Unpredicted serials

The tabs above this post are links to pages where I store serials written in response to weekly prompts posted on the Prediction Fiction blog which I currently host .

The first - 'The Blacksmith's Wife' - ran to forty episodes and became an illustrated book.
I brought it to an end partly for fear of boring readers but also because I recognised that in several ways it is easier to generate the continuation of a tale than think up a new one each week, and thought I should try harder.

However, characters frequently refuse to die. 'From Rhodes' continued the 17th century 'The Blacksmith's Wife' while 'A change in focus' picked up and ran with characters who first appeared in a short story (John Pettinger so vividly that he also forced himself into a novel).

I did try to write a singleton. 'Threshold' was intended as a one-off. But, its narrator still nameless, it today lurched to its 139th episode. And I can't see an ending for it yet.

What I can see is the benefit of a weekly exercise wherein there is a necessity to incorporate three random words into an entertaining tale which extends to no more than 100 words. I've been practising on and off, under different hosts, since 2011 and kno
w how much my writing has benefited.

Prediction Fiction

My first Prediction post was in February 2011.  Overawed by the standard of entries, and feeling more than a bit of a fraud, since I didn’t write in the required genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir, my participation was intermittent.  Did a dozen in 2012, and was thereafter hooked.

The need to tell a story in 100 words, incorporating three prompt words forced me to tighten my prose, make sure each word fully merited its place and sharpened my vocabulary.

I also found I am a serial serialiser - from this grew The Blacksmith’s Wife, and several other serials, the tale necessarily twisting back and forth each week so as to include the prompts.

The other thing is that the majority of participants READ what others write, comment on it.

And as Host I get to choose the best each week.

This weeks words are ‘army’, ‘break’ and ‘blue’ and I’d be delighted if some of you could make it part of your weekly writing routine.

Entries, this week, by no later than Saturday.  Next week I’ll be a bit more organised.

It’s at http://predictionfiction.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/five-minutes-into-job.html