Help with a writing exercise

[Shiki 5,855]

I am a rather avid writer of both fan fiction and completely original stories, but I've been finding that I have too hard of a time writing outside my comfort zone (go figure). And this is where you come in.

 

I'd like it if anyone were to post some ideas or "challenges" for me to try and practice writing in a larger range of fields that I'm not used to. I'm most experienced in the romance genre, with insecure characters, or tsundere-like characters. I would like it if anyone would post a few characteristics for the main character, and force me to stick to those characteristics through and through, along with a very vague kind of story line. Emphasis on the vague (I need to practice my creativity). This wouldn't be so hard, it's just that I typically always write about very similar characters, and very similar plot structures/lines, even when I try to spice things up. I think doing this little exercise will help me with this (as long as I get a substantial amount of input from you other users) fault that I have in writing.

 

I usually have a hard time with shorter stories, so if anyone decides to post any ideas, it'll probably be a good, lower double digit amount of pages long. We'll say roughly 12 to 28. Much appreciation for any responses!

[Random User 249]

How would you feel about a horror/possibly grimdark involving Slenderman (or Slendermane if you prefer ponies)?

[Shiki 5,855]

How would you feel about a horror/possibly grimdark involving Slenderman (or Slendermane if you prefer ponies)?

 

Anything works, really. It'd be easier to do Slendermane, because then I'd have ponies' personalities and an area in which to work with, but the purpose of this is to be a kind of exercise, so I'd probably go with Slenderman.

 

Should I go for it? And what would a typical Slenderman story be about? Is it just for the thrills? The grimdark descriptions?

[Random User 249]

Slenderman tales generally focus on conveying a sense of fear rather than grimdark. If you don't know much about Slenderman, you should look a bit more into him I suppose. Get a feel for the kind of character he is.

[MyLittleDriver 37]

Just an idea over here. A story about a man who is on a spiraling path to self destruction. He isn't emotionally insecure, he believes that he is always doing the right thing. Since it's a creative writing practice, I'm just leaving the idea, not all the plot points XD

[Titan Rising 2,156]

@@@@@@@@@@@@

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Do a story on the son of a king who hates being a prince!! His father never pays him much attention and his mother died giving birth, and while the King loves his son he is unable to forgive him. The father has also become a very cold king as a result. The boy is known for being well intentioned by has a knack for messing things up; he often leaves the castle during the night through a secret tunnel he discovered when he was young, but one day he meets two orphan children - a brother and sister - and they change his life FOREVER!

 

And they're Pegasus and they live in a series of clouds named the Nimbus Isles that collectively form the Nimbus Kingdom, said to have been the first kingdom built by the Gods that created Equestria. It is also surrounded by constant rain and thunderstorms that are near impossible to navigate through and that is why it is lost.

 

Also tell me when you're done writing it and become famous

Edited August 6, 2012 by Hollowshield

[Shiki 5,855]

I think I'll tackle all three of these ideas at once. Probably no more for now -- don't want to get overloaded. A good variety to start off with. Will take me a while to write all of it, though.