Our two upcoming challenges - Stuck in the Middle and Greener Pastures

Hello RFWers.

How have you been over the last couple weeks?  Do anything interesting?  Have an exciting breakthrough in your writing projects?  Do tell us in the comments.

And did you catch the guest post by Anne Gallagher?  What do you think of this as a regular feature here at RFW? Check out the Guest Post page if you'd like to write for us.

Are you ready for Challenge #39, Stuck in the Middle?  This challenge is a little different, and may be slightly more challenging to write, because it does not focus on the Lovers.  Or the romance itself.  As we all know, relationships do not happen in a vacuum; others are affected either directly (children, in-laws) or indirectly (social groups, co-workers) by the success or failure of the relationship.  We still want to see the romance aspect, but it will flow from a slightly different perspective.

This prompt is about the others in the romance couple’s lives DURING the break-up. Inlaws, best friends, co-workers siblings, the kids and other immediate family. Anyone who has connected with the couple and is expected to choose sides when the relationship ends. What we want to see (in 400 words or less) is how “the others” feel or is changed by the ending relationship, and what they see as the strengths/weaknesses of the couple. We want to live the romance through a second party. (This is not a love triangle.)


I emphasize DURING the breakup because our next challenge Greener Pastures, will focus on AFTER the relationship ends.  Challenge #40 is also eligible for the Featured Writer and Runner Up award, so this prompt is meant to assist you in setting up that excerpt (although you do not have to use the same characters for the next prompt if you do not wish to).


This prompt is about long-term love; perhaps suffering a mid-life or 7 year itch crisis. The couple recognizes it is time for a change; but how drastic does the change need to be to rekindle the relationship? Who wants the change; husband, wife, mutual? Who would suffer the most from either a break up, or from the status quo?

For older lovers: perhaps this is the retirement of one or both, or one is suffering a physical or mental health change.

For mid-life lovers: perhaps this could be an empty nest syndrome, or a male mid-life crisis, or female menopause.

For younger lovers: perhaps there is an unexpected pregnancy to upset the balance; or a career change –promotion or firing or company move; or the sheer boredom of routine.

What we want to see is when the romance loses it shine, and the eye wanders, but what our disgruntled lover finds so appealing in another is the qualities that the old flame has lost. Does he/she realize this on their own? Or does the jilted lover or new love point it out? How is the situation resolved? Or is it too late?

This is a special challenge, so it has special guidelines:

To be in the judging for Featured Writer, you must be a member (sign up on the thumbnail linky) and follow these guidelines:

• Word limit is 600 words
• Any POV - first, second, third person
• Prose/prosetry
• Judging will be based on the FIRST WRITING ONLY; meaning, if you edit or revise based on initial feedback, the re-write will be disqualified. Only the original will be entered into the competition. Once the link is up, it is the final submission version. It is fine to improve your piece for publication elsewhere, but for judging for FW just leave your original post up.

Linky for Stuck in the Middle goes up tomorrow, Thursday June 28. Come back to link your story once you've posted it on your blog.

Happy writing everyone.