#sfwc “frustrated with technology”

[shortfictionweeklychallenge]

Short Fiction Weekly Challenge

Time for a new prompt from the Short Fiction Weekly Challenge, tumblr edition. Let it spark your imagination. Any character, any fandom, any original world. Reblogs welcome!

Post your story to your blog and send the link to Short Fiction Weekly Challenge! We’ll send the link out to all our followers to enjoy.

This week’s SFWC prompt:

Week of September 27, 2024

Frustrated with Technology: “Technology” covers a lot of ground, from stone tools to spaceships. As much as it helps or improves lives, it can also be incredibly frustrating even when working as intended. Maybe even especially when intended. When has your character been annoyed at the labor-saving device that isn’t saving labor? Or the AI assistant that’s anything but intelligent? Is it because they have to learn a new way of doing things and they don’t want to? Does it fix one problem but create three more? Whether it’s a droid insisting your character can't enter the party and can’t be reasoned with or bribed, or hating the smell of the new tarred roads that aren’t impassable for 2/3 of the year, when has your character been frustrated with technology? 

Feel free to continue submitting stories for any prompt.  A masterpiece missed the deadline?  Don’t let it gather electronic dust.  Submit it anyway and Short Fiction Weekly Challenge will publish it.  

This week’s featured previous prompts are: 

And You May Ask Yourself, How Did I Get Here?: Well, how did they? Is your character the type to question the choices that led them to this moment? Did they plan every step and know exactly what they’re going to do at each juncture? Do they wonder what possessed them to start an adventure in the first place? They could be home, comfortable, in their favorite chair, with a favorite snack and entertainment! Are they at home right now, thinking about the adventure they just had, or contemplating going on one? Whether your character is naturally introspective or simply pondering the situation, have them ask themselves, “How did I get here?”

Treat Yourself: Indulge! What’s a treat for your character? Food, a spa day, a movie/theater/holovid/musical? Surely they have something they love to do that they maybe don’t do often, something that makes them feel good about themselves. We torture our characters enough. This week do something nice for them.​

Got an idea for a prompt?  Submit it here.

[shortfictionweeklychallenge]

Short Fiction Weekly Challenge

Time for a new prompt from the Short Fiction Weekly Challenge, tumblr edition.  Let it spark your imagination.  Any character, any fandom, any original world.   Reblogs welcome!

Post your story to your blog and send the link to Short Fiction Weekly Challenge!  The link will appear in our feed and the site index, and your blog will be listed on the Participating Blogs page.

This week’s SFWC prompt:

Week of June 2, 2023

Relying on Technology: Whatever your setting, fantasy to sci-fi to modern world, your characters use technology. What’s most crucial to them? Their ship? Their everburning torch? Radio? What, if any, changed during their lifetime? Are they early adopters, picking up the new shiny as soon as it's available? Are they curmudgeons, sticking with the tried and true? What happens when they have to change because their favorite thing is no longer available or isn’t working reliably? In what way does your character rely on technology?

Feel free to continue submitting stories for any prompt.  A masterpiece missed the deadline?  Don’t let it gather electronic dust.  Submit it anyway and Short Fiction Weekly Challenge will publish it.  

This week’s featured previous prompts are:

Frustration: Sometimes events (aka the writer) conspire to thwart your character. It might be a series of minor things--the coffee machine broke, the bus was late (so they caught it but were late anyway), and to top it off all the good donuts were gone at the meeting...where the project no one else wanted ended up in their lap. Yay. Maybe it's a repeated error: the food stall never gets their order right, the clerk always mispronounces your character's name. This week write about someone or something getting on your character’s last nerve.

Persuasion - A salesman, a con artist, a propagandist, an advertiser. But also a lover hoping their beloved feels the same, a scientist with a new theory, a lawyer defending their client or prosecuting the law, a child wanting to keep the cat that followed them home. Persuasion is all about convincing someone and bringing them over to your side of the argument. It doesn’t have to be successful! Some characters never agree, but they do like to argue.

Got an idea for a prompt?  Submit it here.