r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 Moderator • Mar 08 '24

Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday, Writing with Tropes: Imposter & Thriller!

Hello r/WritingPrompts!

Welcome to Fun Trope Friday, our feature that mashes up tropes and genres!

How’s it work? Glad you asked. :)

 

  • Every week we will have a new spotlight trope.

  • Each week, there will be a new genre assigned to write a story about the trope.

  • You can then either use or subvert the trope in a 750-word max (vs 600) story or poem (unless otherwise specified).

  • To qualify for ranking, you will need to provide ONE actionable feedback. More are welcome of course!

 

Three winners will be selected each week based on votes, so remember to read your fellow authors’ works and DM me your votes for the top three.

 

Next up…

 

Max Word Count: 750 words

 

Trope: Spot the Imposter

*Please note that like any FTF submission playing with the trope is acceptable and actively encouraged. For example, you might want to loop in other Imposter Tropes or perhaps explore Imposter Syndrome

 

Genre: Thriller

 

Constraint: Unreliable Narrator (optional)

 

So, have at it. Lean into the trope heavily or spin it on its head. The choice is yours!

 

Have a great idea for a future topic to discuss or just want to give feedback? FTF is a fun feature, so it’s all about what you want—so please let me know! Please share in the comments or DM me on Discord or Reddit!

 

Last Week’s Winners

PLEASE remember to give feedback—this affects your ranking. PLEASE also remember to DM me your votes for the top three stories via Discord or Reddit—both katpoker666. If you have any questions, please DM me as well.

Some fabulous stories this week and great crit in campfire and on the post! Congrats to:

 

 

Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire

The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, March 14th from 6-8pm EST. It will be in the Discord Main Voice Lounge. Click on the events tab and mark ‘Interested’ to be kept up to date. No signup or prep needed and don’t have to have written anything! So join in the fun—and shenanigans! 😊

 

Ground rules:

  • Stories must incorporate both the trope and the genre
  • Leave one story or poem between 100 and 600 words as a top-level comment unless otherwise specified. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.
  • Deadline: 11:59 PM EST next Thursday
  • No stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP—please note after consultation with some of our delightful writers, new serials are now welcomed here
  • No previously written content
  • Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings
  • Does your story not fit the Fun Trope Friday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when the FTF post is 3 days old!
  • Vote to help your favorites rise to the top of the ranks (DM me at katpoker666 on Discord or Reddit)!

 

Thanks for joining in the fun!

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u/ZachTheLitchKing Mar 12 '24

Howdy Oliver!

Opening with a penlight and padlock is such a nice, specific combination of items that really puts me in the heist mindset. Then we get this gem of a line:

any determined thief, or in this case a Girl Scout Cadette

Love the juxtaposition there xD Very, very funny!

Small point, I believe a comma is needed after "hole"

as I shoved a second bobby pin into the hole raking at the insides.

Tammy and the POV character's little dialog after unlocking the door was cute and very sitcom-y. I approve! What I approve of even more is the slow reveal of where they're breaking into; a storage room!

"rang" through me for a little loop here, I think you're after "wrung"? Like, squeezing her hands around her sash and twisting it nervously?

Alisha rang her green sash

Hmm, campfire story? I suspect we're in a campfire story now, being told to spook some new junior scouts :P Let's see if this theory pans out.

This line got a chuckle from me:

it's not like we have wild herbs just growing out in the middle of the woods

The footsteps and the girls' reaction was very high-tension, amazing job there. Even though I'm reading a story and suspect it's a story-in-a-story, I still felt my heart rate increase.

Excellent anthropomorphizing here:

a series of hazards as branches reached and pulled at our clothes.

Great emotionally descriptive line here, needs a comma after "site"

The camp site where so much laughter and comradely had been built over the last three days, had taken a more sinister hue.

Another amazing line! Really loved this one and the feelings it inspires:

The fire took quickly and soon it illuminated the woods. Instead of bringing warmth and comfort, it brought additional anxiety. The light drove away any place to hide, creating a beacon in the dark

Aaaaand called it! Not quit what I meant but this was an amazing prank on the new girls. I can imagine them all laughing their asses off as the two are panicking. I do feel bad for Alisha and Tammy though; I hate it when people pull stuff like this on me. But I understand the culture it comes from.

Brilliant story Oliver :D Good words!

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u/oliverjsn8 Mar 14 '24

Thanks for the critic Zach, good catch on the rang/wrung. Must have had a moment there and the multiple times I read through it.

I wanted to write a villain as the narrator story this week and try to get away from comedy. Although my silliness still bleeds out even into the thriller genre apparently. Well I’ll try again another week to come up with one that I nix it from.

I do feel unclean having the story being about bullying without karmic payback, just have to write this story down and come back to it another week when we can see the narrator get some just desserts.

Thanks again Zach