Hello, dedicated and talented writers of the Simplyprose consortium. Once again, I return to bring you the December Newsletter. I must admit, I feel a bit of pride to see how many people took up my challenge with last months miscellaneous prompt, and I’m both awed and very pleased with the variety of the pieces, as well as the talent you’ve all displayed.
Before we get to the prompts, there are a couple of thing our administrator has asked me to tell you.
First, as writers ourselves, we understand that you don’t always love everything you write. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t write something that lives up to the expectations you set for yourself and you just have to toss it out. This is fine, but please, if you decide that you do not wish to keep a submission, please let us know that you have removed it so that we can take it off of the journal. Thank you.
Secondly, Simplyprose wishes to hold a writing contest for January’s Miscellaneous prompt. The prompt this month is:
write a story centered around the dialogue of two strangers on a train.
For full details, see the article here: [link]


Scenario Prompt:

None


Character Prompt:

by
Christmas Dinner

Elizabeth was once again certain that her manager was the devil in disguise.

We’ve all had one, so we all know the evil boss who’s goal in life is to make yours miserable. The author of this work does a good job of making you feel the bitterness and disappointment of the abused employee, which makes the ending all the more satisfying to read.

by
Get Fries, Eat Fries

Christina blew into the old diner, tumbling in like the winter wind and snow swirling outside.

If anything sells this piece, it is the interesting characters. This story gives you the sense that the author really knows how to sit down and observe people and then translate those people into interesting characters for a story.

Word Association Prompt:

by
Tea, Sweetheart

She did, however, believe very strongly that she had a purpose in this life, and running the boarding house was her purpose.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference in someone’s life. While the story won’t jerk any tears from you, it is definitely outstanding in its presentation of a simple person with a simple goal.

by
Smallest of Gifts

“I’d been thinking of saving this for Christmas day, but I want to give you a gift early.” she said.

This story, though short, is somewhat evocative of Earnest Hemingway in its use of dialogue and short, distinctive descriptions to control the flow of the story.

by
Baby’s First Christmas

“...That does not compute.”

An interesting choice in perspectives, this story gives use a look Christmas through the eyes of a computing machine. What really makes this story good is how it controls information through what the bot knows - and what it doesn’t.

by
A Change In Plans

As she turned, Danielle’s songbird hair lifted, cinnamon woven with curls and the scent of honey

This is an author who enjoys using metaphors. While one or two seem a little awkward, most of the descriptions used in this piece create very memorable and moving images in your mind as you read it.

Miscellaneous Prompt:

by
Richard Flass - Toxicity

“Humanity has wasted away, Flass. You have seen it. It is time to begin again, to correct this horror that mankind has created, but first, the old world must be cleared away.”

This is a complicated piece. It has echoes of poetry, aspects of traditional prose and sections of much more abstract writing. Surely you are interested to see the efforts of our staff member who came up with the prompt in the first place. His efforts will fill you with image-rich prose whilst keeping you on your toes!


by :iconPhantomTheifVier:
Makeshift Wings

Pinned through the heart with a rusty nail, he had spent his life attached to her. But then she left and he was left with a bloody mess and a rusty nail.

The number of the characters presented is near-overwhelming for a story this size, but the distinctiveness of each character makes each short segment really interesting, and the common thread between them draws you forward to its surreal conclusion.

by
No Answers

His words were blue stains on the canvas and the birds I drew in the canvas sky were the uneven check marks of his top lip.

The author has woven imagery from words in the same way a painter creates imagery form colors, yet there is a certain sense of abstraction to it that makes reading it a real feast for the mind.

by
Just Another Love Song

A cell phone on a table, lighting up as it rings. Socked feet running on hardwood floors. A smile flashes as she answers.

This piece really mastered the music video idea. Not only does it work in the musical theme really well, but each sentence forms a very concrete image so that what you see in your mind actually looks like a music video. The control the author displays over each sentence is masterful.

by
Angels

at a certain diner, there remains a single car. The car might get covered well before the sun comes up.

This piece shows considerable skill. The scenes are carefully selected, filled to the bursting point with emotion and told in a well-written present tense narrative that makes you feel as though you are really there.

by
Parade

Still holding the keys to Granada, Fernando had left the city, and was walking alone among the dead.

This story does an excellent job of representing the historical context it is written in. In just a few short paragraphs, the author takes you back to the Spain of the fifteenth century, making you feel like you were an actual witness to one most significant events in Spain’s history.

by
A Knife In My Hand

Death finds me sleeping in its arms. It frowns at me, somehow displeased with what it sees. It drops me back to Earth to live another day.

Each month, there is at least one submission that just blows my mind and this one is it. Such a powerful mix of precision and ambiguity that leaves you knowing exactly what it is, and everything else that it can be - which is true, no matter how contradictory it sounds. This one, you must read to believe.

Combinations

Scenario and Character

by
A Christmas Song-Carol

She woke up to the smooth sound of the piano, an abnormal sound in her big empty house.

Although a work in progress, the author has some really good descriptions of the characters in this work, as well as praiseworthy development of the main characters involved.

Most Creative Piece

After reviewing all of the pieces, the staff at Simplyprose have elected Baby’s First Christmas by ~LadyDoom as this month’s most creative piece. Congratulations.


January’s Prompts

Scenario Prompt:

A character breaks a new year's resolution within one day.

Character Prompt:

This character is a student - any age, and at any kind of institution you want - who is struggling with his or her studies. He or she is also going through a big change (unrelated to the studies issue!).

Word Association Prompt:

Breakfast. Smile. Necklace.

Remember that all three words must appear in the body of your piece. Pieces that do not contain all three words will not be accepted.

Miscellaneous Prompt:

Enter our contest!

As this is a competitive prompt and *simplyprose will be judging your entries, you will not receive comments from us on your submissions. You are welcome to combine the prompt with any of the others, but your submission will not be listed under Combinations - all the contest entries will be put together.

That’s all for this month. Once again, thank you all for your participation. Until next time, sayonara, and happy writing.