Summary

An author crafts a stalker story incorporating 20 U2 song titles to meet a writing challenge proposed by Michael Whalen, demonstrating a creative use of music in narrative.

Abstract

The website content details a unique writing challenge undertaken by an author, who has intricately woven 20 song titles from the band U2 into a narrative about unrequited love and obsession. The story follows the protagonist's infatuation with Gloria, a woman he encounters at a coffee shop, and his subsequent attempts to win her affection, which escalate into stalking. The author successfully integrates titles such as "All I Want is You," "Angel of Harlem," and "With or Without You" into the text, creating a darkly themed tale. The challenge was a response to Michael Whalen's suggestion, and the author takes a moment to acknowledge Whalen's love for haikus, hinting at a possible future challenge for another writer, Melissa Bee. The author also provides a mathematical calculation of the average number of words used per U2 song title reference and compares it to Whalen's score, adding a competitive edge to the challenge. The article concludes with an invitation for others to join the challenge and a list of the U2 songs used in the story.

Opinions

The author expresses a playful competitive spirit by comparing their word-to-reference ratio to Michael Whalen's, suggesting that Whalen "wins" with a lower score.
The author acknowledges Michael Whalen's preference for haikus and considers creating a haiku-themed story, indicating a respect for Whalen's tastes and an understanding of his friend's interests.
The author indirectly comments on the nature of obsession and its potential to be misinterpreted as love, as seen through the protagonist's actions and the resulting fear from the object of his affection, Gloria.
By dedicating the challenge to Michael Whalen and mentioning Melissa Bee, the author reveals a sense of community and camaraderie among writers, encouraging participation and collaboration in creative endeavors.

JUST FOR FUN

Musical Story Challenge

How many songs from a single artist can you fit into a story?

I saw her for the first time back in October, near Halloween I believe. Miss Gloria, the sweetest thing, my angel of Harlem.

It was such a beautiful day at the coffee shop. I knew as soon as I laid eyes on her that she was the one.

I fell instantly in love. I needed her in my life bad. As the days went on, my desire for her grew even more intense.

I finally got up the nerve to talk to her. I walked up to her and said “Gloria ~ I love you!” She merely asked how I knew her name. I pointed to her Starbucks name tag. She just smiled and started backing away.

I told her “All I want is you!” She kept backing away, saying “Ummm, no thank you. I have to get back to work now.”

She was so cruel! She kept walking away as I yelled out “But our two hearts beat as one!” I don’t understand why she looks so frightened. I love her so much!

I stopped by her work every day. I told her that I will follow her forever and that I will be here for her until the end of the world.

For 2 months I followed her, trying to convince her to love me. For some reason, she just kept ignoring me. I loved her so much, yet she wouldn’t love me back.

That is, until New Year’s Day when I followed her to the bad part of town where the streets have no name. I cornered her and told her that “I am stuck in a moment of deciding if I want to live with or without you.”

She replied, “I still haven’t found what I am looking for, but I know it isn’t you, so I will decide for you.”

Then she pulled out a gun and shot me, whispering “Just go to sleep like a baby tonight, on this Sunday, bloody Sunday. Just go to sleep”

This challenge is dedicated to Michael Whalen because he has a thing for John Denver apparently. I considered creating a haiku-themed story because we all know how much Mike loves haikus, but I’ll leave that up to the beautiful Melissa Bee.

Dedicated to a Haiku Hater

Because that’s what friends do

medium.com

Anyways, I took up this writing prompt that Mike suggested and used 20 U2 song titles to write the above stalker story.

Because I am just as good at math as I am at haikus and tankas, I’ll do the math for Mike -

332 words / 20 U2 song titles = 16.6 words per reference

Mike wins with his lower score of 13.5, but I still had fun writing this piece😁

Join the challenge here: