Category Archives: 500 Club

500 Club (2/2)

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Hello. Welcome to today’s 500 Club. We’ll be taking off for our destination momentarily. Today’s cruising speed will be 500 words and we’ll be flying at an unlimited altitude. The sky is the limit. As we taxi away from the gate, we’d like to review the guidelines for flying with PLC airlines.

  1. Write a 500 word response to one of the prompts below.
  2. Post your story on your blog.
  3. Put a teaser in the comments below, and include a link to where we can read the rest of your story.

Now, please fasten your safety belts and secure your tray in its upright position.

Prompt #1: Write a story involving flying. The concept of flying is open to your interpretation. Focus on description.

…Or…

Prompt #2: Write a story about a missed flight. What is the consequence of missing the flight? Focus on emotional content.

We hope you enjoy your flight. And thank you for choosing PLC airlines.

500 Club (1/26)

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Another Thursday brings us another 500 Club! Scroll down for two more prompts waiting to be explored.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

And now on to the prompts:

1. Attracting Opposites: In 500 words, convincingly combine two opposite elements. Blend fire and ice, love and hate, or space travel and deep-sea diving. Pick one of those or choose your own, just make sure they’re extreme opposites and make them coalesce.

2. Things Out of Place: Write a short story about something out of place. Maybe stacks and stacks of book, but not in a library or book store. Or, a full working kitchen at the heart of a cave. Make it believable and make it in 500 words.

*Feel free to change the name or sex of the characters as needed.

500 Club (1/19)

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Happy Thursday, y’all! It’s time to write some flash with the 500 Club!

How do you play? Here’s the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below. (or get crazy and do both)
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post the first line or two of your story in the comments below with a link to the rest.

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Alien Invasion. They’re here, and they’re not what you would think. Twins? Cats? Cars? Only our narrator knows the truth (or does (s)he)?

…or…

2. Go pull one of your favorite books off the shelf. Flip around and blindly pluck out five lines at random. Write a flash fiction inspired by at least one of the lines.

Here are my lines, chosen at random from The Graveyard Book

Bod had never walked anywhere as a sightseer before.

He was going to have to fall straight down, he decided, onto the steps, and he would just hope that the ghouls wouldn’t notice that he was making a break for it in their desperation to be home and safe.

Mrs. Owens said simply, “I cannot. My bones are here. And so are Owen’s. I’m never leaving.”

“I wanted to go to Acadia Avenue.”

“First we put you somewhere safe. Then we deal with them.”

 

Happy writing!

500 Club (1/12)

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It’s Thursday! You know what that means. It’s time for the 500 Club!

Before we get to today’s prompts, here’s a quick recap of the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below.
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post a teaser to your story in the comments below with a link to where we can read the rest.

Easy, right?

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Write a scene where an outsider is revealed to be an insider.

…or…

2. Write the scene the comes after the character receives the life-changing news.

Happy writing!

500 Club (1/5/2012)

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New Year, new prompts. Let’s not get out of the habit of letting our creativity play. Make it your New Year’s Resolution. Start writing now!

Here’s what to do:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

And now on to the prompts:

1. Finish this opener: Joe swore he’d never do it again, but here he was, standing out front with _______ in hand and unable to stop from going in.

2. The new year marks ends and beginnings. Write 500 words where the last line mirrors the first.

*Feel free to change the name or sex of the characters as needed.

500 Club (12/22)

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Most of you are probably running around doing holiday things, but maybe there are some out there who are taking a little time today to write. Well, here are some 500 Club writing prompts to help you out. Our little gift to you.

Before we begin, here’s a recap of how to drive this snowmobile:

  1. Write a 500 word response to one of the prompts below.
  2. Post your story on your blog.
  3. Paste a teaser in the comments below, along with a link where we can read the rest.

Got it? Good. Here are today’s prompts:

1. Write a story about the shortest day of the year.

…OR…

2. Describe a winter scene without using the words winter, cold, snow, ice or frozen.

Remember, no pressure. This is for fun.

Happy writing. And Happy Holidays!

500 Club (12/15)

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Let’s get into the holiday spirit with some special holiday writing prompts. So get out from under that mistletoe and put down the wrapping paper for a while. We’ve got some prompts that need your attention.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

And now on to the prompts:

1. Stolen from my coffee cup, but makes for a great opener: Dear Santa, Let me tell you the whole story…

2. In 500 words write why these five items are on Johnny’s Christmas List: A bag of plastic army men, two piranhas, paper cone cups, a tuft of koala hair, and a foam dart gun.

*Feel free to change the name or sex of the characters as needed.

500 Club (12/8)

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Happy Thursday, everyone! It’s time to keep our writing chops honed by slamming out some flash fiction. We like to make a game of it, so here are…

…the rules:

  1. Pick one of the two prompts and write 500 words on it.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us your opening line below, along with a link back to the rest of it.
  4. Bask in the glow of success.

And now on to the prompts. This week we’re doing opening lines:

1. It was the eve of war, and we sat on the (insert noun here) and tried to figure out what to do with ourselves. 

2. It was the last sunset he ever saw. He never forgot it.

Happy writing!

500 Club (12/1)

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Happy Thursday! Happy December! Are you ready to play the 500 Club, holiday-style? Let’s get this season started.

But quick—before we begin—here’s a recap of the rules:

  1. Write a 500 word response to one of the prompts below.
  2. Post your story on your blog.
  3. Paste a teaser in the comments below, along with a link where we can read the rest.

Got it? Good. Here are today’s December-inspired prompts:

1. Write a story that somehow incorporates shopping on Black Friday.

…OR…

2. Write a story about a gift gone wrong.

Remember, no pressure. Writing should be fun.

Happy writing!

500 Club (11/24)

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Whether you’re ducking out from under your relative’s noses or taking a break from gorging yourself on turkey and stuffing, here’s something to kill a few minutes. A little positive stimulation or creative venting can help you make it through the day.

Here’s the gist:

  1. Write 500 words based on one of the two prompts below.
  2. Post it to your blog.
  3. Give us a small taste in the comments below along with a link to the full text.

And now on to the prompts:

1. Body language can tell more about what a person is thinking or feeling than their own words. In 500 words create a scene with two or more characters where their body language reveals more than what they are saying.

2. *Wendel’s jaw dropped, allowing a dry bite of turkey to fall back to his plate. Cousin Lyn just stood and announced…

*Feel free to change the name or sex of the characters as needed.