The Obstacle Flight

 

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Hey, y’all, it’s Weird Wednesday! Where on some Wednesdays, I blog about weird stuff and give writing prompts.

Today: The Obstacle Flight: Evading ogres with everyday items

‘Quick! quick!’ called out the giant’s daughter, ‘take my comb from my hair and throw it down.’

Nix Nought Nothing took her comb from her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush, and by the time he was well through, Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run far, far away from him. 

Let’s say you’re a plucky hero who’s just stolen a magical item from an evil ogre. That’s the good news. The bad news is, the bad guy’s onto you, and he’s fast. Something needs to change.

Let’s start with what you’ve got with you. Hopefully, you’re carrying a comb, brush, mirror, handkerchief, pinch of salt, or flask of water. If not, grab a stick or a drop of your own sweat, and throw it behind you. With a little magic (usually provided by the villain’s resourceful child), that object will transform into a barrier between you and your pursuer. This is called the obstacle flight, and it’s one of my favorite fairy tale motifs.

Check out the blog post for the whole story and some magical writing prompts, such as:

Serendipity. Sometimes the fleeing heroes make do with what they find on the ground, like sticks and pebbles. But how about using a living organism like a mushroom or some berries? Of course, the faeries are fond of their mushrooms, so using one of those might unlock a whole new magical enemy. Or what if your heroes found something really weird, something you would ordinarily not mess with, if you came upon it in the forest, like a bloody knife or a shoe with animal bite marks on it?

Ao3 ~ DannyeChase.com ~ Linktree ~ Serial romance ~ Ko-fi ~ Newsletter

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March 2023 Newsletter

 

My March 2023 newsletter is now available!

This month: Writing the Competence Kink

The competence kink is the idea is that we’re attracted to people who demonstrate incredible talent.

It’s often used in romance writing, but it also appears in other genres. The newsletter has a few ideas for working with this trope, such as:

One weird trick. An ordinary character might manifest one main mojo: counting cards, a photographic memory, perfect pitch, or *ahem* being good in bed; being lucky (including winning carnival games), being trusted by wild animals, or finding lost objects. It is not always the case that the character has any idea how or why it works.

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Ao3 ~ DannyeChase.com ~ Linktree ~ Serial romance ~ Weird Wednesday writing prompts blog ~ Ko-fi

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