How did you get on yesterday? Did you write a story?
Remember, set your own rules, and stick to them. If you miss a day, don’t try to catch up. Just keep moving forward!
The Prompt
WRITE A STORY in 100 words
What can you do in 100 words? A surprising amount.
Just don’t be surprised if today’s story takes just as long as yesterday’s. Short and sweet isn’t necessarily quick!
Go!
Check back every day for more prompts, and don’t forget to come back and leave a comment to celebrate your writing successes, every day!
I wish to add my hundred words to the day…
One Hundred Word Challenge
I am very verbose and fond of my varied range of vocabulary, but to actually say what must be said in one hundred words, impossible. To argue the virtues of pathos or ethos in a rhetorical Socratic forum is a venue more to my liking. And yet the words we remember, like those written on the back of an envelope, are more famous, more remembered that all of those orators who spoke before. Perhaps if we look to when words moved hearts and minds, the more simple the statement, the longer it lives in memory. Maybe there is something to this after all.
Tough to stick to only 100 words; it took a while but here goes:
Crossing the Line
She braced herself for the finish, checked her breathing and pulse rate. She knew the course well and the elite runners – all from Ethiopia. But, this time, she might have a chance to place in the top ten. Out through the commuter train doors, ready to rejoin the pack, picking up speed, legs straining with effort. The tape fluttered as she crossed the line. The winner! Elation turned to horror as an insistent voice yelled, “Wait. I saw her on the commute train. She didn’t run the entire race. Cheater!” And the gold ribbon – tarnished – fell to the ground.
I did my 100 words about a woman awakened by an intense storm. I love the prompts that put limits on length or form. It’s makes me be creative with my words. I always seem to get inspired more by those.
Limits are paradoxically freeing!
Well I just did a quick short 100 word write on my day
It was a quiet day overall. The kid probably could have gone to school. She was just tired due to not getting enough sleep the night before. Of course she wanted me to stay home just to have someone to talk to and hang out with. I should have listened to the husband and went to work. Oh well it was an extra day off of work. It was a day to hang out with my kid. Binge watched a Netflix showed call The A-List. Now that was one wacked out show. Now it is on to dinner time. Oh and some more crocheting.
I’d just watched an unsettling documentary on the eugenics movement in the US during the 1920s and 1930s–and which wasn’t entirely gone until the 1970s. So I used my 100 words to tell about a young woman engaged to a man whose younger sister had special needs. The woman’s parents were afraid their grandchildren would be damaged somehow. I’m a former special ed teacher the the grandmother of two grandsons with special needs, so I jumped at the chance to make a statement about the now-discredited movement.
As mom to a special needs child, I love this. ❤️
I keep saying it: the world needs your stories.
Thanks!
This is cheating – perhaps. I scribbled this for the Day 2 prompt but it also fits today’s. However, I may attempt 100 words with Two Characters (Day 4), and a Change of POV (Day 3). I write some shorts in 3rd and others – plus my WIP novel – in 1st. That means attempting 2nd.
Amnesia
By Roland Clarke
Retirement can come early. Just as amnesia and C4 never mix.
Not when lives depend on split second reactions.
Harry loved his job and his colleagues – well, so the survivors said. The ones whose lives his keen senses had saved.
But there had been failures. Not every IED could be disarmed safely or in time – the intent of Improvised Explosive Devices.
Demolishing abandoned factories proved safer. Hence, his expertise for the years after his discharge. Until the fall.
Then, the early retirement when he forgot to set the timer.
And here’s what I scribbled today – 99 words including the title. And my thanks to the PM for the idea.
The Exit
by Roland Clarke
The rain slices into the ground. You turn to the pompous fool.
`”I said it could be arranged, Mr Johnson. Any last words?”
The blonde man grins, then jokes.
“More like a gutter. Could we talk this through?”
“A filibuster,” you say, checking the shotgun’s safety. “No deal, I’m afraid, old boy. Not cricket, nor even ping-pong.”
You remember the foolish speech. He won’t. You never forget.
“But the people—”
“Didn’t vote for this. But you mentioned being dead in a ditch. Wish granted.”
You point the shotgun at his head and fire.
Must. Not. Comment. Must. Not. Comment…. 😉
Love it!
Plus, I actively encourage cheating. It’s very creative!
I applied the word limit to a theme about making things last. I managed to tell the story of a man longing for divorce. In 82 words I managed to reveal how he met his wife, his love for his daughter, and what gave him the strength to wait.
Nice!
I used this challenge to write a paragraph for a story I’m writing. It has also led me to come up with an ending for my Story.
Sorry this went too soon. I’ve already posted below.
I used today’s challenge to write a paragraph for a story I am writing about an elderly woman reflecting on her life and marriage. This 100 words recalls a childhood relationship thst meant a great deal to her.
I used 100 words and it led me to see an ending for my main story.
That’s fab. I love it when that happens!
I really wasn’t inspired by yesterday’s post. I just couldn’t think of anything to write and I had very little time to write (a poor excuse I know!). However, today’s prompt, inspired me to put yesterday’s and today’s prompts together and I came up with this 100 word story:
https://theavidbookreader.wordpress.com/2019/09/05/a-story-a-day-days-4-and-5/
And don’t forget you are MORE than free to ignore my prompts when they do nothing for you 🙂
posted !! enjoyed this!!!
https://5ccebf3c6c2e8.site123.me/my-blog/2019-day-5-100-words
Been struggling to keep up since starting a new job last week which requires about 4 hours of travel a day e.e. Started this last night and brushed it up this morning on the bus:
Hunter, hunted
100 words
The matriarch was dead, two ivory daggers sunken firmly in her throat.
Amidst her sisters’ shrieks, her assailant stood his ground, his prize still in his grip. His wild eyes seemed focussed on those he’d spared, but he looked only through his mind’s eye at the fortress he’d watched for so long and now, finally, conquered.
A light blared out the darkness; no sooner had he turned to run, a bullet was in his head. Footsteps and a sigh followed.
“Bastard!” seethed a coarse voice: a farmer, who now stood over the bloody carcasses of a hen and a fox.
Oh this was really good! You hooked me and had me fooled all the way through. Loved the twist. Well done. I hope you’ve had a chance to do more writing in spite of the new job and the travel (ack! That’s a lot of travel. If you’re in a car, maybe you can dictate your stories into your phone?)
Thanks, Julie!
I’ve been working on my conflict piece on the bus and when I’ve a spare few minutes at work – got the begging and an idea for the end, but am trying to figure out some specifics for the middle. I’m much better in the mornings than evenings, as I’m usually brain-dead by the time I’m off my shift. I suppose one of the upsides of not driving is that I can write what comes to mind.
Let’s see how much I can catch up on over the weekend…
This is my first time posting in the comments I haven’t written every prompt, but I’ve been writing everyday, and I think that counts!
Here are my 100 words let me know what you think. Thanks.
When It Matters
In the open casket, my mother’s face is drooping, plastered with makeup. I memorize the girl’s name so we don’t hire her again.
When it’s time, my father gives a sentimental account of their relationship. The magic of their first kiss; how she made him feel, a story of a funny thing that happened once. He speaks about his love for her. He doesn’t mention the women, or how he hated her smile – condescending. He doesn’t call her a bitch or that other name he’s been so found of. This was the time to remember her. Now was her time.
Cassie, i like how her mouth is drooping, a foreshadowing of story to come. Very true to life , sadly, of what occurs at funerals
Oo, this really works. Powerful!
My previous comment here was meant for. Day 4.
Today I have used the story in my head, with two characters, to write a short story of 100 words. I am delighted with the result. It was inspired by a book I have just read called “ The Salt Path” by Raynor Winn.
I wasn’t able to write today but have told myself a story in my head!
Spent all day going back and forth to this and finally managed to get 100 words exactly. I actually loved the challenge! I haven’t shared anything I’ve written in a few years, so here goes nothing:
Pluviophile
The sky is gray and threatening on this September morning. I can feel the anxiety building, chest tightening. The air is suffocating. I can’t do this. I have to get out.
Rain, steady and warm hits me as I set a quick pace up the hill. Long, deep, shaking breaths of moist air open my lungs. At the top, I stop. A single golden leaf falls in front of me. I catch it gently and look closely. The rain pours harder, rinsing the leaf translucent. I lift my face to the sky and let the tears rinse my soul transcendent.
That is wonderful! “rinse my soul transcendent.” Beautiful.
Oh well done, Sheri. Yes, I liked the ‘translucent/transcendent’ wordplay. And I like that you manage to capture a sense of something changing in that moment with the leaf. You definitely created a complete story in 100 words!
Love this. Thank you for sharing.
96
Day 6 (My Days are out of wack, 6 for 6)
Lycanthrope
Stopping, the cold on his face felt different as he joined the stillness of the night. The tranquillity that only exists midwinter in the mountains. Silence born of creatures big and small huddling together; in their caves and burrows.
Breathing heavily at the exertion of what he carried, his breath drawing in and reflecting the light of the full moon. A full moon that would descend soon. He needed to move quicker, he needed to get his package inside before daylight. Before he changed.
He stood looking at her, she was beautiful. Maybe, just maybe.
Well done! I hate to dash his hopes, though, but … um … probably not. Great job of writing a story that continues in the reader’s head after you “end” it.
I didn’t write a story today, but I wrote an entry in my diary, and I think it was approximately 100 words 🙂
I’m 5 for 5 as well. I went through 3 drafts of this story. The first was 130 words. Drafts 2 and 3 were both 97 words but I was trying to figure out the right words to use.
Surprised I got this done before the 9pm hour, at 100 words exactly and attempting first person, present tense…https://tamborgiasnanowrimo.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/sad-100-words/
Today I wrote 1088 words on my third chapter.
Great work!
I liked that today i only needed to do 100 words, a little break at end of weekend. I started out with 150 words …….
Freedom
How am I going to get out? I was sleeping, woke, and began falling. None of my parts seem broken. I can get around. A ray of light comes through the window, The door is jammed or locked. Is someone coming? i see her. I’ll make some noise. Does she hear me? Dogs sniff and snarl by the door. The woman puts them away. She raises the blinds and opens the windows. Did she forget about me? No! She’s unlatching the door. I spread my wings and soar out the woodstove, out the window.
Oh! You got me! I was in this surreal space, and then you put me in a reality that probably WAS surreal to the narrator. Wow!
Woohoo! I’m 5 for 5. How’s everyone else doing?
Love this challenge. Wrote 723 words, a very short story “Men are Evil.” Finally, have it down to 99 words, “Men.” I’m 5 for 5 too. Sorry this is only the second time I remembered to post it here.
Men
Wanda left the car in the driveway, her bag in the trunk. Henry would wash the car, refill her tank, before he put it away. So much to tell him. Leaving the bathroom, she realized he hadn’t called out. After the Women Warrior’s Conference, she recognized Henry was probably abusing her with his microaggressions again. How had she never noticed, believed they were happily married for over thirty years?
After she found his body, she sat down in shock, dialed 911. Waiting, she thought, “Just like Henry, dying before she could explain to him how evil men were.”
I’m impressed you were able to cut story back by so many words. I really enjoyed your piece, gave me a smile.
Janet,
Love the result of your editing.
Cheers
I LOVE this story! You do so much with so little. I can imagine this couple’s entire life together. Poor Henry is probably well out of it. lol
Is it wrong that I thought this was fun? 😉
Stuff happened today. Still, I’ve got a story, about 140 words, longhand. I’ll try shortening it to 100, but it’s past bedtime now. Maybe tomorrow morning.
Julie, today’s prompt didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon UTC. I had time to start worrying if you were okay. (Yepp, I’m that much of an old mother hen.) Re-tweak the publication time?
Sorry I missed this message earlier Janet. Not sure what happened that day. I was having a little trouble with my email provider but I think everything is ironed out now.
Aw, I appreciate the concern. But I’m just a dolt when it comes to changing all the settings, sometimes!
I couldn’t write a Holly Jahangiri story in 100 words! Well, I could, but not the first one of the month. http://marianallen.com/2019/05/holly-takes-the-chair-samplesunday-storyadaymay-hollyjahangiri/