Punstoppable
A list of puns related to "Short Fiction"
I'm a writer in the sci-fi/fantasy genre and I rely heavily on South Asian themes in my writing. Obviously we're very underrepresented in most forms of media, except tragic immigrant bullshit which I'm not at all interested in writing. However, I will say that the literary industry is possibly even more white dominated than film/TV now and I don't know any desis my age (18-34 demographic) who like to read books.
Curious to see if you guys think you might read more if there was writing that really represented you... or maybe you just don't like reading which is also cool! There has been more South Asian inspired books as of late but personally I don't think much of it's been quality.
Let's try out a competition as a wee test – if it works I can set up a monthly thing.
Feuch an sgrìobh thu sgeulachd glè ghoirid a-staigh dìreach 50 facail is tu a' cleachdadh am beachd mìosail às a' cho-fharpais aig an Scottish Book Trust. Chan eil duais ann.
Have a go at writing a piece of fiction in just 50 words using the monthly prompt from the Scottish Book Trust's eerily similar competition. Winner gets nothing.
This month's prompt can be found on The Scottish Book Trust's 50 Word Fiction competition homepage as soon as they've added it. It will be posted as a stickied comment below as well.
Rules
Disclaimer: This idea and the prompt are shamelessly bumped from The Scottish Book Trust's 50 Word Fiction competition. The competition here on this sub is just for fun (there are no prizes) and is completely unaffiliated with and independent of SBT's competition. Submitting an entry below does not enter you into the SBT's competition nor make you eligible for any prizes they offer. If you want to win those prizes, you need to enter on SBT's website.
One of my reading goals this year was to read more short fiction. Way back in January, I set myself a goal of 75 short stories or novelettes in a year, with a stretch goal of 150. In mid-June, I'm at 88, well on my way to exceeding even my stretch goal. And I've found some great stuff! So I'd like to take the time to highlight the best I've read of the shorter works of speculative fiction. I've split my reading into trying to stay current with what's being published right now while also catching up with renowned stories that I might've missed back when I was neglecting this format. So I'll split out my favorites by 2021 publication, 2020 publication, and backlist.
So far this year, I've read 26 pieces of short fiction that were published in 2021, and I have four works set aside on my favorites list, which also doubles as the "keep these in mind for award nominations at the end of the year" list.
"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker. This experimental short gradually unravels the mysteries of a haunting (fictional) folk ballad as the reader progresses through comments on a (fictional) lyrics website. It's clever and atmospheric and going to be very hard to top for favorite of the year.
"Mr. Death" by Alix E. Harrow. A really touching story about a reaper who just can't bear to usher one of his assignments into the afterlife.
"Man vs. Bomb" by M. Shaw. A powerful and sometimes unnerving story in which deer have ascended to power and force humans to compete in survival games for cervine amusement.
"For Lack of a Bed" by John Wiswell. Like Wiswell's Nebula winner, which we'll see in the next section, this is all about twisting horror tropes, centering here around a woman struggling with chronic pain.
I spent the first part of the year catching up on 2020 publications in order to make informed Hugo nominations, and then once the Finalists were released, I spent another couple weeks reading through the nominees, which has led me to reading more 2020 publications (47) than all other publication years combined. This category has far and away the most works in that I'd put on a long list for favorites of the year but wouldn't mak
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi all! I recently read some finalists for the Hugo award and enjoyed the fluffier, humorous pieces. Naomi Kritzer and Ursula Vernon have been on the top of my list for some time, and now I can add Vina Jie-Min Prasad and John Wiswell.
But I am hungry for more! Do you have any other SFF short fiction authors or just single SFF short stories to recommend that have this fluffy, humorous and heartwarming vibe? I would greatly prefer short stories as I enjoy the short form, but I guess it could be novels too.
Thanks!
From the organization website:
>Send us your stories! We want to read your elegant and ugly. We want to pore over your terrifying, your elegiac. We want to ponder over your profound and your silly. We can’t wait.
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>We accept poetry and short fiction up to 5,000 words in length. Double-spaced with a serif font such as Garamond, Times New Roman or Georgia is a requirement. Send all submissions in a Word document (.doc or .docx) by email to info@curiousermag.com. Previously unpublished work only. Absolutely no PDFs. Those go straight into the recycling bin.
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>...
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>As stated, we’re looking for stories that excite, that break the boundary between real and unreal. Experimentation and surreal ways of looking at the world we live in will be looked upon fondly. Horror, magic realism, speculative fiction and streams of consciousness are welcome – but they must be somewhat grounded in real life. If you want to know what we want… what we really, really want, then why not avail yourself to a copy of our first issue? If you can tell us what your favourite piece was in our inaugural issue (out 18 April!), we would look kindly on that.
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I have lost my attention span to read bulky books and I feel I dont relate with the plots of lots of books I normally used to.
After going through a plethora of titles, I decided to buy a collection of classic short stories without expecting much of of it. After about reading two or three stories, i felt so satisfied and proud of myself for being able to do that.
What I liked about them was they touched upon the topics of philosophy and meaning while giving the sense of escape and thrill that comes with reading books without making you commit too much to them. I highly recommend reading some classic short stories for those wanting to get back to reading and for avid readers as well.
For many of us NoSleepers, horror is not just seasonal, it's year-round! It's been so fun being part of this community for the past year. Reading and writing horror has ignited a new passion for the horror genre that I had only had for horror movies and shows in the past. It's been great to digest horror in different kinds of mediums. Keep on writing, reading, watching, and narrating! Here is my the link to my book, enjoy! eBook
Every time I try to write a short, it ends up being "a series of events" that doesn't have a payoff. I read what I've written and ask myself, "okay, so what?" I've got a scene, maybe there's conflict, but... I always get to the end and I'm like, "yeah, and?"
Much easier for me to write long, but I can't seem to break out of "a short story is like a novel, only short" and that just doesn't feel right to me.
Can anyone offer tips to help me write well-structured fiction in the 1k-2k word range?
Edit: I've found an author to help me, thanks everyone.
I've got a really terrible rough draft, but I am not happy with it.
I am looking for someone who can help me re-write.
I am not stingy and will make sure we agree on a price you feel is fair for your labor.
Starting at $300.00
This story blew my mind about 8 years ago when I first read it but for some reason I've never been able to find it again and all my google searches aren't pulling it up.
The details I remember is that it focuses on the main character who is a woman that likes to hike with her husband. The husband is some sort of scientist and he would talk about what the future would be like and how far humans could evolve. Eventually technology comes out where you can transfer your consciousness to a cyborg and essentially live forever. Unfortunately the husband dies before this happens but the narrator who is an old woman at this point decides to do it and with her new body is able to hike and explore all the places she and her husband had dreamed about. Eventually the technology progresses even further and you can split your consciousness between multiple nodes. So you can stream your consciousness to a different planet and explore there as well.
Now a lot of the details are fuzzy for me but what stuck out the most was this: they developed spore like needles in the story, and you could shoot out millions of these spores into all different directions in space. If the spore/needle hit a planet with the right materials it would grow and form another node that you could stream your consciousness to. You could explore that planet or send out more spore/needles from that node as well.
Eventually the narrator returns to Earth after and reminisces about her husband and how he was right about how crazy the future was.
Hoping this sounds familiar to someone who can tell me who the author is! I'd really love to share it with others too.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I am dead But I am still awake
I draw no breath Yet, I still am
I feel stiff Yet can move
I bleed Yet oil come out
A mechanical pump for a heart A ball of wires for a brain A charging station for a stomach
I died Yet I was reborn a machine
In the 80s, I read what I think was a short science fiction story in English about a young boy identified as having exceptional musical talent, so he was locked away in a cabin in the woods with no music to influence him, and given an instrument that could create any sound. He was expected to produce original music inspired by nature, and his warden would occasionally come and listen without comment before taking the genius-level music out to the world.
At some point, the boy was "contaminated" by hearing Bach, I think, which the warden noticed, as suddenly all his compositions lost everything Bach-like in an attempt to hide the influence. The story closes with him being exiled from his position of privilege, sentenced to work on a chain gang, and yet still inventing much-loved music while whistling as he worked.
This was probably a well-known author, as I don't think I was reading anyone particularly obscure at the time, so hopefully you'll be able steer me back to the source. Thank you for taking the time to help!
A woman is trapped in a dark, unknown, and a strange place haunted by her thoughts and the memories of her past until a stranger arrives to help.
Reading time: 28 minutes.
Don’t Let Her See My Face
Chapter One
Lost
Why is it so dark in here? She thought. Why is it so, she looked around, quiet and deserted? She was walking down a street that looked familiar. There wasn't anyone else and there was not a single source of light but everything was still visible. Where is this light coming from? She wondered. Everything was glowing with an ambience that it was difficult to locate the source of light. It looked like that time of the evening when there is no sun in the sky but everything still glows with light reflecting off the red sky except—the sky was dark, pitch black, no stars either. She had no idea where she was or—who she was. She walked further on the street and reached the intersection. There were no street lights or traffic lights, and there was not a single living thing in her sight. It looked like the whole city or the entire country was deserted.
She stood in the middle of the road, confused and scared. Then she remembered it. She was here but when? A few moments ago or a decade? She couldn't place it in her memory but she was sure that she had been to this place before. She remembered that she stood right there and, she looked around, there was a light, she tried to remember. Yes, there was definitely a light, more like a beam and as she remembered, a beam of white light shot at her. She had only turned around and had just caught a glimpse of the SUV speeding towards her when everything went dark.
The sun was high in the sky but it was still very cold because of the strong chilly winds. It was a bright day of the winter, very rare. It was a day to go out in the park and play so she was out with her daughter taking a day off from everything. Her daughter was laughing and playing while she sat on the welcoming grass, looking at her daughter, her world, her happiness. She was trying to capture the moment because it was very difficult to get one of those, was trying to get hold of it so she could remember it forever but it seemed as if the moment was slipping away because the sun hid behind the clouds which had just appeared in the sky out of nowhere. They both started running.
“Quick, under the shed!” she shouted.
She heard the clouds thunder, the raindrops hit the ground and the screeching sound of a vehicle approaching her very fast
... keep reading on reddit ➡I recall the story was told from the perspective of a man driving along a stretch of road. It had a very eldritch feel to it and it was incredibly long for a short story, may have even been a reddit post. I feel like I may have heard it on a podcast or recording to be honest.
The overall premise is there's some stretch of road that has specific rules on it, I recall at one point there is an abandoned car they encounter. I think they/the narrator/character might be looking for a lost relative or brother? They use mile markers to track what events might be upcoming. I can't recall if they drove alone, but I think they had a passenger they might have picked up along the road.
Any help is appreciated!
Need some quick, funny reads. Prefer science fiction. Thanks. Cheers.
From the organization website:
>The BLR Prizes award outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. For each genre, first prize is $1000, honorable mention is $250. Winners are published in the spring issue of BLR. Submit your best poetry, fiction and nonfiction from March 1 to July 15. Meet this year’s judges.
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>Goldenberg Prize for Fiction
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>Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction
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>John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry
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>Fiction: We seek character-driven fiction with original voices and strong settings. We do not publish genre fiction (romance, sci-fi, horror). We have only occasionally published flash fiction. While we are always interested in creative explorations in style, we do lean toward classic short stories.
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>Nonfiction: We are looking for essays that reach beyond the standard ‘illness narrative’ to develop a topic in an engaging and original manner. Incorporate engaging and creative analysis that allows anecdotes to serve a larger purpose. (Please, no academic discourses or works with footnotes. )
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>Poetry: We encourage poems that are accessible to a wide audience. Characteristics we look for are vivid writing, strong narrative, and rendering the familiar new. We encourage you to peruse back issues in our archive to get a sense of our ethos.
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I got a huge feeling I'm gonna regret this, but as the title said.
Obviously, I’m not just gonna write about anything. If its illegal or toxic then I won’t write it.
It don’t have to be Danganronpa related, but if I don’t know the ship then I either try to research it or sadly just have to suggest another one. So, I’m very sorry if that happens.
Anyway, let’s begin.
From the organization website:
>The 2021 Barthelme Prize for Short Prose is now open to flash fiction, prose poems, and micro-essays of 500 words or fewer. Established in 2008, the contest awards its winner $1,000 and publication in the journal. Two honorable mentions will receive $250, and all entries will be considered for paid publication on our website as Online Exclusives.
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>This year's Barthelme Prize will be judged by Molly McCully Brown. For previous winners, honorable mentions, and judges, see the sidebar.
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>All entrants to the Barthelme Prize receive a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast, beginning with the year in which the corresponding prize winner is published.
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I actually have fun doing this last time, so why not do it again?
Same rules,I won’t write a illegal or toxic ship. And you can say any franchise, but there’s a chance I won’t know the characters.
Also, I will do every comment, no matter how late, but... tomorrow morning I be unavailable, but I will definitely respond once everything settled. Anyway, let’s begin.
(the narrator is a Kuromorime student called Honoka{you'll see why later}, in my head she is voiced by Yukana{real name: Yukana Nogami, 'Yukana' is her stage name}, as for why that will be later)
The match had just ended and I needed a rest, Maho had just asked me to see her, so I thought, 'Why not?', I approached her dorm room shakily, I knocked about 3 times before she said I could come in, however she sounded kinda unlike herself, it was still distinctively her, and so I entered, I don't know what I was expecting, but Maho in some odd cosplay was certainly not it, on her bed were a few plushes all looking like tiny animals, I wanted to ask her what was going on, but the words got stuck in my mouth. After about 3 minutes "Maho..... What are you doing in that and what are those plushes?" I asked shakily, out of the corner of my eye one of them looked suprised, like they heard my voice elsewhere. "When I have this on, you'll refer to me as Hikari." I swore I heard that voice and name somewhere before, but why did that one plush look surprised, it's just material and stuffing, right? "And for these, they came here for no reason, they thought it was this Hikari, a Nagisa and a Honoka playing a massive prank on them...." At this point I had passed out from information overload.
In my dreams for the next 3 weeks the weirdest thing happened, it was me, my close friend Nagisa(who looks like what Maho described this Nagisa looked like) and Maho against the darkness, I still don't know what is going on in these dreams even now.......
I'm after recommendations for short fantasy fiction from the pulp era (c.1890-c.1960) that feature either a robust religion or a protagonist who is a member of a religious organization. Thanks for your help!
Looking for realistic fiction / speculative fiction about climate change, preferably set in future when moderate to extreme effects of climate change has set in. I am open to novels and short stories, and can be set in any part of the globe.
I read short stories by Diane cook based on these lines but they had several magical realism elements while I am looking for something more realistic.
Edit - I can even look into non fictions which will try to accurately describe a future world reeling under the effects of climate change.
For reference I'm a MS student in STEM (chemical/biological background). I like non-fiction but a lot of the stuff I'm interested in is a bit overwhelming, it seems like every book I want to check out is 300+ pages, if not 500+.
In the past I've read some stuff about evolution (The Selfish Gene and others), the origin of life, chaos and environmental problems, but other topics are welcome as well. My only preference is to keep it short, since right now I can't keep up with "heavy" stuff along with my university studies.
Contest summary from Winning Writers:
>Uncharted Magazine, an online journal of speculative, mystery, and horror fiction, seeks submissions for their first issue that will launch in August 2021. Uncharted is a new venture from the editorial team behind the well-regarded literary webzines The Masters Review and CRAFT Literary. Submissions are open year-round; later entries will be held for the next issue. Send one story, 1,000-5,000 words. Contributors receive $200 for accepted work.
Contest details
Guidelines and submission information
This contest has been vetted and approved by Winning Writers
He couldn’t walk down that road. There was a ghost that haunted the untended field adjacent to it. He wouldn’t face it; it’s mouth was always open, its eyes empty, and it was clad in a rotting, grey skin that grew weaker by the day. He knew that one day it would disappear, collapsing under its own weight, be devoured by insects, be eroded by the rain, and be returned to the earth by the many earthworms living in the field. The ghost on that road reminded him of things that were only memories now and people who had left his life, who wouldn’t be coming back… People he’d always love, but who he missed greatly now.
Wayne stared down the grey, pockmarked, gravel road that stretched out before him like a stony canal amid the fields of wheat and grazing land that it cut through. He couldn’t remember how long he’d been walking, but he knew it must have been quite a while; it was afternoon now and he’d left not long after breakfast. The ghostly barn at the edge of Ron Langston’s property was a distant memory now. Dust kicked up by his boots stuck to the salty, dried tear tracks that curved their way down his cheeks like an old riverbed. The summer sun beat down brutally on him as he stood, considering which road to take; ripples crisscrossed the hot air in the distance. He wasn’t ready to turn back yet… To return home…
The road in front of him continued straight for several miles until it reached the town of Windham. If he wanted to, he could keep going down that way until sundown; then he’d never have to turn back... Wayne’s mind’s eye looked left, gliding down the road that snaked its way around the Thomson Ranch and eventually led to Woodhurst Mountain. He imagined the dusty, mildewy scent of straw, ruddy brown plains stretching up to sparsely forested hills, and cows peacefully grazing not far from the wire fence that flanked the road up to Woodhurst.
Could be nice. Maybe I’ll go up the little mountain.
He bowed his head slightly, closing his eyes and rubbing his brow with the peeling, callused tips of his fingers. The day had already been a long one. Wayne pinched his forehead, opened his eyes slightly and looked right.
The long way home.
A frown curled across his lower lip, he sucked in a deep breath through his nose and he strained to look up towards the sky, hoping the heavens might give him some clarity. Wayne dropped his head as a big breath left his lips with a sigh, looking right again, towards the long way home.
I can’t go back yet, h
... keep reading on reddit ➡Plot points I remember: to end the war between the different religions a decision was made to find the true god. For that, a Priest, an Imam and a Rabbi (and maybe others) were sent on a spaceship to space find the god that all will agree is the true god. After a while, a being appeared in the spaceship and convinced them that it is the real god. As they found the true god, when they came back to earth, they believed that all people will now belong to this new religion. However, not many believed them and they ended up forming yet another new religion among many others.
I searched everywhere and I can't find the name or author of this story...
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