Last week was a good week for me in the diary challenge. A little mad, but good. On Monday I described a mermaid and her pet killer whale. OK, I’m pretty sure that was done on The Little Mermaid but I’m not at my best on Mondays. On Tuesday things started to get surreal. After eliminating the poetry portion of the challenge, somehow my dialogue presented itself as a poem in my head. I had this Dr Seussian image of two people boasting about their nonsense creature pets, and thus the following poem was born. Please forgive the shocking scan in places. At some point I’ll edit it and put it on my DeviantART page with a picture of the mythical ‘zazu'[1]:
“My zazu’s the best, he’s as cute as can be.
He’s won hundreds of cuteness awards on TV.”
“Well my zazu’s smarter, she’s smart as a fox.
She can do algebra, tight-rope walk and pick locks.”
“That’s nothing, my zazu runs rings around yours.
He does the tune of Beethoven’s fifth when he purrs.”
“My zazu’s got spots she can change into stripes.”
“Mine glows in the dark when you turn out the lights!”
“Mine knows twelve languages, and has x-ray eyes.”
“My precious just picked up the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“Well mine just completed her third PhD.
Theoretical Maths, Physics and Chemisty.”
“My zazu discovered a new life on Mars.”
“My zazu invented pollution free cars.”
“My zazu’s been on fifteen time travel trips.”
“My zazu averted the Apocalypse.”
“MY zazu is better. MY zazu’s done more!”
“Your zazu has just had a wee on the floor.”
Last week we also had a whimsical little scene with a young lady trying to tame a wild unicorn, a surprising long short story in which a talking cow gets into No. 10 and demands equal rights for farm animals from the Prime Minister (I kid you not!), and finally today an interesting plot plan derived from the haunting lyrics of Slipknot’s Snuff. I originally intended to do some flash fiction for the song challenge, but the song really suggested a more complicated relationship than a short story can explore, so I’ve done a book idea instead. Another contender for NaNoWriMo perhaps? We shall see. Now let’s see what this week has in store!
This week I’m taking my inspiration from this article: http://io9.com/5791925/10-most-awesome-married-couples-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy
Let’s face it, an awful lot of subplots revolve around the main character eventually winning their love interest. This isn’t a criticism, most of my subplots revolve around that too. But, as I discussed with Markie at length once when I asked him if I could have a married RPG character one night when walking back to our hotel in Pisa, couples have lots of different conflicts and challenges to overcome which can be just as interesting for a narrative as the old ‘will they/won’t they’ thing. So this week I want to write about established couples. If you’re playing along at home you can create one couple and build them up throughout the week, or you can do a different one for each challenge. It’s up to you!
Monday 16th May – description challenge
Describe 2 characters who are in a long term relationship. They may or may not be married, they may or may not be the same gender, and they may or may not be the same species! Any pairings are fine as long as they love each other.
Tuesday 17th May – dialogue challenge
Write a conversation between between a couple in which they are having an argument about something. It could be about what colour to paint the dining room, or it could be about which of them is going to traverse the lava lake to get the fabled Blood Stone, depending on what kind of thing this couple usually get up to :).
Wednesday 18th May – Scene Challenge
A couple are enjoying a typical day, until one of them has an ex-lover show up unexpectedly. Write the scene.
Thursday 19th May – Dream Challenge
Write something based on a dream you’ve had recently.
Friday 20th May – Stream of Consciousness
Do some free writing around the theme ‘commitment’.
Saturday 21st May – Flash Fiction
Write a short story which features a couple. It can be about anything, but must include a ring. It does not have to be the kind of ring that goes on a finger. Could be an earring, a boxing ring, a phone ring, any kind of ring at all.
Sunday 22nd May – Pot Luck
Plan out a longer piece of fiction which features a couple as the main characters.
That’s all for this week!
[1] FYI, do you have any idea how hard it is to find a name for a nonsense animal that doesn’t already mean something rude on the internet? Finally settled on ‘zazu’ which is a character from the Lion King, but since they borrowed him from Pauly Parrot in Kimba the White Lion anyway I don’t feel too bad about borrowing the name.