Write a Medium Story in 10 Minutes or Less
Medium Speed Run — Any Percent
Medium Speed Run — Any Percent
The white page of death. It beckons you home. You’ve written your best stories in your first month on the platform, and now you have nothing. No interesting stories from your past, great revelations, or words of wisdom. Now what? Try this exercise.
Open your dictionary and pick a word, any word. If you don’t have a dictionary, use https://randomwordgenerator.com/ Once you have your word say it out loud a few times. Then, give yourself 3 minutes to think of an idea. Now, use the next 10 minutes to write as much as you can using anything that came to mind when you said the word allowed. Whatever happens in your story, don’t stop writing. Remember, the story doesn’t need to contain the word, you’re just using it as a prompt to jog your brain!
Here, I’ll go first.
Word: Penalty
There once was a woman who didn’t know exactly where her next meal would come from. She was alone in life with no children, husband, or partner. Her parents abandoned her when she was only 12, and she had to grow up on the streets. Jumping from one drug house to another, one person's bed to another, she did what she had to do in order to survive. But now, her luck was starting to run out. On her last drug run, she went with Eddie, who couldn’t talk his way into a bathroom, let alone handle a drop-off.
The drop was supposed to be simple enough. Show up, meet with the client, exchange briefcases, get back in the car, and drive away happy. Then return the money to the boss and call it a night. However, Eddie had other plans.
“What the hell is that?” Susie said, looking at the gun Eddie was trying to push into his waistband.
“It’s a gun, you dumb broad! Boss says these guys are no good and that I should try to take care of’em once and for all.”
“There ain't no way in hell Boss said that to you! You just want your cake and eat it too! Eddie, I don’t mind playing drops fast and lose sometimes, but this shit is crazy, and I don’t want nothin t’do with it,” she yelled. It was too late to back out now because they were already pulling into the abandoned warehouse to make the drop.
“You just stay in the car bitch, and I’ll take care of it like always,” Eddie said. He opened the door and slid his bulky frame out of the car door. Susie stayed in the passenger seat of the 2 door black coupe to stay partially hidden.
She watched Eddie approach the long black limo whose headlights shined directly in her eyes. Eddie, one hand on his hip, one hand holding the briefcase, slunk over and began to speak. Their voices were low and quiet, and Susie couldn’t hear what was said exactly, but she didn’t need to. Just as the client showed the money, Eddie pulled the gun and fired.
BANG! BANG!
A hellish gunfight erupted for what seemed like an eternity. Bullets of different calibers fired wildly through the air. Smoke and muzzle flashes confused her senses until she tucked her head in her lap and held her breath.
Soon, the sounds faded, and the flashes stopped. Scared for her life, she…
— -Time Ended — -
How did you do? What do you think? Want to see how the story ends? Reading over this, I thought it was pretty fun! In your next exercise, pick a new word, but continue the same story!
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