Hello, Loners and Escapees!
Hey, I know you wander off sometimes. No one can find you when you do. I’m curious… where do you go? Is it like some sort of hideout? I have those too, places I go to get away from it all. Do you trust me? If you do, I’d like to see this place sometime, because…
This week’s Writing Group prompt is:
In the Secret Places
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!
Secrets, secrets. Everyone has them. Secret things, secret hobbies, secret thoughts. But this is something a little different. This is something much more easily found.
Maybe the secret place you chose to write about is some corner of the mind. Someone has finally made a tool that can successfully unlock some dark and hidden area of the human brain, see how it works, how it functions with the other parts. Map it, learn to manage it, maybe even use it for certain experiments and such. Perhaps this person has finally learned how to map and process memories so that they may finally be catalogued accurately. Or perhaps you choose to write about a home invasion, and how the intruders can’t find their target due to a saferoom hidden behind a bookcase or under a desk. Perhaps it’s not a room at all, but instead an entire safehouse where the target has relocated to. Some place unknown, and completely off the grid so they can’t be followed. This secret place of safety could even just be a panel in the closet that opens where the children can hide in case of danger when their parents are unavailable to help or protect them.
Secret places don’t even have to be just in the home, however. They can be easily accessible to anyone, yet feel untouched. Perhaps you choose to take a walk along a section of beach you always visit for some quiet time, or a cliff edge you like to perch yourself on, overlooking the sea. Sure, anyone can come to these places. But it’s still your own little hideaway, your secret little oasis away from the world. Maybe you want to venture with the child who keeps going out to play in the backyard, but unbeknownst to their parents, they have a little cubby under the porch where they are keeping a secret pet, like a raccoon, or a bird with a broken wing. They know they should leave it alone, but how can they when the animal is so cute and all alone?
These secret places could even be whole other worlds and planes that take extensive means to get to. Rituals, sacrifices, spells and summonings. This door isn’t one opened easily, and maybe it’s even questionable to open it at all. But without opening that door, you’ll never see the secrets hidden on the other side.
So tell us about your secret place. Your own little hideaway just for you.
We promise we won’t tell a soul.
—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 3:00pm 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! Get ready not just to share what you’ve got, but to give back to the other writers here as well.
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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