The Merry Month of May - Round Robin Challenge

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Happy May Day! Spring is in the air, and may blossom, and fields of yellow rapeseed, and the occasional whiff of newly mown grass - time for a new Dialj challenge!

I thought we might try something... well, not quite as different as it was when we did it last year, but something a bit different to... erm... anything we've done since then? A Round Robin challenge! Not that I'm trying to please almost everyone for at least some of the time or anything, but...

There've been calls for longer stories, and murmurings about the complete lack of time that most people seem to have, and so I thought maybe we could combine the two and all our efforts, and perhaps produce something like last year's Round Robin only just a tad more.

To that end - here's how to play!

1. Read the story so far... *g*

2. If no one else has claimed the next section, do so by commenting immediately under the post. You must be the first comment under the last post in order to write the next section. If you commented at the same time as someone else - sorry, it's whoever lj lists first! And if you've claimed the next section, then please write it as soon as you can - no hanging on for a week until the muse strikes, that's not fair to other people. Don't claim unless you has muse in the first place!

3. Go away and write up to 500 words in continuation of the story. It doesn't have to be that long - it can be 300 words, 100, even 50 if you've got a particularly twisty paragraph in mind, but please don't take too long to do it, if you've claimed. Remember that no one else can post until you've posted your next section.

4. Post your section in a brand new post, so that people can claim it in the first comment, and so that they can also comment to tell you how brill you are. *g*

5. Sit back and enjoy reading the next bits... If you fancy writing some more, wait until it seems as if everyone else who wants to has had a turn, and then feel free to claim another section. No reason why people can't write more than one section - but do make sure that everyone has a chance to join in if they want to.

6. And... I think that's it! *g*

The challenge will continue until the end of May - midnight 31st May 2008 in whatever time zone you happen to be in... with the usual quick trips to Pago Pago allowed as always. If we're very clever we'll either finish the story dot on time, or else have been bored with it weeks before and finished it then.

So... I've written your starter for ten - who fancies claiming and writing the next section? (Claims under the the starter post, which I'll post in a minute though, rather than here!) But hopefully people will fancy joining in, and do send anyone who might not yet know about discoveredinalj this way... *g*

And finally - credits and thanks to shooting2kill for the images I've massacred in the banner (if you've not read her stunning images posts, I'd recommend it right now!), and apologies for the somewhat less than May-like tone of the thing... A touch of h/c, anyone? Some angst-fic maybe? (Okay, it has nothing to do with story types, I just suck at image-y stuff! But... there's a round-y sort of theme in the middle... I tried! Maybe there'll be a banner challenge sometime in the future... *g*)

Comments

[probodie.livejournal.com]

Sounds very kewl. When's the first bit then? Or, um, have I claimed it?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - you mean the second bit? You've not claimed it unless you say so, so writing a line (and by the way - hee) and putting it in the comments doesn't count I'm afraid! New sections need to be brand new posts rather than comments! But no one else has yet, so if you want to comment to claim Part 2, then go for it... *g*

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Hehe! Google is good. I've found Michael Fish!

Great idea! Perfect for 'in between' reading!
But it looks like they all are a bit shy... ;-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It does! Maybe it'll pick up over the Bank Holiday weekend we have here... maybe it'll be just me... eep!

And hee for Michael Fish - he was just so British when I first came over... And I loved that someone had written the weathermen into a song too: John Kettley is a weatherman, a weatherman, a weatherman, John Kettley is a weatherman, and so is Michael Fish!"

Ooh - just found a Youtube vid from the 1970s with Michael Fish doing the weather! There are three of them in the vid, he's the one in the middle with the moustache!

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Well, it seems really not to be important WHERE it's raining, he?
Looks like he is kind of cult!

"It does! Maybe it'll pick up over the Bank Holiday weekend we have here... maybe it'll be just me... eep!"

Snif!
Maybe it would help, if I would threaten to join the writing???
Now and then a new girlfriend, that you all have to kill in the next chapters...
:-)))))))))))))))))

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Heee! You know, I don't think I've killed off a girlfriend yet... *g* Although it's true, they do rather get in the way... Like your idea about being our chosen target, though! Go on - no one else's claimed yet... *g*

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

"Like your idea about being our chosen target, though! Go on..."

Hundreds of raging women against one little me...
Hehe! My masochistic years are over!
;-)

P.S.: You really should look that film, and you know what I mean...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aRqxlGdTEE

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

For non-UK folks, Michael Fish is well known to most folk here as he was a BBC TV weatherman for donkey's years. His other claim to fame is that, on 15 October 1987, he commented at the end of the evening weather forecast that a lady had rung the BBC that day and said she had heard that there was going to be a hurricane, but not to worry, there wasn't, he patronised. That was a few hours before the "great Storm", the worst storm to hit the Southern UK since 1703 and which killed 19 people and devastated large areas! It's been repeated on tv a few times, that clip, apparently he is quite tetchy about it!
Nothing to do with the story but a reason why the name of Michael Fish has connotations for those of us who were around at the time!

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

Ups! Bad mistake!

Thanks for that story!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - you're kinder than me, I always figure that if people are online to start with, then it's as easy for them to google something as it is for me to go into a long explanation about it! Plus that's half the point of reading, right, finding out new stuff? *g* Although I was quite chuffed to find the video I posted for firlefanzine, and now people can see what he looked and sounded like when our lads were around...

Of course, the thing is that we still need someone to claim the second part of the round robin in the first place! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all! *eyes clock, is glad it's Friday...* :s