Sing Alone - New Challenge

Hey guys,

It's been some time! We hope you're all well and are all still enjoying the reading and perhaps some writing even. To help you with the latter, we have a new challenge for you all.

With Nicky's new album about to be out, all of our lifers have their own solo-project brought into this world. This calls for a new song-fic challenge! For this challenge, just about everything goes. Pick a song from one of the guys and turn it into a story.
If you go onto our challenge form, you can pick a random lifer, some random location and a random item. You can also choose between picking your own song or having us pick one for you (if you let us know your prefered lifer in the comment section, we'll keep that in mind aswell). The main rule for this story; at least one line from the song you picked must be used as a quote in your story, meaning that someone says it outloud at some point.

Go on, GRAB yourself a challenge and enjoy some writing! We're looking forward to reading your stories!

Neverland Staff

Last Straw by Monique - Short Story Challenge

Hi guys,

A while back, Noa shared her picks from the Short Story Challenge with me. I couldn't help it, I had to write a story with them. Which is cheating, I know. But they were so much better than my own picks (which still ought to get formed into a story) and I had so much fun with them.

When I updated the site earlier this week, with the new layout and such, I already put this up in the story list. Big up to you who already found and read it haha Hope you've enjoyed. For those not having found it yet, enjoy the read!

Monique


The picks were;
Mark
A cocktail bar
A book

You only get four pages to get to the point

Title: Last Straw
Author: Monique
Rating: 18+
Genre: R, SX
Pages: 4

Cast: You and your favorite 'lifer

Teaser: He's hot but taken. Yet still things spiral out of control...

Crossroads and Roundabouts & Fiction Contest

Hi guys,

As you all know, we're always looking for new stories and ways to challenge you all to write.

Back in the day there used to be at least one Fiction Contest a year. There was a set theme which had to play a role in your story but other than that you were free to write whatever. There was about 4 months to get the story written, then all the stories would be scripted and posted to the site for everyone to judge. The winner got featured in the sidebar and got to pick a new theme.
We would love to bring this back. Since it's been so long since the last contest, we're going to let you guys pick the theme. Have an idea? Post it in the comment-section below and we'll make a poll with the suggestions. Suggestions can be made till 21/6, then a poll will go up so that we can start the new season at the beginning of July.

Another favorite of ours was the Crossroads and Roundabouts. In this challenge you write on not one, not two but on four stories! But you won't be doing it alone, you'll get help from others willing to join in on the challenge.
All the stories will consist of four parts: beginning, middle part 1 and 2 and the end. You'll start with the beginning on fic 1, then you'll write middle part 1 on fic 2, middle part 2 on fic 3 and the end of fic 4.

If you want in on this challenge, drop us an email at neverland.fics@gmail.com putting Crossroads and Roundabouts as a subject.
But! Think before joining in. If you want in, you're in for the long run, meaning;
* You're able to write a minimum of 5-10 pages a month, four times.
* Your English is well enough for other participants to work with. They will be finishing what you've started after all.

Signing up for C&R starts now and is open till june 27. If there's enough participants by then, you'll be sent any info you might require before july 1st, the official starting date.
You'll be expected to send your part 3 days before the end of the month at the latest so that everyone can be sent their next part to work on before the new month begins.

Any questions can be put in the comment section below or on email of course.

We hope you're just as excited about these challenges as we are and hope you'll join in!

Neverland Staff

Dream flight by Mélo - Short story Challenge

Hi all!

We've got  a writer on a roll! We proudly present another short story by Mélo. After completing her first short story challenge she grabbed another one. 

The things she got for this new challenge were;
Kian
a jacket
a plane
Kick-ass start: You are not allowed to write over four pages and you have to jump right into the fic without any introduction

Find out below what she has written and leave her some love!

Do you want to see your story on the site? Don't hestitate, just drop us an email and we'll get it sorted. We'd love to put your stories out there. 

Enjoy the read!

Monique 

Title: Dream flight
Author: Mélo
Rating: G
Genre: D, R

Pages: 3

Cast: You and your favorite 'lifer

Teaser: Can you fight what you’re feeling?

Tease me by Mélo - Short fic Challenge

Hi all,

Are you all enjoying a nice long Easter weekend? We have a little read for you from a new writer. After requesting a challenge she has written a lovely short piece which I'm sure you'll enjoy. She had to work with the following things;

Shane
a bottle of wine
a strip-club
and she was only allowed two pages...

Enjoy the read and leave her some comments. She's really curious to find out what you all think of the story!

Are you also interested in writing a story for Neverland? Go and request a challenge or just write whatever you feel like writing. We're always looking for new stories.

Monique

Title: Tease me
Author: Mélo
 Rating: 13+
Genre: R, E

Pages:2

Cast: You and your favorite 'lifer

Teaser: It is just a little game… or is it?

Temptation by Noa - Short story Challenge

 Hi all,

We have a little treat for you to get you through the weekend. It's a challenge story, written by Noa. She got the following things to make her challenge work;

Mark
A cocktail bar
A book

You only get four pages to get to the point

This is what she made from it. Enjoy the read!

Monique

 

Title: Temptation
Author: Noa
Rating: 16+
Genre: R, E

Pages:2

Cast: You and your favorite 'lifer

Teaser: An unexpected meeting leaves you wondering... What would you do?

New Challenge for you... Short Stories

Hey everyone!
It has been a long time since we had our last proper challenge up for you. Even though not many of the requested ideas have become a story (maybe they nevertheless inspired you and you are still writing on it ;), we thought it would be nice to give you a fresh start with a new idea.

This is "Short Story-Challenge"
Put it in a nut shell, write less than six pages if you can!

To give you a little support, we put together a few characteristics of short stories...

Now, what’s a short story, aye? ;)

·         Well, it is, mostly rather short
·         The story starts abruptly, there is no introduction really
·         Typically the ending is open
·         Time warps are not very common. The story is told chronological and linear
·         There is not much enquired about the characters
·         The plot is described shortly and often deals with topics from the protagonists all day life
·         There are only a few protagonists
·         The ending is often a pointe, a surprising turn of events
·         Instead of a long telling-tale time the short story gives a glimpse into a few minutes or hours
·         Protagonists are often no heroes but mostly random and ordinary people
·         One special event/ occasion/ incident is the center of the story
·         Often there are no places or scenes named, often we don’t know where exactly
           the story takes place
·         Personal narrator instead of auctorial narrator

Now go get yourself a little challenge by clicking HERE (you can also find the link in the sidebar) and have fun writing!!
"Da Staff" ;)

Desperate Days by Monique - full story

14-2

Last update on this story. Again I want to thank you for all your lovely messages along the way. I'm glad you've enjoyed the story and hope you'll like its ending.

Monique

7-2

Updated!
Again, thanks so much for all them lovely comments! I so enjoy finding them. Keep them coming haha

Enjoy the read!

Monique

24-1

Hi all,

We have a new story for you. This story was started for our Historical Challenge a long while back. It's a longer story so it's been cut up. You'll get the first three chapters today and this post will be updated till the story is complete. Keep an eye out on the site or our Twitter for new updates.

We hope you'll enjoy it!

Little side note;
Brian was the given lifer for this challenge. For the sake of the story (and the scripter/writer's laziness :p)  he's not been scripted. You can still pick a lifer of your liking but if Brian is your fave you're gonna need to pick one of the others to keep the story readable ;)

Monique

Title: Desperate Days
Author: Monique

Rating:18+

Genre: AU, R, D, V, F, E

Pages: 78

Cast: You, Brian and your favorite lifer

Teaser: Being lord in the 1600's doesn't make for an easy job. Who to trust and who to better leave behind? And will that budding romance survive amidst all the misery?

Two's a party by Lauren

Hi all!

We have a lovely new short story for you all. It's written by Lauren and she was inspired by the Love Triangle challenge. It's been up for quite some time and I know some of you have requested for it. Did you manage to get a story out of it as well? Do share!
Also, since that challenge has been up for so long, would you all be interested in a new one? And if so, any ideas for it? I'd gladly think of something new but only if there really is an audience for it... Let me know in the tag or the comment section below.

For now, enjoy Lauren's story and leave her some love :)

Monique

The things Lauren got for her challenge:
Kian
a broom
'I have too much time on my hands to be finding this stuff out’
the pub
You end up with your ‘lifer (after being tempted by another person)

Title: Two's a party
Author: Lauren

Rating: G

Genre: R

Pages: 8

Cast: You and Westlife

Teaser: Revenge isn’t always a bad thing, in some cases it could be the cause of something beautiful...

Challenge XXIII - Love Triangles

Hey y'all,

So, the current challenge has been running for quite some time so after some deliberation the Neverland staff has decided a new challenge is in order.
We now proudly present you; The Love Triangle challenge.

We challenge you to write a story involving a Love triangle. As usual there's a form that makes you blindly pick a 'lifer, a location, a quote and other stuff to incorperate in your fic. There's also something of a storyline embedded in the choices. You get to decide how to handle it, it's just a one-sentence suggestion.
The third party of the love triangle is up to you. It could be an actor you love, one of the other lifers or even a totally random stranger. Whatever suits your story best.

Get your challenge now by clicking on the link in the sidebar or down below :)

As we're talking writing, we've also been discussing the Contests we used to run. We always enjoyed them, how bout you?
A little reminder since it's been a while. Whereas in a challenge you mainly challenge yourself with the stuff we hand to you, in the Contest there's a challenge with the other writers of Neverland. There's a theme and that's it. The rest is up to you. Contests always used to run for about four/five months after which there'd be the uploading of fics and then voting for your favorites. The fics were meant to be longer fics since you have quite some time to write for them.

So what do you think? Should we get a new Contest going? And if so, what would you like for a theme? Hit us with your ideas and according to that we'll decide what to do!

Now; go get your challenge;

HERE!

Have fun :)

Neverland Staff

PS; Do keep in mind that each filled in form has to be answered to manually. It might take some time for one of the staff to get back to you but we try to check the email account as often as possible. If you don't hear back from us in 24 hours, feel free to give it another go or give a shout at the tagboard and we'll let you know if we got it or not :)

Your comments :) Thanks for discussing!

 Hey everyone!

Since many of you had questions or suggestions and ideas, I tried to answer a few longer comments you left.

Thanks a lot - first and foremost -  for all of your comments! I liked having so many of your talking and I really wish we could do this more often (maybe not stories with over 100 pages though ;)

Now have a great evening and a good start into the new week!

Your comments (copied from the list) in black, my answers in blue.

I didnt answer every comment, only if there was a question or something that needed explanation, please dont be mad, I was happy about every comment!

 

Vicksta1982 said...

I like the characters, as it's all very mysterious at this stage. The start is very promising and leads to wanting to find out more.

There's definitely something in the air coming, good or bad I'm still figuring it out.

I think the plot is fine as it is, my only concern and what I wouldn't like to see is, for it to built up so well at the start for it to have a flat ending where it loses its appeal.

I can always imagine things when I'm reading.

I do think the changes happen a bit too quickly though more build up about the travels, were they travelling fast or slow paced...how is it the guy they were meeting came to them so quickly. Obviously there isn't going to be the smooth hand over and I suspect there will be lots of resistance...for a while.

Anyway those are my thoughts!

@ Vicksta: about the built up more: It was my intention to start the story at a point where it was exciting already. Of coures it could have started with the main character on the boat, asking herself where it would all end up for her, maybe everyday life on the boat and some of her memories already, but I didnt want to give anything away and also I wanted it to start really abrupt and catch the attention. I realised that many oft eh books or short stories I put aside simply have an introduction that is too long. I dont wanna hear too much in advance, I want them to sit right there, eat and apple and get the call or letter that changes everything. The first page needs to catch the attention, that is why I chose not to start earlier and built up more.
As you can also see during the story, everything will be explained, but not on the same page. I love it when a story keeps me curious and reveiles its secrets bit by bit.

Kara said...

WHO IS THIS ERIC FELLOW????

Yes, in all caps and everything.

Awww... Shane to the rescue, so sexy and mysterious as usual... and Kian, you're a bad, bad man tut tut.

Is it me or do you all picture them in their Bop Bop Baby video attire? I had Mark with a little goatie on and all. Haha

I loved it. I always say the first chapter has to be the best in a story. If it hooks people, they will want to read the rest. And this definitely caught my attention and will keep me desperate for more.

Great job!

The suspense is killing me... who is this Eric person? Why is my Shane afraid of him? So many questions... arrrgh :)

@Kara: I also saw Bop Bop on my mind, maybe they were even dirtier ;)

Kara said...

On a side note... especially for these historicals, researching is very important.

I learned that women with long, waist-long hair were rich or royalty. So by the hero cutting off her hair he is trying to help her look less 'important', like she is just some common girl.

It makes sense with the others saying she had pretty luggage/clothes as if she is a rich woman that they can get a huge ransom.

In keeping with the historical accuracy of it all, that part was an important detail not to be missed.

Just my two cents...

Neverland said...

Kara, you are on the right track :) Most oft he things are really explained with small details and that’s what gives a fic  some more spice. I tried to be as accurate as I could but without using too much historical background. I wanted it to be a mixture and I wanted it to be about the different people

Monique said...

Eeek, that was one chapter with a LOT of information being thrown around lol I actually had to read it three times but I think I got it figured out now.
The thing I'm struggling with most is that there's a lot of names going around. The men that are with Hugh, then there's the bad guys, then there's Shane's family plus nicknames and last names being used.
At first I didn't realise who Dorem was when he was attacking Hugh lol But after reading it again it all clicked. He's a not so dead cousin and he's after my money and property... U-ooooh!
For me, because of all the names it was hard to figure out which ones were the main characters you know.

*puts on scripting-police cap*
Mark makes such a cute blonde *ahem :p* ;)

Also; I had some troubles finding where the second part started (ended up reading it all again, which wasn't that much of a burden really but still lol) Seeing as you don't have chapters going on (yet??) could you do something else to make it a little easier to find maybe? (and if you have a scripting program that messes up scripts when adding changes, you know where to find me ;))

/end of script bitching

So a monk aye... *wink wink* Looks to me that he's made the right choice ditching that profession.

@ Monique: my favourite scripting police ;) I hope it all went smooth and without anymore blonds somewhere ;)
Him becoming a monk shows his deep despair (for me) and giving up on it is part of his character's development

Marlene said...

Hey again! Puh, Monique is right there are many names in this part! but I found it interresting how the pasts were reveiled. The monk, the family, her wealth. It felt like getting to know them more.
The Dorem thing I felt as well. at first I didn't know where to put him but then suddenly I saw the picture.
Just one thing about the story itself: Don't you feel that they are too close? It is Nicky in my case I changed it again :) and in there first night they were a little close and I wasn't sure if I liked it when the love story between them starts so suddenly. In the end it didn't look like the rush I had feared so I will be waiting for the next update

@Marlene: After reading the next parts, do you still think that they are too close from the start? After reading your comment I thought about it for a while, and you know what? At first they had been a loooot closer during this first night but I deleted it. She is from a wealthy family, well educated and rich, that is definitely something she wouldn’t do J that is why I tried to curve around that and escape from the love-story that would have been far too early at that point.

Monique said...

All the names, it's not necessarily a bad thing Noa ;) I think that if I kept on reading the whole story in one part I'd probably get into it sooner. Now it ended where it did and I was confused so I read back lol If there had been more story, I probably wouldn't just yet and figured out the most important ones along the way.
You made the right decession I think not to script them. Not only would that be hell for you to do lol it would only make things much more complicated if one name accidentely didn't get scripted lol You've scripted just the right ones, the rest of them I'm sure to get to know better if the story continues ;)

About the blond thing; I always do a general search while scripting. I'd first search for all the browns and change them as they belong, then I go and find blond, blonde, blue, brown, dark, green. The most common ones y'know. But one or the other will always slip through. Scripting is a bitch! Hahaha

@Monique: Maybe it is right and it would have been easier to read the whole story right away, but I wanted to discuss every part itself. The whole fic is throwing you around a little because oft he changes that happen, that’s what I felt. But it would definitely be easier to understand.

Question for everyone: Can we do this more often and discuss part by part? I really like it and find it more interesting that way, but I wanna make sure that you guys are on board with it (not Eric’s boat of course ;) 

Vicksta1982 said...

For this third part, I really enjoyed it. At times it was amusing as well. The growing and rather obvious attraction was a highlight though I sense because of the situation they find themselves in nothing can really happen yet...or maybe it won't and all this bubbling potential attraction is only a result of the situation....hope I didn't confuse you with that. LOL.

Everything seems to be getting more intense and theres a lot of suspense going on. Don't let me down! ;-) haha

@Vicksta: you didnt confuse me, that was exactly what I had in mind ;)

Bianca said...

So is this the ending to the story?? Cause its amazing so far an amazing piece of writing you've done xx

@Bianca: It really is the end of the story J I didnt wanna drag it out more and more. It is always hard to write a short story and put an end to it at a certain point, but it is important and hast o be done. I read a book with short stories at the hospital and from all 25 I didnt even like one. It felt as if they were unable to find an attracting start for it, build up suspense and find an ending. Very sad for detective or mystery novels L It felt as if they had simply tried to shorten a long book each time. I admire people that are able to write short stories, most of mine are not really short ;)

Monique said...

Oooh, it's ended already?! :o haha After the third part I did not see that coming. There was a lot of build up in that part and the fourth part seemed a bit rushed to me.
For instance, that sister that had her eyes on my man. I kinda still feel the need of slapping her lol

Overall I've enjoyed the story. I do think I need to re-read it again to fully grasp all that was happening, it was a lot to take in! haha

Eric was quite the meany, wasn't he. Good thing his throat got cut, well deserved too. Jeez, he must have traumatised quite some people for life if they even lived to tell the tale at all.
It was very courageous of Mark to go back to that horrible place to safe me. I did wish we got to look inside his head a bit more, it must have been a real struggle for him to go through. But also the way he was falling for me and the decission for him becoming a monk and then not anymore. I can fill in some of the pieces by stuff he told in the story but it would've been nice to get inside his mind a bit more if that makes any sense lol

You've deffo made an effort to put a lot of gore in there haha Had me shudder for real. It's a miracle Kian survived all that really, he must be a real strong man.
Also, it was nice to see that the meany lifer still turned out to be not that bad in the end trying to help me escape even if that failed.

>> and now I'm all inspired to go back to writing on my own historical. It's fun! teeheee!

(ps; you should add tags to this post aswell, at least your name, to make it easier to find the story when it has disappeared off the main page in a few weeks time ;))

@ Monique: Yepp, that sister ;) I wanted to slap her as well, but she was neccessary to show another part of his past and also the new side, the man be had become. He is indeed strong but I hope it became obvious how much time and effort it took him to get over that bad things that had happened to him.
About the „insight“ : I think you have a point there but I wrote the whole part with her as the personal narrator, so I didnt have the chance to switch that. All you can see is her point of viwe and I didnt wanna split because it would have maybe gone wrong and become confusing. She/You tell the story, he and his thoughts can only be a part o fit. Sometimes it is very hard, like when he looks into her eyes and suddenly he knows something… we don’t know that and I can’t simply claim that he suddenly feels it. All I can say ist hat he apparentely seems to sense it or that she feels/ sensest hat he knows something. It is always a little easier with a third person narrator but then I could not have gone into detail with her feelings and see the whole story through her eyes…

About the gore :) We met this rich girl that gets kidnapped, actually, we are the rich girl getting kidnapped ;) but I wanted to see how far she would go to protect someone. It gives the reader some more insight and another piece or part of her personality. She can be weak and stupid – fighting like a four year old with her husband – but she can also be strong and handle a lot of blood.
I wanted both of their characters to develop, his character even over a long time from careless kid to abused, to a monk and then fighting his way back by becoming a soldier and even rescuing her.

Caroline said...

Wow! That was intense!
Maybe I will start writing a historical as well. can I still ask for a challenge from you or can I also write my own?
I will try and read the whole fic again tonight and get all the small details. It is a great story! What I liked especially about it was the dead people that were not dead at all. I had said goodbye to my second fave and all of a sudden he turns up again! I was so sure it would be my fave on the table! That is what I really liked about it. It was not easy to foresee the next things that were about to happen.
I was also glad about the happy end even though it came a little sudden for me. But I guess it would have killed the story if you had written about them having kids or getting married. It would have enlarged the story and killed the point. Great work! I can't wait for moore historical stories to come!

@Caroline: You can still ask for a challenge if it inspires you J but you may also write your own story.
I was actually hoping that none oft he things that happened in the story would be easy to foresee. The easy (and maybe boring) way would have been: Girl kidnapped, kidnapper falls in love, they hate each other, they love each other, they end up married with kids and have a little farm. That is what I didnt want in that story ;)