Hello, Fibbers and Falsifiers!
Hey, you’ve told a lie before, right? What do you do if you are caught? Do you fess up, or lie even more? It’s time to see how well you can keep your web of lies straight… or perhaps it’s time to watch it unravel, because…
This week’s Writing Group prompt is:
False Faces and Lying Voices
RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!
Liar, liar, pants on fire, hanging from a telephone wire! We’ve all heard the phrase, though it is not the most intuitive of sayings. One would assume this means every liar carries spontaneous combustibles, but we all know that is not the case. Why they are strung up… we may never know.
But it does get one thinking, doesn’t it? The punishments for lying can be a multitude of things. From something as simple as a tiny rub of soap on the tongue to the far more severe extensive prison sentence. We could explore what it’s like to be a child who always lies to get what they want, saying they did their homework when they didn’t, or causing some mischief and making someone else take the fall. Are they successful liars, or do they always get caught? Perhaps this can be about someone who always lies to their partner, or even partners, to be able to continue their double, triple, or more lifestyle. Maybe it’s an office worker who has lied and cheated their way to the top, or even a CEO who lies about their company’s products. This could even be a chance to explore the deceit in a political circle.
But as always, there’s other angles to look at. What about people who lie for the benefit of others? An older sibling taking the fall for a younger sibling breaking their mother’s favourite vase. Perhaps a friend needed help with an essay, but the teacher noticed that it was almost a direct copy of yours, so you tell her that you copied from them instead, letting them take the grade. There’s many little white lies one can tell that do little to no harm at all; “Did you like her cooking?”, “Yes.” But actually no. This spares any hurt feelings. “Are you coming out tonight?”, “Sorry, I’m sick. I can’t.” An understandable excuse when one just wants some down time alone for an evening rather than being social. But we need to remember there’s also lies that hide things that are wrong, like someone being hurt by another’s words, but saying they’re fine. Even a simple smile can be the biggest lie, hiding so much inner turmoil.
So many lies, so many masks. This is your opportunity to fib, cheat, and take risks to see how much you can get away with.
Don’t worry, we’ll have a fire extinguisher on hand for your trousers.
—Shawna
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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.
Tune into the stream this Saturday at 7:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!
The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit, and get ready to help each other improve their confidence in their writing, as well as their skill with their craft!
Rules and Guidelines
We read at least four stories during each stream, two of which come from the public post, and two of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected by a bot, but likes on your post will improve your chances of selection, so be sure to share your submission on social media!
Text and Formatting
- English only.
- Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
- Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
- Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
- Use two paragraph breaks between each paragraph so that they have a proper space between them (press “enter” or “return” twice).
- Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name). Do not include any additional symbols or flourishes in this part of your submission. Format them exactly as you see in this example, or your submission may not be eligible: Example Submission.
- No additional text styling (such as italics or bold text). Do not use asterisks, hyphens, or any other symbol to indicate whether text should be bold, italic, or styled in any other way. CAPS are okay, though.
What to Submit
- Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
- Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
- Write something brand new; no re-submitting past entries or pieces written for other purposes
- No fan fiction whatsoever. Take inspiration from whatever you’d like, but be transformative and creative with it. By submitting, you also agree that your piece does not infringe on any existing copyrights or trademarks, and you have full license to use it.
- Submissions must be self-contained (everything essential to understanding the piece is contained within the context of the piece itself—no mandatory reading outside the piece required. e.g., if you want to write two different pieces in the same setting or larger narrative, you cannot rely on information from one piece to fill in for the other—they must both give that context independently).
Submission Rules
- One submission per participant.
- Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
- Submissions close at 12:00pm CST each Friday.
- You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible. Your reviews must be at least 50 words long, and must be left directly on the submission you are reviewing, not on another comment. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review.
- Be constructive and uplifting. These submissions are not for a professional market, and shouldn’t be treated as such. We do this, first and foremost, for the joy of the craft. Help other writers to feel like their work is valuable, and be considerate and gentle with critique when you offer it. Authors who leave particularly abrasive or disheartening remarks on this post will be disqualified from selection for readings.
- Use the same e-mail for your posts, reviews, and likes, or you may be rendered ineligible (you may change your username or author name between posts without problem, however).
- You may submit to either or both the public/private groups if you have access, but if you decide to submit to both, only the private group submission will be eligible.
- Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or attributions are guaranteed.
Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.
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