About Me

I'm Phil! American living in Japan. Teacher. Ex-independent professional wrestler. Student of Japanese. Traveler. Article writer for Mythic Scribes. Also written four manga, novels, and various short stories and poems. For my fantasy-related blog, check out http://www.philipoverbyfantasy.blogspot.jp/.

Categories

Drill Bits: random thoughts, bloggy stuff
Japan Hammer: topics about Japan
Story Time: stories I felt like posting

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

52 Week Story Writing Challenge: Updated 9/6/13

This is something I've decided to do after being inspired by different folks across the inter-web.  I'm going to write (but not post here) a story a week for 52 weeks, culminating with 52 completed stories by this time next year.  Since I'm starting this challenge in March 2013, it should feasibly end in March 2014.  Maybe my math is wrong, but I'm going to give it a try.

I'm going to post all the results here in this very blog post, editing it over and over again instead of making new individual posts.  If you want to follow my progress you can do so here.  Feel free to join up as well and let me know if you're doing so in the comments below.

I did a 30 Day Story a Day Challenge before, which was pretty rough, but still fun.  This will give me a full week to write something, edit it to the best of my ability, and then start submitting places.  We'll see how it turns out.

Look here for any updates!

 MARCH

Week 1:  March 3rd-March 9th:  "Burn it Up, Burn it Down" completed. Story about a dragon looking for his "Chosen One" who is supposed to slay him.  Quite enjoyed writing this one.  I tried 1st person POV which isn't something I use much and I think it worked out pretty well. 3,634 words.

Week 2:  March 10th-March 16th:  "Obsidian City" completed.  Obviously, a story about and obsidian city.  Yeah!  1,891 words.

Week 3: March 17th-March 23rd:  "The Dance of Five Hells" completed.  Loser has dance battle with a mummy.  Enough said.  4,439 words.

Week 4:   March 24th-March 30th:  "The Beast of the Lost Sun" completed.  Two hunters seek payment from a wizard employer that skips town.  They find more than they bargained for when they go looking for him in the dangerous Garrul Marsh.  My longest story so far and finished at the last minute!  5,287 words.

APRIL

Week 5:  March 31st-April 6th:  "Red Paint" completed.  Former marauder forced to paint towns he helped destroy is on a mission for vengeance after a "friend" is killed in a kingdom where violence of any kind is strictly forbidden.  5, 454 words.

Week 6:  April 7th-April 13: "Snakes and Fakes" completed.  Wrote this in one night.  More of a flash piece for a challenge.  Had fun writing it in any case.  One of my more direct titles.  It's literally about snakes and fakes.  1,076 words.

Week 7:  April 14th-April 20th: "Sixty-Six Dragons" completed. Had a rough week so I had to scramble to write this, but I made it! I think it's a pretty good story about a little bit crazy old woman who loves killing dragons, maybe a little too much! 4,500 words.

Week 8:  April 21st-April 27th: "The Time of Trees" completed. Time travel story about guys with proton rifles, dragons, and a tornado made of fairies. 821 words.

MAY

Week 9: April 28th-May 4th:"The Shallow Grave" completed. A man searches for his mother in a graveyard and finds a witch with many secrets instead.

Week 10: May 5th-May 11th: "Diving for Dragons" completed. A base jumper goes looking for a hidden dragon, but finds some wily cat people have made her job a lot harder as she descends down a ravine. 1,266 words.

Week 11: May 12th-May 18th:"Woman Scorned, World Burned" completed. Flash fiction inspired by terribleminds.com contest. A mystical woodcutter and protector of the forest is plagued by his mysterious, destructive ex-girlfriend. 797 words.

Week 12: May 19th-May 25th:"Long Haired Beauty" completed. Story about following a woman who you don't know what she looks like. A bounty hunter learns an important lesson. 1,652 words.

JUNE

Week 13: May 26th-June 2nd:"Choices" completed. Flash fiction about a man facing losing some important things due to his infidelity. His wife isn't the push-over type either. 667 words.

Week 14: June 3rd-June 9th:"Alok's Head" completed. Sometimes monster killers aren't what you imagine. And neither are the monsters. 2,254 words.

Week 15: June 10th-June 16th: "Daddy's Girl" completed. Sibling rivalry is taken to the extreme when a family of elf hunters have to deal with the threat of "mutterlings," mischievous scavengers with a taste for flesh. 1,402 words.

Week 16: June 17th-June 23rd: "Office Interlude" completed. A bit off course for me. Something of a romance story. 2,705 words.

Week 17: June 24th-June 30th: "A Lesson in Trolls" completed. Killing trolls is fun. It's not fun when you're hungover. 2,172 words.

JULY

Week 18: July 1st-July 7th: "Exterminators" completed. Some fantasy bug exterminators run into bigger problems when an infestation is worse than they expected.2,386 words.

Week 19: July 8th-July 14th: "The Winetaster" completed. A ransomed noble is forced to taste wine for a warlord. But when the noble is almost poisoned, he learns how to manipulate the warlord to do his bidding.1,567 words.

Week 20: July 15th-July 21st:"The Lost Tavern of Girlai" completed. When collectors go looking for old spirits, they find old spirits.

Week 21: July 22nd-July 28th: "Dead Bards Don't Talk" completed. A bard is murdered by a jealous warlock, who then causes the investigator to commit several sins of his own.

AUGUST

Week 22: July 29th-August 4th: "This is Going to End Badly" completed.When a writer doesn't get the answers he wants, he finds an editor to be a captive audience.

Week 23: August 5th-Augst 11th: "Stampede of the Satyrs" completed. Two big game hunters collect the horns of satyr for jewelry makers, but soon find out that the goat people come looking for revenge.

Week 24: August 12-August 18th: "I, For One, Welcome Our Alien Overlords" completed.Aliens don't get a warm welcome and a good ole boy figures out how to save the world from nuclear annihilation.

Week 25: August 19th-August 25th: "Bone White Dread" completed. Take your daughter to work day doesn't work out so well when dragons are involved.

Week 26: August 26th-September 1st: "The Circus of Black Burlai" completed. A story about what happens when a dragon slayer isn't so fearsome, but people still want to kill it.

Week 27: September 2nd-September 8th:

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