It's my own fault I'm now lying here hoping some sushi swims by.
I didn't prep a post ahead of time, and at 7:28pm I can't formulate sentences.
If you want to throw out some ideas in the comment column about how to Thwart the Fort(i) I'm open to suggestions.
He's bested me no matter how conniving and cunning I thought I was.
This is really getting embarrassing!
Help me out here!
Stay away from gas station sushi.
ReplyDeleteNo idea on thwarting anyone, sorry. I'm just not that good at the Flash Friday stuff. But I hope you recover. You look a little gray in spots there ;)
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm. I'm not entirely sure the esteemed Mr Forti is thwartable, but for what it's worth:
ReplyDelete- ban a specific letter (e or t are always handy)
- make him do it in iambic pentameter
- demand all words over 3 letters be palindromes
- insist he use pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (but not in it's correct medical sense or as a single word)
I also commend honorificabilitudinitatibus to the house, although I strongly suspect Shakespeare of making it up just to torment his actors.
ReplyDeleteI think you're fighting a losing battle. Then again when I had my blog, I took a challenge with several other bloggers to write an entire post (500 word minimum) without using the letter 'E'. Needless to say, it was difficult, but not impossible. After all, Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright wrote an entire novel without an 'E' and Georges Perec wrote La Disparition in French the same way. It was translated into English by Gilbert Adair who renamed it A Void staying true to form.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to Forti, he'll have to write his 100 word story without using the letter 'E'. (Janet, don't get your hopes up too high because I still think he's going to come out on top.) But, at least, you can lick you chops, or glisten your teeth, or whatever you do, knowing he's going to struggle a little harder this next time.
Aphra Pell, I see we were on the same wavelength.
ReplyDeleteI'll make some popcorn :)
ReplyDeleteSushi and popcorn? It's barely 7 am where I am. Ah well. Let's add some whisky to the mix too!
ReplyDeleteSorry Janet, absolutely no brilliant ideas on how to Thwart the Fort(i).
I just read the last few comments from yesterday. What a great start to my day! Thank you, John Davis Frain, Fearless Reider, and Aphra Pell for your kind words! I do feel (and appreciate) the flattery. Getting the rest of the query to live up to that line is the next challenge. And the book... yeah, I’ve got work to do.
ReplyDeleteAs for thwarting Steve Forti, I don’t think it can be done but I like the banned letter idea.
I'm with my fellow Reiders on this one: the only way you'll thwart the Fort (or thwarti Forti) is either a) reduce his max word count to 3 and tell him he must use all 5 mandatory words to make a story, or b) exclude him from the contest. And I'm sure he'd find a way to make either of those work. :)
ReplyDeleteRest up, my friend. Your clients need you at the top of your game.
A twenty-five word sentence that explains the meaning of life forward and backwards.
ReplyDeleteI'm with the group; I'm not sure the Forti can be thwarted.
ReplyDeleteSome ideas:
A. The story must be a retelling, with no proper names at all.
B. Ban a particular category of words (i.e. no conjunctions, no prepositions)
C. Prompt words have dual meanings and both meanings must be used (to make it extra hard, words can only be used once).
D. Forti gets his prompt words at a particular time and his entry must be submitted within an hour (truly flash fiction).
Eh, sometimes you just accept fate...or forti. I hope you recover soon even though I can't imagine sushi making anyone feel better. In lieu of that, I'll send my famous baked potato soup.
ReplyDeleteForti is a treasure.
ReplyDeleteNo e's allowed for Forti, but make the prompt words:
ReplyDeleteeleemosynary
ceaselessness
greenskeeper
reemergence
presweetened
That oughtta do it. But he'll find a way.
Thwart the Forti?
ReplyDeleteACME Co. dynamite. Works every time.
A big 1 ton weight (with said weight written on the side) also ought to do the trick.
Mr. Forti almost always splits his words. Don't let him.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had much computer time the last few days. Just now reading through the Killer First Sentence comments and notes. So interesting and informative. Worth a second read through.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Mr. Forti: I'm with Shane. No splitting the prompt words.
Limit him to a specific genre, like MG Dino porn.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteYe olde flash fiction conteste'
Mr. Forti does his flash fiction entry in the Shakespearean style one might have seen in the globe theater.
"But soft, what prompts through yonder window breaks?"
ReplyDeleteLimit word length to 5 letters each with an additional requirement that at least 10 of the 100 words must be from the 1st grade or lower Dolch sight words list.
http://www.dolchword.net/printables/All220DolchWordsByGradeFreq.pdf
Well, typically when attempting to thwart the Forti you go for complexity. I'd suggest trying for absurdity instead. With that in mind I present you a list of words to choose from. All of them are taken from the Army and have at least one completely different meaning in uniform.
ReplyDelete- Intersection
- Fires
- Hail
- Sortie
- Breach
- Roger
- Reduce
- Suppress
- Expectant
- Recovery
- Target
- HEAT
Then the Foil The Forti Challenge Phrase: Donkey Dick. (This can actually refer to three completely different things depending on context.)
Require Forti's entry to be a story in which he reveals the secret of how to thwart him. He only wins (ie. is not thwarted) if the super secret strategy does, in fact, succeed in thwarting him in the next contest.
ReplyDelete(Are we an evil bunch of demise plotters or what?)
I'm with Rio, except with one minor edit:
ReplyDelete...he wins only if the secret causes him to lose the current contest.
I don't know about Mr. Forti, but the returned grey background has certainly thwarted me!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar Wednesday. Also got in a fender bender. Here's hoping for some rest, all the way around.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Rio. And I would add recidivism to the list of prompt words.
I look forward to everyone's individual creativity with the flash fiction contests, and I'd hate to see something too constricting added to the prompts. Let Forti be Forti! Or may the Forti be with you.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Janet's recent adventures in changing her blog template made me double-check how my blog looks on my phone. Thankfully it reads just fine (yay WordPress!). But that's an important consideration these days, fellow bloggers.
ReplyDeleteI think Mr Forti can use the prompt words in a piece written in pinyin / Chinese.
ReplyDeleteLoving the beige background, and I agree wholeheartedly with Theresa's 4:21 pm comment.
ReplyDelete