Unreliable Thoughts

My thoughts

What I got out of it: I've spun some longer pieces. I almost thought I forgot how. I've been so used to sticking to 366 words.

How I found it: I've enjoyed it. Quite a lot, actually!

What I found hard: There were so many of my micros from this year with a theme that fit this challenge. My biggest challenge with this one was not just regurgitating billions of micros. I took the liberty of re-writing a couple and left it at that. Here are a few I chose not to re-work one way or another:

The Brain Wash

I Didn't Mean It

Other thoughts: I noticed that this one has produced lots of pieces that are quite dark, one way or another. If someone is unreliable, why? Because they're lying. Who lies? The simple and obvious angle is: shitty people. Criminals. Thieves, murderers. That's some juicy story material right there.

It's never that simple though, is it? Most people, even good people, lie at some point.

Who else doesn't tell the truth? People who are confused, unwell, or obsessed, maybe. Good people who can't face the truth. I'd argue this angle can be just as interesting.

Children are my favourite liars, I think. They lie to figure out what the truth is. They do it to push boundaries and discover consequences. Some kids lie in a wholesome way, where they're engaged in a kind of immersive fiction (I'm a unicorn, Mummy! I'm a doggy! I'm having a baby! I'm a choo-choo train!) It's adorable. People like me would kill (not literally) for an imagination like that! Most of us have to work for that kind of juice.

Grown-ups lie to avoid hurting feelings, or to protect someone from getting in trouble. They lie to themselves to make sense of something. Bottom line: it's either bad people, or bad things, isn't it?

The most fun things to write about, in my opinion!

My entries

I submitted seven entries to this challenge. I thought I submitted eight, but apparently I missed one.

Here they are. For fun, I've ordered them from my least to most favourite.

Tunnels

I think this is my weakest piece, because (spoiler incoming) although the narrator looks mad as a box of spoons (leaning down and yelling into the skirting board, hefting a hammer with a wild glint in his eye), his mother has vanished. We know he's not bonkers. Something weird happened.

This one was originally a microfiction story from earlier this year. I rewrote it for the challenge. Expanding from 366 words to 900 was like taking in a glorious deep breath!

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Chocolate Chaud

The lack of punctuation is a deliberate choice and is supposed to add to the generally mixed-up feel. I think it does work, so I stand by it... but it's not exactly an enjoyable read. The flow is weird, and it feels confusing and stressful. That's on purpose, but still.

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One For My Blog (Lipogram)

I messed up and missed a couple of i's, and I can't overlook that.

I wrote this for the L*pogram challenge (of course), but I thought it fit this one as well.

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Good Boi

This one is just kind of sad, to be honest.

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Siren's Call

This one was originally three micros from this year. I strung them together, and did quite a bit of editing. Recent feedback from elsewhere on a different piece reminded me to work more description into my stories. This was an excellent opportunity to flex that muscle. I am reaonably pleased with how this turned out.

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White Hole

This is a strong entry, I think. The narrator is completely unreliable, but I think (I hope) he is also relatable to many, at least at first. He's entirely believable because he exists. It's not based on any one person, but this is a real phenomenon, and unfortunately some guys really do act like this.

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Gone

This is my favourite purely because it's quite fun to write with a child's voice. This one links back to one of my micros, but it's not a rewrite. I've recycled the character from What Happened in Mr Rothman's Classroom, and reference that incident briefly, but the story is new.

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And here's the one that didn't make it:

It's A Dog's Life

Shout outs

These are some of my favourite entries. I've tried to go for ones that weren't already recognised with Top Story.

ship of terror by R.M Stockton

Lie in Wait by Caroline Craven

There's Something Fishy Going On by Cathy Holmes