This week, try writing in a different style. Choose a memorable author and imitate him or her to give your usual fics a different flavor. Go for Faulkner or Joyce's stream-of-consciousness, Dahl's matter-of-fact fantastics, or maybe Turgenev's sardonically detailed prose. Mix it up, take a chance and do something completely different from your normal style!

Because this requires a little extra thought, take 70 minutes to write something grand.

Remember, contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

Let's talk about dreams. The ones you had as a child or the ones you want right now or even the ones that you've never told a single soul but dream of them nightly. Tell me your dreams and how they can come true.

You've got 75 minutes for this challenge.

Remember, contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

We all know the type. The one that plans weeks in advance and you're left wishing you could be them. So this week, write about spontanity and what it can bring about, good or bad. From an unexpected rain shower to a blind date that brings you the person you've been looking for, write about it.

You've got 55 minutes for this challenge.

Remember, contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

I'm busy helping a friend move, so remodelling and renovations are on my mind. Let's work that into a challenge this week. Think about remodelling something - a house, or a relationship, whatever - and work your story around that. Things always need changing, but people aren't always receptive to necessary change. Plenty of fodder for stories.

You've got a full 60 minutes for this challenge.

Remember, contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

Your challenge this week is ... combine a bunny, an egg, and a basket into your story. It's Easter, after all.

You get 75 minutes this week.

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

So this week talk about preparation and how you go about it. Extensive review, last minute cramming, weird strategies, and everything inbetween. Explore how your character gets to that point where they feel confident going into whatever they're doing.

You have 89 minutes.

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

This week's challenge, in honor of my liver and this Tuesday, must focus around alcohol. You can choose to do this, but I want the main focus to be the drink.

And, in case you need some time to find your poison inspiration, you get 49 minutes this week!

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

Your challenge this week is miscommunication. Somehow, some way, your characters miscommunicated. Write about how this happened, what the consequences were, or simply how it was resolved.

Think fast, because this week you only get 27 minutes.

Remember, contrelamontre is for slash, ame_souer is for het and gen.

Drugs

One (or both) of your characters are drugged up. Cold medicine, pain killers after an injury, or recreational drug use, whatever works.

65 minutes

contrelamontre

ame_soeur

So this week's challenge is failure. Talk about the stuff you've always wanted to accomplish but have failed in some way to achieve or something you could never accomplish.

You have 50 minutes.

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

This week's challenge is to find a work with "heart" in the title, then write your own story around that title. For example Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or Edgar Allen Poe's "Tell-tale Heart". Use the title as inspiration, then write it out. You can do poems, movies, books, songs ... anything as long as heart is in the title.

And because this is a two step challenge, you get 70 minutes.

GOOD LUCK!

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

Winter's the best time for something wet, hot and steamy, by which I mean tea, of course! Write about your characters sharing a moment over a hot beverage, brooding over a solitary cup, or forgoing tea altogether for something equally steamy. A midnight cuppa always generates the best conversations; some characters might find conversation unnecessary. Or perhaps one character wishes late at night for just that situation - the possibilities are as varied as the leaves in your cupboard!

You've got 40 minutes

contrelamontre

ame_soeur

Open your music player of choice, put it on shuffle and use the title of that song as the title of your fic. In other words, let that title inspire the story you write.

For example, I got 'Wait' By Death Cab for Cutie. So my fic could be about one character wishing the other would just wait for him....

43 minutes

contrelamontre

ame_soeur

So this week's challenge is letting go. Talk about love, friendship, anger, emotions, what have you. Talk about how hard it is to let go or how letting go wasn't hard at all.

Dig deep as you'll only have 24 minutes.

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

Your challenge this week is personification. I want to see something personified: Mother Nature, Death, Life, an emotion, anything.

Be creative!!

Let's give it a go and stay within 45 minutes.

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.

This week let's work on landscapes.

Setting the scene immediately determines your piece's tone, so this week focus on the landscape surrounding your scene. What are its physical characteristics? What is its history? How does this affect your characters, what does the landscape and scenery and weather mean to each of them? How does the landscape color your characters' interactions? You might explore a character's memories in a particular landscape, or use the landscape as a metaphor for characters' emotional states. Whatever you do, don't forget to make your trees HAPPY trees!

This week, try for 50 minutes.

Lets get random! Go here and generate a random title. It will, in fact, generate 5 random titles, so pick one. Use that title as your inspiration for your fic -- this must remain the title of your work.

For example, I got: The Missing Years which I could turn into a fic about all the years Toki and Nathan missed out on because they didn't express their love to each other sooner!

It's a little hard, but lets get quick and dirty: 34 minutes.

contrelamontre

ame_soeur

Talk about new beginnings. If you're looking forward to the New Year or want things to stay just the same.

60 minutes

contrelamontre

ame_soeur

Anything But Christmas.

Although I am totally feeling the Christmas vibe, how about some nonChristmas holiday fics. Give me Valentine's Day, give me Fourth of July, give me ANZAC Day. How about dashing through the snow to a lovely St. Paddy's Day or going over the hills to a scary Halloween party? I don't care, I want some other holiday!

And because it is Christmas we'll give you a bit longer; this week you have one hour and twenty five minutes (85 minutes). Good luck!!

And remember contrelamontre is for slash, ame_soeur is for het and gen.