July 2015 Flash Fiction contest: Doors

C

Claudine

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Jan 20, 2011
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25
This is my first time coming up with a theme (and I think this was harder than just writing a story!) so please bear with me and I hope it's not terrible lol

I go for long walks each day through neighborhoods filled with townhouses, noting the quirky ways people reveal their personalities in the midst of suburbia. So it was there that I racked my brain trying to come up with a theme for the next flash contest. Maybe I was looking at these houses a little too much, because the theme I came up with is: Doors. Some of dictionary.com's definitions for door are: 'any means of approach, admittance, or access' and 'any gateway marking an entrance or exit from one place or state to another.' Feel free to interpret this however you wish, be it literally, figuratively, musically, or whatever, because you're all more creative than I can attempt to define here.

Theme: Doors
Word Count Limit: 1,000 words or less
Deadline: Midnight on the 24th of July*

*Please note that I will be traveling during the last 2 weeks of July and may not have Internet access, so I may need some assistance putting up the voting thread.

If you are new to these contests, here are the rules (thank you N. E. White!) :

1) Think of a story idea that includes speculative fiction elements (fantasy, science fiction, horror elements) and fits the theme stated above
2) Write story
3) Edit story
4) Post story in the Stories sub-forum. (Use these guidelines to title your thread so it is easy for folks to find your entry.)
5) Come back here and let us know that you posted your story and provide a link to that story (makes it easier for me to find your story when it comes time to vote).
6) Read the other entries and offer comments that help the writer both know what they did right and what they did wrong (in your humble opinion)
7) Vote when the voting poll goes up

The winner takes over the next contest and has the honor of picking its theme.

CONTEST GUIDELINES:
  • PG-13 - generally, the forum restricts its contents to what would be acceptable at the PG-13 rating. However, we are lenient for creative purposes in the writing forum. Please warn readers if your story contains adult situations.
  • Once you post your contest entry, we discourage writers from altering the original text submitted. While it may be okay to change a few typos here and there, please do not revise your piece substantially. If you would like to respond to feedback, you are encouraged to post your revision within the thread (but not the original post).
  • Please refrain from voting for your own story.
 
Great theme, Claudine!

However, I think we've done it already. But it has been so long ago, I don't think anyone currently participating is around!

Just an FYI - we are playing around with staggering the contest deadline. Could you use the following schedule?
  • Flash: submission ends 23rd of each month, voting ends 28th - 5 days
Since you have it on the 24th, I think that's fine, no need to change, but if you could end the reading/voting period on the 28th (the thread with the poll), then that would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
Darnit, I went back through past contests to try to avoid re-using a topic but I guess I missed that one. Sorry about that!

No problem with the date. I just copied from the last one. Happy to change it here if needed, just let me know :)
 
I like it - vague enough to inspire one of my weird little pieces, not so precise that I find it constraining and write nothing...
 
Well, I tried to write something for this. For whatever reason, my mind is...um...beneath the sheets. Not sure why doors inspired an erotic story, but there it is.

It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), I won't be posting that story.

I'll try again this weekend...
 
Great theme! Potent too! :) I've actually been using a visualization method recently that uses doors much in the same way as past life regression, only I've been reversing it and stepping into a distant future world to see what I would find there. It's a good way of coming up with ideas for stories, and because you've pretty much found the idea floating around inside your unconscious, that means that your subconscious mind is much more likely to help you bring that initial idea to fruition in this more concrete world.

Also when you close your eyes you can always say "Hey! I'm not sleeping. I'm working!" ;)
 
N. E. White said:
Well, I tried to write something for this. For whatever reason, my mind is...um...beneath the sheets. Not sure why doors inspired an erotic story, but there it is.
Click to expand...

Knobs and holes, squeaks and flaps. It's understandable.
 
awesome theme.

I've written mine. but I'll spend some time looking at it from some different angles and on different days before posting it.
 
Last edited:
Here's mine - The Way Through.

I'd usually take four runs at the theme and then muck about for ages trying to decide which one to post - but I like this one too much not to post it as my entry.
 
I got an idea this morning that I like. Hopefully I'll have it up by the end of the week.
 
I have had a flash of a thought for the flash and 400 words magically appeared. Need to finish now but need a break. Very happy to have something akin to inspiration paired with motivation. Horse, I am slowly getting back on you . . .
 
I have an interesting idea, one I think you guys and gals will like! That said, the formatting is a little complex so I will have to post it exclusively in Microsoft Word and provide a link to the document.
 
Hmmm. . . I have a few different unfinished stories that use doors as central plot devices, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to compress or expand any of them into a thousand word story.

Maybe if I listen to Secret Door by the Arctic Monkeys a few more times then the inspiration will hit me:
 
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