as hard, but hopefully a fun creative challenge: http://ravensviews.blogspot.com/2008/02/wordzzles.html

When I first saw the pictures, I thought "impossible," but I think I have a first sentence, so maybe there's hope... I love this idea. I read last month's responses. Wonderful range of creative inspiration... so many unique responses to the same photos. Cool.

R.E.H. said...

Dianne: Yeah, I'm not 100% sure those are going to be M&M's in my story either...

Pictures of people looking the other way can set a real nice mood in the pic.

Tink: Upset? I thrive on absurdity... I love it!

Farmer's Wife: Are you stressed out about this you're having nightmares already? ;)

Aunt Jackie: Hope you do find the time - it would be interesting to have you along.

I'm just home from work - will reply to this thread, then I'll get busy getting the WWC up!

Anonymous/Farmer's Wife: Anonymous posting if confirmed a specific registered user does count as a post of that user... that means you "broke" the three, and got four in for this thread ;)

If you're on Eastern Time, then I am 6 hours ahead of you.

R.E.H. said...

Raven: Welcome!

Glad you want to give this challenge a shot. It's been a lot of fun the first time around, and I'm hoping it'll be a source of monthly entertainment for many of us.

I'll have to drop by later and take a look at that Saturday Challenge.

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

[Crap, now I'm stalking cuz' I have to make six comments now] J/K Wasn't a Tiger night mare, was a good dream.

The night mare part was that I woke up at 3:am and played the "let's try and go back to sleep game" the rest of the morning.

R.E.H. said...

Farmer's Wife: The "try to get back to sleep" game is never fun... I never win in that game!

Leighann said...

I've looked at these pictures I don't know how many times since you posted them, and I've still got nothing.

I cannot tie them together. It's hopeless.

So, I'm NOT going to look at them for at least a week, clear my head, and start over! Wish me luck!

R.E.H. said...

Leighann: Good luck! I'm sure you'll find a way to put them together!

Leighann said...

Thanks. I think I've got it. :)

R.E.H. said...

Leighann: Good.

Chi said...

I wanna play! Do I just submit, or do I have to be invited?