Silverweaver's Fic Index: Prompt Tables, Challenges, Inspirations etc.
What follows is an index of exercises, challenges etc. that exist in the fanfiction world for fun. It's by no means an exhaustive list, it's just a few I liked the look of that I thought I would share. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter whether you follow the rules of the original, but it's nice to acknowledge the source if it inspired you.
100 Prompts
The most well-known of all the classic fanfic endeavours. Aka Big Damn Table, the Daddy, or good grief, am I still only at 37? Find the original here.
001.Beginnings.
002.Middles.
003.Ends.
004.Insides.
005.Outsides.
006.Hours.
007.Days.
008.Weeks.
009.Months.
010.Years.
011.Red.
012.Orange.
013.Yellow.
014.Green.
015.Blue.
016.Purple.
017.Brown.
018.Black.
019.White.
020.Colourless.
021.Friends.
022.Enemies.
023.Lovers.
024.Family.
025.Strangers.
026.Teammates.
027.Parents.
028.Children.
029.Birth.
030.Death.
031.Sunrise.
032.Sunset.
033.Too Much.
034.Not Enough.
035.Sixth Sense.
036.Smell.
037.Sound.
038.Touch.
039.Taste.
040.Sight.
041.Shapes.
042.Triangle.
043.Square.
044.Circle.
045.Moon.
046.Star.
047.Heart.
048.Diamond.
049.Club.
050.Spade.
051.Water.
052.Fire.
053.Earth.
054.Air.
055.Spirit.
056.Breakfast.
057.Lunch.
058.Dinner.
059.Food.
060.Drink.
061.Winter.
062.Spring.
063.Summer.
064.Fall.
065.Passing.
066.Rain.
067.Snow.
068.Lightening.
069.Thunder.
070.Storm.
071.Broken.
072.Fixed.
073.Light.
074.Dark.
075.Shade.
076.Who?
077.What?
078.Where?
079.When?
080.Why?
081.How?
082.If.
083.And.
084.He.
085.She.
086.Choices.
087.Life.
088.School.
089.Work.
090.Home.
091.Birthday.
092.Christmas.
093.Thanksgiving.
094.Independence.
095.New Year.
096.Writer‘s Choice.
097.Writer‘s Choice.
098.Writer‘s Choice.
099.Writer‘s Choice.
100.Writer‘s Choice.
Paranormal 25
I'm rather fond of this one, the community is very inclusive and the rules, should you choose to follow them to the letter, are clearly explained on their website. There's also a rather fantastic list of definitions on their index.
They've also recently created a new extended addition, Paranormal 100 if you're feeling extra spooky.
1.Séance
2.Ouija Board
3.Mothman
4.Incubus/ Succubus
5.Exorcism
6.Possession
7.Haunting
8.Necromancer
9.Crisis Apparition
10.Phantom Hitchhiker
11.Radiant Boys
12.Hell
13.Medium
14.Automatic Writing
15.Doppelganger
16.Amulet
17.Amityville
18.EVP/DVP/RVP
19.Famous Haunted Location
20.Retrocognition
21.Cemetery/ Mausoleum
22.Near-Death Experience
23.Writer's Choice
24.Writer's Choice
25.Writer's Choice
The Writing Styles Challange
Ideally, the notion behind this is to pick one fandom and try and write one story for each style / genre. However! One story can cover more than one element, or you could just try and have a crack at every style one way or another by writing in a mix of fandoms.
There's no link to credit anyone, because it's from the damn obvious part of my brain.
001.Gen
002.Slash
003.Het
004.Smut
005.Porn Without Plot
006.Humour
007.Science-Fiction / Fantasy
008.Angst
009.Dark!fic
010.Crack!fic
011.Drama
012.Hurt / Comfort
013.Crossover
014.Filk
015.Real Person Fic
016.Alternate Universe
017.Future Fic
018.Missing Scene
019.Canontastic
020. Episode / Chapter Tag
021. Drabble
(100 words)
022.One-Shot
023.Multi-Chapter
024.Big Bang
(20,000+ words)
025.Past Tense
026.Present Tense
027.Future Tense
028.First Person
029.Second Person
030.Third Person
The West Wing Title Challenge
This is a brilliant challenge, the brainchild of musesfool who first whipped it out for the splendid Firefly West Wing Title Challenge and echoed recently in luzdeestrellas's equally splendid Supernatural-West Wing Title Challenge.
The original guidelines determined by musesfool were as follows:
* Gen, het, slash, whatever floats your boat.
* Firefly fandom only, please, as that's kind of the whole point.
* Title must be the title of a West Wing episode. Again, that's kind of the whole point.
* Length: at least 500 words, but you know, be ambitious, go crazy, don't be limited by word count.
* Two part episodes with the same title count as one title, except for "Inauguration Part II," which is subtitled "Over There" - you can use "Over There" as a separate title, if you like. And, of course, "Isaac and Ishmael" is fair game as well. There are 151 titles to choose from, and it'd be awesome to see some variety, don't you think?
Some of the titles are in Latin, people. How can you resist?
001.Pilot
002.Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
003.A Proportional Response
004.Five Votes Down
005.The Crackpots and These Women
006.Mr Willis of Ohio
007.The State Dinner
008.Enemies
009.The Short List
010.In Excelsis Deo
011.Lord John Marbury
012.He Shall, from Time to Time
013.Take Out the Trash Day
014.Take This Sabbath Day
015.Celestial Navigation
016.20 Hours in L.A.
017.The White House Pro-Am
018.Six Meetings Before Lunch
019.Let Bartlet Be Bartlet
020.Mandatory Minimums
021.Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
022.What Kind of Day Has it Been?
023.In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part 1
024.Midterms
025.In This White House
026.And It's Surely to His Credit
027.The Lame Duck Congress
028.The Portland Trip
029.Shibboleth
030.Galileo
031.Noel
032.The Leadership Breakfast
033.The Drop In
034.Bartlet's Third State of the Union
035.The War at Home
036.Ellie
037.Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail
038.The Stackhouse Filibuster
039.17 People
040.Bad Moon Rising
041.The Fall's Going to Kill You
042.18th and Potomac
043.Two Cathedrals
044.Manchester, Part 1
045.Ways and Means
046.On the Day Before
047.War Crimes
048.Gone Quiet
049.The Indians in the Lobby
050.The Women of Qumar
051.Bartlet for America
052.H.Con- 172
053.100,000 Airplanes
054.The Two Bartlets
055.Night Five
056.Hartfield's Landing
057.Dead Irish Writers
058.The U.S. Poet Laureate
059.Stirred
060.Enemies Foreign and Domestic
061.The Black Vera Wang
062.We Killed Yamamota
063.Posse Comitatus
064.20 Hours in America: Part 1
065.College Kids
066.The Red Mass
067.Debate Camp
068.Game On
069.Election Night
070.Process Stories
071.Swiss Diplomacy
072.Artic Radar
073.Holy Night
074.Guns Not Butter
075.The Long Goodbye
076.Inauguration: (Part 1)
077.Inauguration: Over There
078.The California 47th
079.Red Haven's On Fire
080.Privateers
081.Angel Maintainence
082.Evidence of Things Not Seen
083.Life On Mars
084.Commencement
085.Twenty Five
086.7A WF 83429
087.The Dogs of War
088.Jefferson Lives
089.Han
090.Constituency of One
091.Disaster Relief
092.Separation of Powers
093.Shutdown
094.Abu el Benat
095.The Stormy Present
096.The Benign Prerogative
097.Slow News Day
098.The Warfare of Genghis Khan
099.An Khe
100.Full Disclosure
101.Eppur Si Muove
102.The Supremes
103.Access
104.Talking Points
105.No Exit
106.Gaza
107.Memorial Day
108.NSF Thurmont
109.The Birnam Wood
110.Third-Day Story
111.Liftoff
112.The Hubbert Peak
113.The Dover Test
114.A Change Is Gonna Come
115.In the Room
116.Impact Winter
117.Faith Based Initiative
118.Operation Research
119.365 Days
120.King Corn
121.The Wake Up Call
122.Freedonia
123.Drought Conditions
124.A Good Day
125.La Palabra
126.Ninety Miles Away
127.In God We Trust
128.Things Fall Apart
129.2162 Votes
130.The Ticket
131.The Mommy Problem
132.Message of the Week
133.Mr. Frost
134.Here Today
135.The Al Smith Dinner
136.The Debate (West Coast)
137.Undecideds
138.The Wedding
139.Running Mates
140.Internal Displacement
141.Duck and Cover
142.The Cold
143.Two Weeks Out
144.Welcome to Wherever You Are
145.Election Day
146.Requiem
147.Transition
148.The Last Hurrah
149.Institutional Memory
150.Tomorrow
151.Isaac and Ishmael
..
..
..
..
Alternative 50 Lyrics:
First there was Fifty Lyrics from the brain of Saganamidreams. Now from the brain of me, here's an Alternative 50 Lyrics Challenge.
Same thing, with new lyrics from some of my favourite songs.
001.I’m a traveller who’s unwanted, I’m a dolphin in the sea, I’m a woman on a tube train late at night, I’m the scenic scenery
002.So nice to waken with, so nice to sit down to eggs and bacon with
003. What’s that coming over the hill? Is it a monster? Is it a monster?
004. You made me act like a fool over you; and then you drive me away
005.In winter the bedroom is one large ice cube
006.And I’ll forget you, at least I’ll try
007.Now I’m not the type to let vibrations trigger my imagination easily- you know that’s just not me; but I turn into a tiger every time I get beside the one I love
008.Ever since Eden, we’re built for pleasing, every one knows;
009.Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides
010.What could I say to you; except I love you and I’d give my life for yours?
011.Boy, do you feel the same, do you feel the same now?
012.In a city that kills by constriction; throw your streets around me and squeeze
013.While we’re living; the dreams we have as children fade away
014.Look up- a plane writes in the sky, for every passer-by, no-one ever dies, they just write things in the sky
015.I spent my whole life surrounded and I’ve spent my whole life alone; I wonder why I never wondered why the easiest things are so hard
016.Still I wonder why it is; that I don’t argue like this with anyone but you
017.He never stopped to think that he was getting older; when the night came to an end, he tried to reach for his best friend
018.Dressed me up in womens’ clothes; messed around with gender roles; dye my eyes and call me pretty
019.And you never know until you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb
020.I woke last night and spoke to you, not thinking you were gone; it felt so strange to lie awake alone
021.Thank you for this, this bitter knowledge; guardian angels have left me stranded; it was worth it, feeling abandoned
022.In these four walls I’m destined to stay; they say I’m guilty and the guilty must pay
023.So the years went by, I stayed the same, but she began to drift away, I was left alone
024.Feels like I’m starting all over again; the last three years were just pretend
025.It’s not hard to see; anyone who looks at me knows I am just a rolling stone; never landed any place to call my own
026.Down came the sky, and all you did was blink
027.Now I understand, what you tried to say to me; how you suffered for your liberty, how you tried to set them free
028.She’s only remembered in a story I tell
029.Night, night after day, Black flowers blossom; fearless on my breath
030.But what can I say; rules must be obeyed
031.Swim out to the ocean; drown your thoughts out at sea; dip your hands in the water; the same deep water as me
032.When I am king you will be first against the wall; with your opinions that are of no consequence at all
033.You don’t deserve to be lonely, but those drugs you’ve got won’t make you feel better
034.And then I wish you would leave me; and then I wish you would go; and then I wish I didn’t need you; and I wish I didn’t love you so
035.You’re sleeping with the TV on and you’re lying in an empty bed; all the alcohol in the world would never help me do it again
036.From these moments we awake; our heads clear of the mistakes; how we never hit the brakes or felt it stalling
037.Damn blast, look at my past; I’m ripping up my feet over broken glass
038.10,00 miles, my own true love; 10,00 miles or more; the rocks may melt; and the seas may burn; if I do not return
039.Sing as we go although the skies are grey; beggar or king you’ve got to sing a gay tune; a song and a smile making life worth while; so sing, sing as you go!
040.Where the music plays until tomorrow night; only fools would need to argue or to fight
041.Feel sick without you and I can’t let you go; I told you I don’t want to but you don’t let me say no
042.I always thought that I would like to live by the sea; to travel the world alone and live more simply
043.We’re captives on the carousel of time; we can’t return, we can only look behind
044.I’m not saying right is wrong; it’s up to us to make; the best of all the things that come our way
045.And I don’t need convincing; I’ve learned enough to want to try and change things; you fell in love, I fell in life;
046.We must hang up in the belfry where the bats and moonlight laugh; we must stare into a crystal ball and only see the past
047.Sometimes people leave you; half way through the wood; others may deceive you; you decide what’s good
048.It’s always cold, it’s always there; you’re always here, you always say; I’m alright, I’ll be okay; as long as I can keep myself awake
049.I’m going to live my life beyond these fears and forms of cowardice that keep leading me off;
050.I’ll settle down with some old story, about a boy who’s just like me; thought there was love in every thing and every one, you’re so naive
I've created the tables for:
* The Writing Styles Challenge
* The West Wing Title Challenge
* 50 Alternative Lyrics
The easiest ways to get a shiny copy for yourself is just to copy the title and post it into a rich text entry, it should come out ship-shape.
If you do anything sparkly with any of these prompts or tables (like begin a community) whatever, please credit the appropriate people involved, it's polite and cuddly.
Happy writing!