Week Eleven: Massacre Lane, Scarborough

I think we're officially in spring semester of Freshman year now—I need to do a writeup of that like I did for Fall. Soon, okay?!

So this one, I think, was something I observed during either my first or second summer as an ice cream truck driver. (And before you ask—yes. I have tried to write about this experience. A great many times. There's nothing there.) It's an actual street (or "lane"... what is the difference?) in Scarborough, Maine. 

My intent, maybe, was to write a faux history of how it got its name or, more likely, something about how banal suburban life can result in a massacre... of dreams. (I was 19 years old with a penchant for cliché, alright? We all start out this way.)

Maybe I'll begin with some research and see where that takes us...

Week Nine, Monday

Cheery, huh?

Look, most neophype scribes go through a "suicide = profound" phase. It doesn't mean every writer is depressed. We're just inward-looking people who have to work out some stuff, clear our collective throats if you will, before we can start working on things that are not, well, this.

And anyway, the subject matter doesn't necessarily make a story clichéd. It's what you do with it. So there.

The completed story can be found here!

Week Nine: Microfiction week!

So here's the deal: these "weeks" are taking longer and longer to complete (Week Eight, for instance, was almost four months long), so for Week Nine we're going to try something different...

MICROFICTION!!!

(This is my caffeinated time. You be quiet.)

Microfiction (also called flash fiction, short-short stories, etc.) can be 200, 100, even 50 words long. After putting you all through a story 6000+ words long, I figured some brevity was in order.

This will also give me an excuse to fly through some of the more... I don't want to say "clichéd" but... beginner ideas I had during my freshman year. 

So! One a day, Monday through Friday. Get 'em all here (links will be added as they are posted):

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Fantasyitis!

From Nathan Bransford:

Fantasy Overload:

“We are hearty warriors! Let us share a hearty chuckle! Ha ha ha!” Pentrarch said.
There was a glint in Lentwendon’s eye as he took a swill from a mighty cistern of ale. He bellowed a deep laugh and clapped his friend on the back.
“I say,” Pentrarch said, “What is it about fantasy novels that lends itself to such stilted, manly camaraderie? Do we not have normal interactions?”
“We do not,” Lentwendon said, his voice suddenly grave. “We do not. We prefer to express our friendship with great noise and clapping of shoulders and brood quietly but stoically when matters turn serious. It is the same with our women.”
“Oh yes,” Pentrarch said “Our women are quietly supportive that we must do battle in far off lands, and they always have weary, knowing eyes. In truth they are the strong ones.”
Lentwendon nodded as he stared quietly at his cistern. “And ale, always ale.”

Check out the others here!

I get what he's going for here, but surely I'm not the only one who would happily read this book?

Thank you in advance for amazing, ginormous man caves

Speaking of cliché words and phrases, Lake Superior State University releases a List of Banished Words every year. 2012's list features

• Amazing
• Baby bump
• Shared sacrifice
• Man cave
• The new normal
• Thank you in advance

...among others. I will now be making a concerted effort to say "amazing" much less, but with apologies to LSSU, "man cave" is here to stay. I'll fight for that one with my last dying breath!