Dollar Challenge - Country Roads Challenge (September edition)

Here's the challenge I set for June

Dollar Challenge - Invention Edition

If you're familiar with these little prompts from me, they are quotes that inspired or stuck with me in some way. They might be from books, songs, films, or, not to put too fine a point on it, memes.

The prompt I gave for June:

I loved her to the point of invention

- Sarah Ruhl, The Clean House

This time, there were 12 entries. Weirdly, none made Top Story, but I enjoyed them all, even if Vocal didn't.

The Responses

Without further ado, then, here are the entries:

I Would Do Anything For Love by Mike Singleton

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Seconds Between Blueprints by Diane Foster

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Almost at First Sight by Kelli Sheckler-Amsden

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The Daughter of Invention by Ian Read

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She Sang in Steam by HRH Paul Stewart

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Frankenstein by Matthew Fromm

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The Keeper of Nightmares by Novel Allen

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The Little Gardener by Antoni De'Leon

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Enough by Shirley Belk

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The Heart Algorithm by Michelle Liew

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Reinvention by Shaun Walters

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As usual, a shiny silver dollar will be winging its way to my favourites over the next few days. THANK YOU to everyone who gave it a go. I bloody love you!

September Challenge

L.C. Schäfer's One Dollar Challenge - Quote Me Baby (Country Roads Edition)

This time, we are getting inspo from some good ol' country music.

The Prompt

I'm much too young to feel this damn old

- Garth Brooks, Much Too Young

Mission: Slightly Inconvenient

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is usually:

Write me a piece inspired by the quote.

This time, I'm going to give you a few more requirements:

1. fiction piece,
2. in the first person, and
3. from the perspective of someone whose best years are been and gone.... or s/he thinks they are

You can do what you like with this angle. Maybe this person is just coming to this realisation, or maybe it settled on him/her a good while ago. Maybe he has no regrets, or he could be pickled in them. She could be resilient (hello Gen X, looking at you), and pragmatic (still looking at you). Your character might be bitter about something, or really gone through the wringer. Feel free to really break my heart with this one.

[Cheat Sheet: I would love to see some melancholy, with a hint of grit.]

You can use a different lyric from the song, if it inspires you better, or is a better fit for what you want to write. Here you go:

And the white line's getting longer, and the saddle's getting cold

I'm much too young to feel this damn old

All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole

I'm much too young to feel this damn old

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… The competition's getting younger

Tougher broncs, you know I can't recall

The worn out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze

Seem to be the only friends I've left at all

Include an author's note:

Tell me how you connect to the character. Where did you draw your inspiration from?

Stretch!

An exercise to flex your writing muscle:

Write 500 words, and avoid the personal pronoun (I)

If you give this a go, tell me in your author's note. It will just make things a smidge easier on my end.

Them's the rules

Word count: 500 words (if you go for the stretch) or less (if you're just doing a bog-standard micro)

Prize: Same as usual, I'll tip my favourites a dollar each.

Winners: Again, same as always! If there's only a few entries, I'll just pick one or two people. If more than 10 people enter, I'll pick 3. More than 20, I'll pick 5. For the stretch, enough people try it (say, 5), I'll also do a $10 first prize, and $5 second.

Content: You can include the quote, in which case it should feel like it belongs. Or your story can be inspired by it, in which case the link should be clear.

Limits: You can submit as many as you like, but I'm only promising to read the first two from each person.

Closing date: 11:59PM GMT, Monday 30th September, 2025

Really important: Please do link your story below! I'd be gutted to miss anyone.

Before you go...

If you can think of a quote you think would make a good prompt, let me know! Talk to me in the comments. I'm open to suggestions, and will tip you if I use yours.

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Thank you for reading!

If you took part in the Invention challenge, THANK YOU!

If you give this one a bash, THANK YOU!!