EXERCISE: YAC?

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Original posting 11 April 2009

Yet another contest! Writer's Digest, June 2008, offers this contest prompt:

"A man walks into a bar. But it isn't a bar." From The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood

So there you go. A stereotypical occurrence, except that the bar isn't a bar. So what was it?

Write! You got it.

Fakes, resemblances, and outright mistakes

EXERCISE: which circle was it?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 12 April 2009

And yet another contest prompt from Writer's Digest, August 2008, page 69:

"A husband and wife quickly find themselves in reality television hell." From The Writer's Book of Matches by the staff of fresh boiled peanuts, a literary journal.

And what happened then? Of course, part of this depends on knowing what reality television is, and I'm not sure that I've ever seen any. But it could be any sort of situation, from the various rings of hell. And if you want to you can change the relationship -- first date, on their proposal night, two friends, father and son -- or even a larger group. What's the one about the hunters who wander into the countryside? Has Battling Banjos somewhere in it? Just take your characters, and put them in a situation that seems to be hell for them. Or is that purgatory?

Go ahead, write. You know you want to.

Reality TV? And who are the judges?

(The answer is Deliverance, with Dueling Banjos)