Ye Olde Dollar Challenge Malarkey (September/October 2024)

Here's the challenge I set back in September:

Here's the TL;DR:

For September's Dollar Challenge, please use a Harry Potter quote to inspire your story. You can use any quote from the books or movies.

The Responses

Here are the magical tales I got in response to this prompt:

Dana Crandell got Top Story with this one!

Both Dana and Mackenzie Davies chose the quote, "To the well organised mind, death is but the next great adventure."

An excellent choice!

Kenny was being cheeky here and skating very close to fanfic, but it made me laugh!

Here's a charming story from Antoni De'Leon:

I think Mike has taken part every time! WELL DONE MIKE! It's a cracking story, really imaginative, and I love the track he picked to go with it as well.

Sarah Parker submitted two!

This is the second one, and it might be my favourite:

October Challenge

If you know me, you know that my all-time favourite author is Terry Pratchett. It's actually astonishing that I didn't do a Pratchett quote right out of the gate, to be honest. It's evens whether every quote will be a Pratchett quote from here onwards. You have been warned.

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

The Prompt

You got that?

Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time, we need wages.

-T. Pratchett

Them's the rules

Word count: Same as before: Microfiction, 300-600 words. Please include an author's note if necessary to bring your piece up to Vocal's 600 word minimum for the Fiction community. I always read the note!

Prize: Just like last time, I'll tip my favourites a dollar each.

Winners: Again, same as last time! 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.

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: This is a micro fiction challenge, but you can submit basically anything and I'll give it a look, provided it fits the prompt. If there are lots of responses, the micro fiction ones that fit the prompt will be the ones I tip. Poetry, or stories over the word count, will be the ones I skip. You can submit as many as you like, but if there are loads of submissions (I'm not anticipating there will be) then I'm only promising to read the first two from each person.

Closing date: 11:59PM GMT, Thursday 31st October 2024

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

If you aren't a Vocal+ member: You can still enter and leave your link in the comments on Facebook, or DM it to me. I will leave a link to this challenge in the following Facebook groups:

Vocal Social Society

Great Incantations: A Group Dedicated to Writing Challenges

Post it in one of the nine berjillion Vocal Facebook groups and tag me so I don't miss it! Send it to me on Facebook Messenger! Use smoke signals! Nail a hard copy to a pigeon.

Here's my Facebook profile: L.C. Schäfer

Before you go...

If you can think of a quote from a song, book, or film that you think would make a good prompt, please let me know! Talk to me in the comments. I am open to suggestions, and will tip you if I use yours.

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Thank you for reading!

If you took part in September, THANK YOU!

If you give it a bash in October, THANK YOU!!