avatarJonathon Sawyer

Summary

The undefined website presents the "Monday Mash-Up #15," a creative writing challenge with prompts, constraints, and a literary device to inspire authors, along with a leaderboard of top performers.

Abstract

The "Monday Mash-Up #15" is an interactive writing challenge designed to stimulate creativity among writers. Participants are encouraged to craft stories based on two main prompts that explore themes of doppelgangers and memory loss. The challenge includes additional constraints such as incorporating a blue jay, the sun, a fishing net, and the phrase "OMG — Twinsies!" for bonus points. A hardcore constraint requires the resolution of having only one protagonist by the story's end. A literary device, litotes, is also to be included for extra points. The competition features a leaderboard that currently places "Bradan Writes Stories" in first with a perfect score, followed by "Sonja Glucksberg" and others. Writers are instructed to tag their stories with "Mashups" and to credit the challenge creator, Jonathon Sawyer, for scoring. The stories should be between 100-1000 words and can be published on any platform, though "The Kraken Lore" on Medium is recommended.

Opinions

  • The author expresses a playful and humorous tone, particularly in the introduction about meeting an identical self at a subway station and the horror that follows.
  • There is a self-deprecating acknowledgment of the author's preference and skill in storytelling over mathematics, as indicated by the correction of mathematical errors in the points tally.
  • The inclusion of a leaderboard suggests a competitive yet community-driven atmosphere, with recognition given to top-scoring writers and honorable mentions.
  • The challenge seems to value creativity, with a variety of prompts and constraints designed to push writers out of their comfort zones.
  • The use of pop culture references, such as the exclusion of references to "Star Trek," "Highlander," and the Beastie Boys' "Body Movin'," indicates a desire for originality and a shared cultural knowledge among participants.
  • The author directly challenges another writer, Kathy K, to participate in Mash-Up #15, fostering a sense of engagement and camaraderie within the writing community.

AUTHOR TOOLS | MASH-UP

Monday Mash-Up #15

Story writing prompts to spark your creativity with a challenge

Image created by Author using Nightcafé AI

Happy New Year, Kraken Crew! New year, new you, right? Only, what if that were literally the case? I ran into a man who looked like me at the subway station, and I got to thinking… what could I accomplish in 2023 if there were TWO of me?

Tally of the points earned thus far: (Mash-Up #12 - 14 and edited for my grievous mathematical errors — there is a reason I write stories and not equations, folks!)

1st place: Bradan Writes Stories with a perfect 42 points!

2nd place: Sonja Glucksberg with a spicy 40 points!

3rd place: JF Danskin and Rayne Sanning tied with 28 points!

Honorable Mentions: YM Seah with 23 points; Jay C Wells, Jonathon Sawyer, and Rayne Sanning with 14 points; Diana Thorland with 11 points.

Anyways, back to my story at the subway station… the man turned around and looked at me, and his expression made me think he saw me as his doppelganger too!

The horror!

Now, onto the prompts!

Prompt #1 (2 points):

You come home from work, and an “identical” version of yourself is sitting in your house

Is it some kind of transporter malfunction that created an evil version of you (absolutely NO reference to Star Trek here, folks!)? Is it a laboratory clone? Is there some magic at work?

Prompt #2 (2 points):

You wake up having no memory of the previous day, yet evidence suggests you were awake

Someone is living your life, then you are living your life! Will you meet? Exchange notes? Play a prank?

Body doubles…body switching… Body Movin’ — wait, never mind!

Constraints: (Worth 1 bonus point each)

  • A blue jay (Or Toronto’s MLB team!)
  • The sun (or son!)
  • A fishing net (or fishnet stockings!)
  • Some [terrible] character uses the phrase “OMG — Twinsies!”

Hardcore Constraint: (Worth 2 bonus points)

  • The two “You” characters meet each other to discuss/solve the problem. Your story cannot end until there is only one of you! (Absolutely no reference to Highlander!)

Literary Device: (Worth a MEGA 5 bonus points!)

  • Include at least one example of litotes.

Rules:

  1. Write a story based on one of the two main prompts.
  2. Include as many of the constraints in your story as possible.
  3. Use the tag “Mashups”. This is the easiest way for our editors to find you to score your submission!
  4. Keep your story between 100–1000 words.
  5. Tag me @ Sawyer . Jon (no spaces) Jonathon Sawyer so that I can read it and credit you for points in the next Mash-Up, please!
  6. Challenge your fellow writers. I challenge Kathy K to Mashup #15!
  7. Publish where ever you want but consider The Kraken Lore.
  8. Add a section that tallies up your points at the end of your story using CTRL+ALT+6 or hit the ` key 3 times (```) on a new line. You can look here for instructions. Also, I have written a Template for you as an example here. (Worth 1 BONUS point)

Never miss a Monday Mashup again!

Fiction
Fantasy
Mashups
The Kraken Lore
Twins
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