Indigo's Monthly Writing Challenge: October

Hey there, guys, and welcome to the October edition of Indigo's Monthly Writing Challenge! (Or  IMWC. Because everything sounds cooler when you say it in initials, somehow?? Idk.)

As you probably remember, this is something I started up last month. The general idea: at the start of every month, I come up with a theme, such as "music", "friendship", "pets", "summer". And whoever wants to participate has until the end of the month to write a short story on the theme I've chosen.

Last month's theme was "school", and I only got two entries, but to be honest I wasn't expecting any more than that - this is something new after all, there hasn't been much of a chance for word to get around of this, plus I know a lot of people have been busy this month. I myself posted two stories on this theme, "Hiding" and "Favourite Haunts", part one and part two - check them out if you haven't already! The other entries were:

                                               - "Hallow, Imaginator" by Ralraymee @ The Art of Life 
                                               - "Oceanarium"  by Cossette Chan @ Random Thoughts of a Socially-Awkward Optimist 

They're both great stories, don't forget to read them. You should also check out their blogs, they're really cool, if you don't I'll find you and throw books at you.

If you'd like to take part in the challenge this month, here are the rules:

      - Anyone can participate!

      - There aren't really any rules about what you can write, so long as it has something to do with the theme (that's the whole point of this challenge, after all). I only ask that you keep it clean (i.e. no bad swearing or any content that's unsuitable for kids, you get the idea).

      - You can write as much or as little as you like; there's no word minimum or maximum.

      - You don't have to take the theme completely literally; for example if the theme is "zombies", you're perfectly welcome to write about a zombie apocalypse, but you could also write about how people go about their everyday lives like zombies... think outside the box, be creative!

    - Once you've finished your story, post it on your blog, and leave me a link to it in the comments below so I can check it out! (If you don't have a blog, get in touch with me in the comments and we'll sort something out.)

    - When you post your story, can I ask that you mention me, Indigo, as the host of this challenge, as well as leaving a link to this blog? I'd really appreciate that. Maybe you could even encourage your readers to check out this post and take part in the challenge, that would be great. I know I don't have a huge amount of readers so I'm really relying on others advertising this for me!

    - You have until the last day of the month to write your contribution and share it. On the first day of the next month I'll write a post sharing links to all the previous month's stories, as well as revealing that month's new theme.

    - And above all, have fun! This isn't a competition, it's just a challenge for people who like writing stories, so enjoy!


Aaaaand it's now time to reveal October's theme! Drumroll please...

This month's theme is....

 HALLOWEEN

Well, you probably saw that coming, didn't you? Me loving Halloween and all.... Anyway, have fun! As I mentioned, you don't have to take the theme completely literally, be as creative as you want! The deadline is on the 31st of October, so you have until then to write something. 

That's not all, though: this month, I'm doing a bonus writing challenge, on top of the main one. I'm going to give you a few writing prompts, and if you like you can write a short story on that as well! Here they are:

                     - You discover an abandoned time machine in the middle of a forest. Which is the first time period you visit, and what happens?

                     - After a long and hard election campaign, you just got elected President of Planet Earth. Describe your first day in this position.

                     - For the summer holidays, your parents have taken you to a newly-opened holiday resort on the Moon. Write a postcard to one of your friends back on Earth, telling them all about it.

                     - Imagine you're the opposite gender to the one you are (i.e. if you're a girl you're now a boy, and vice versa). In what ways would your life be different? Would you have different interests? Like different things? Hang out with different people? Would people treat you differently? Or would things be more or less the same? 

                     - Your house has a cellar you've never been in, because your parents have always forbidden it. But one day, your curiosity gets the better of you, and you go in - and you discover why your parents never let you in there...

                     - In an alternate universe, you were never born. What would the lives of your family and friends be like if you didn't exist?

Happy writing, guys! To those of you who participated last month, I can't wait to see what you come up with this month; to those of you who didn't, I can't wait to see what you come up with either! I hope all my readers write something, whether on this month's theme, or one of the writing prompts, or both. If you don't, I'll be very cross at you and probably hate you forever. *glares sternly*(Alternatively you can bake me brownies; then I'll forgive you.) I'M JOKING OKAY but seriously I'd love it if you'd all take part in my little challenge thingy. 

Good luck!

-Indigo