ADMIN POST: The Documentation Challenge.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

The Documentation Challenge.
This one comes to us from LauraKaye. Write a story that is either in the form of or prominantly features some kind of document (e.g. case report, traffic ticket, personnel evaluation, pizza delivery log, diary or journal, letter, phone bill, deposition or transcript...)

It's Monday by my watch--stories are due next Monday before midnight.

(And while I have your attention--I need more challenges, people! Submit those challenges! Put 'em in the comments, send me an email, buttonhole me at the bar and say, "Ces, ol' buddy, ol' pal--I'm picturing a challenge with a leather harness, an egg time, and a kazoo...." Put all these great minds to work for YOU!)

Comments

[some-stars.livejournal.com]

This is possibly too narrow, but I'm not great at thinking up this stuff--Involve a woman's undergarment(s) in the plot, in a non-sexual manner. (Because knickers comedy is the BEST comedy.) (Or, hell, I don't know, maybe Ray's got a keepsake old bra of Stella's. Heh, actually, I'd like to dibs that one.)

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

I like it--we could maybe broaden it a bit to the Embarrassing Item Challenge. *g* That way you could keep your bra, and god only knows what might turn up, fall out, or otherwise materialize! *g*

[helvirago]

Ces, ol' buddy...

How about... hmm. How about lying? As in, a character must be lying, or the narrator could be lying, or a criminal is lying... it could work in there somehow?

Or I suppose lying down.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Hel, ol' pal o'mine! I like the idea of lying, but we need to be careful to distinguish it from the make-up challenge. Nicely, lying has not only the sense of fabrication, but the sense of lying down--in fact, hell. Let's make it the Lay or Lie Challenge--hee! hee! that gives us LOTS of room to work, hoo boy!

(Slasher? Me? No....)

[helvirago]

Is there any way to stipulate that at least one character must know the proper usage of the two?

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Surely Fraser would. :-)

[axiom_of_stripe]

how about a tea challenge? drink tea, make tea, bitch about tea, dump hot tea on someone's lap....

or a challenge for passing as something the character isn't (be it sexual orientation, gender, nationality, or something kinkier).

i'd say a poetry challenge, but that might be a last resort -- so very many ways to go so wrong on that one.

or a letter challenge: write a whole story without using the letter 'i'. bet that'd keep people from running so far over the word limit!

a drunk and disorderly challenge might be fun.

what about a porn challenge? the characters must be having sex for the entire duration of the story!

gotta love cough medicine. how come other illnesses don't get such good drugs? there's a question for the ages.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Tea--check! Or we could broaden it to The Coffee, Tea, or Me Challenge. *g* Hee, I like that. The beverage challenge.

Passing is brilliant but tough--it's a very specific kind of fabrication. Hmm. Might blur interestingly with undercover. Passing, undercover, trying to be what you're not, trying to fool somebody...

Poetry, man--I suppose we could broaden it to include lines of poetry--like, that every story has to be prefaced by a few lines of poetry, and maybe named for that poetry. Rather than everyone having to write poetry themselves. Which I frankly fear. (Not least of all my own poetry.)

LOVE the letter challenge--we must do that, absolutely! George Perec wrote a novel using only the letters A-H, so this should be doable, really.

Drunk and disorderly is just a given, too. *g* As is the porn challenge. Done.

<b>2, 4, 6, 8!</b>

[reginagiraffe]

Who do we appreciate!? Ces! Ces! Yaaaaaaay, Ces!

*shakes her pompoms*

It's the Numbered Saying challenge. Use an adage or saying (a stitch in time saves nine; six of one, half a dozen of the other) that contains a number.

Re: <b>2, 4, 6, 8!</b>

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

You're too good to me, Regina. You've always been too good to me. Thanks!

Love Love Love the Number Challenge--but then again I would *g*. (Four Virtues, With Six You Get Eggroll, Eight Sessions, Ten Things To Get Used To--I might finally have to write my number 12 for this one!)

Re: <b>2, 4, 6, 8!</b>

[reginagiraffe]

*koff*12AngryMen*koff*

Why, that would be a *great* idea!

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

How about a Movies challenge? Either watching one, set in a theatre, or an AU where they are inhabiting movie roles....

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Movie Challenge, check. And yeah, it's got to be broad, as you suggest--they could be in the movie, watching a movie, at home or in a theatre, investigating a crime on a set, finding clues in a movie or in film, etc etc. Very cool!

I'm hungry...

[thermidor.livejournal.com]

so i would like to see a food challenge.
Maybe someone buys or cooks dinner for someone else, someone gets food spilled on them, someones have sex and use chocolate sauce , etc.

or since it's summer, maybe a vacation challenge?

Re: I'm hungry...

[jenboo.livejournal.com]

OMG, I LOVE your icon!!! Alton Brown rocks my lame ass!

Re: I'm hungry...

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

I like the food challenge--somebody suggested, and I really like this idea--a recipe challenge, where each story has to have a recipe attached, but I've been holding that one back for the fall (I'm figuring it'd be useful to do before Thanksgiving when we all need more ideas.)

But we could sure could do a food challenge of a broader kind before then. A story that in some way turns upon a food item or has a food item prominently featured in the plot. (DS was so good with the weird food, too--the lichen and pemmicam and all that jazz.)

[jenboo.livejournal.com]

The Water Challenge? (could be a bath or shower, a rainstorm, a swimming pool or jacuzzi, The Lake They Call Michigan, a glass of water, someone's water breaking, whatever.) Too general??

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

This is perfect. Water Challenge. Brilliant!--thank you!

[rowanfairchild.livejournal.com]

Due South often used doors to visually punctuate a scene (in the good old theatrical comedy tradition.) So, what about a challenge where a door has to be involved? (I mean any kind of door, physical, metaphysical...)

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

I dig it--yes, real doors, metaphorical doors, car doors, revolving doors, closet doors--and let's not forget The Doors. I personally would kill for a "Fraser's First Exposure To Jim Morrison" story. The Door Challenge is on the list!

[(Anonymous)]

Since I'm just back home from one of them, I'd love to see a 'Gay Pride Parade' challenge! Have the characters work as security officers at such an event or let them walk along or... whatever. *bg*

Foxy0

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'd worry that Gay Pride Parade is too specific--but I feel like it could spin into a broad, and still gayn'proud, direction. Maybe an "Out And Proud Challenge" or a "Here and Queer Challenge" or, broader still, an Out Of The Closet Challenge for gay pride month! (jeez, that's coming up--this might have to be soon, next week!)

Query

[heuradys.livejournal.com]

If the document in question is a form and the story is in the form of the form, do the words of the form itself count as words of story?

Re: Query

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

If the document in question is a form and the story is in the form of the form, do the words of the form itself count as words of story?

No. But even if they did, who cares--we don't need no stinkin' word limit. You just tell your story! rubbing hands greedily in anticipation!!

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

How about a key challenge? House keys, car keys, handcuff keys, muscial keys, map keys; keys lost, found, exchanged, jingled, whatever.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Perfect. It's now on the list--thank you!! And you forgot Kowalski!! *g* ("Then I totally lose it because I'm Kowalski drivin' a carski down to a barski there on the coastki somebody stop me--")

[helvirago]

Hey hey we're the Monkeeskee!

That still cracks me up every time I think of it.

Packing challenge?

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

How about a packing challenge? Someone's packing heat; or packing a suitcase; or packing a sex toy (hm, not sure men do that, so maybe that'll encourage Frannie and Thatcher and Stella to get some action)...

Re: Packing challenge?

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

packing a sex toy (hm, not sure men do that)

Um, they do that, all right--just not. You know. They pack--you know. cough Though the word "packing" and gay men is maybe not such a good connection (my childhood brain goes to the whole horrific "fudgepacker" slur) But as you suggest, we'd have to put in a bunch of different associations--backpacking and unpacking and packing heat and maybe even push towards, you know, cough packages and, um, what guys are packing. Which could be very sexy.

Re: Packing challenge?

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

It could be a Pack challenge -- Pack(ing), Pack(age), Pack (ers)...

Although "Pack," in a dS context, also takes me to wolves and sled dogs and pack hierarchy, which could also be a fun thing, but is totally not what I was originally riffing on. :-)

Hmmm. Challenges.

[destina.livejournal.com]

Well, off the top of my head...some of these are kind of goofy. *g*

A dialogue-only challenge, wherein there can be no description or narrative of any sort - only dialogue between any two characters (more than two, and it gets a wee bit confusing).

A darkness challenge, wherein the entire story takes place in total darkness in the location of the writer's choice.

A POV challenge, wherein the person whose POV we're treated to in the drabble is either a supporting character, an original character or an inanimate object.

A 'five minutes after' challenge - five minutes after Ray and Fraser ride off into the sunset, what happens? Five minutes after they patch their friendship up on the deck of the Bounty, what happens? Five minutes after Vecchio walks out of the station on his way to his undercover assignment, what happens? That kind of thing.

A 'planes, trains and automobiles' challenge, wherein the action takes place on some mode of transportation.

to clarify...

[destina.livejournal.com]

A dialogue-only challenge, wherein there can be no description or narrative of any sort

I should say, no external description, other than what's revealed in the dialogue.