April fools

[Zenith77]

How are y'all getting on with the stories for April Fools?

I've given up. I started writing a story for it and just couldn't work out how to make April Fools 'sexy'. Maybe I'll finish that story, one day, without the AF element, but the way it was going putting in the AF would've been a tick-box exercise that didn't fit the story. Going back to my main series instead.

I think this theme might result in some interesting offerings, but I'm struggling to see how something could be built around AF in a way that's hot - a hot story with one AF gag might work, but is that the point here?

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the results with a 'TIL' attitude.

 

[alohadave]

Mine used a husband's prank gone wrong to the two main characters together.

 

[GrantBricksly]

I went with the "surprise" aspect of it. Doesn't have to be a prank/April fools thing per se. Mine takes place on April 1st, and has one character being surprised. A few other "surprises" and hints of others to come and I think I played to the theme fairly well. We'll see what the readers think.

 

[KeithD]

I usually go with something intending to make a fool of someone else somehow just to have it backfire on them. It isn't one of the easiest themes to write to.

 

[Euphony]

Anti-April fools.

Platonic friends have a shared love of pranking/goofballing and go all out on April fools on friends/family but rarely each other. (they commiserate over everybody else "just not getting" the spirit of the holiday and feed off each other's energy)

One half of the pair does a prank with romantic/let's try us for real undertones and other yukster is bewildered trying to figure out if this is a legitimate courtship or him/her going for a really big razzing to show prankdom superiority.

There are certain prankster type personalities that mask an inability for authentic communication (and would feel a kinship to similar communication styled folk) allowing for intimacy issues and character growth.

So long as the spirit of a holiday is represented, you can be inclusive without hammering over the head "This all revolves around X holiday."

 

[NotWise]

Mine from last year... A middle-aged guy sits down at a small-town diner in the middle of the night and, as the clock ticks past midnight beginning April 1, he starts relating the story of an April Fools prank from twenty four years earlier.

 

[lovecraft68]

I used the "chance' aspect. That and something could be said for the 'life playing a joke' on the characters.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Writing it now. Got stuck because I couldn't decide between a super dark story or a lighter one at first. I wrote the first couple thousand words of each, but now I'm going with the latter. "Light" is maybe a bit of a misnomer, as it's essentially a shock for an cheating spouse that's done half for revenge and half for "get the fuck out of my life, we're not going to reconcile." But still much lighter than the other one.

 

[Zenith77]

Writing it now. Got stuck because I couldn't decide between a super dark story or a lighter one at first. I wrote the first couple thousand words of each, but now I'm going with the latter. "Light" is maybe a bit of a misnomer, as it's essentially a shock for an cheating spouse that's done half for revenge and half for "get the fuck out of my life, we're not going to reconcile." But still much lighter than the other one.

Ahh, Loving Wives. How I... oh, no, wait... I've never written anything in that category nor read anything in that category.

 

[Djmac1031]

Mine has been up for a few days now (April Fools Daddy) and has gotten a pretty decent response, although not well enough to win me a contest lol.

Can't really discuss the plot much without giving away the twist, but so far, from rhe comments, readers enjoyed it and, surprisingly, didn't see it coming.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Ahh, Loving Wives. How I... oh, no, wait... I've never written anything in that category nor read anything in that category.

It has a worse reputation than it deserves. Not saying that you don’t need to be discerning, but…

And for this event? LW is almost tailor made. I can rattle off like 20 scenarios around either cheating, being found out, surprising a spouse with a fantasy, etc. Hell, almost any of the more lighthearted revenge stories could easily be retooled for the event; the one I’m going with predates me even thinking about the event, it just happens to fit perfectly.

The short synopsis is that the MMC finds his wife with an ex at a party. They haven’t been married long, so he just decides to cut his losses and divorce her; no major emotional blowup. But she just won’t stop trying to get him to reconcile, pulling in co-workers, friends, family, frat brothers and sorority sisters, etc. to pester him for months. The only person in his corner is her sister, for various reasons. They arrange for the wife to find them together at a party.

Simple concept, fairly light and silly. Should be fun.

 

[Zenith77]

And for this event? LW is almost tailor made.

I can't gainsay that, but as I don't write for that category it's moot. AF doesn't really fit in the categories I do tend towards, so that's my excuse. Also, too tired to switch my imagination on. That may be more the truth

 

[Voboy]

Mine have been up since the start of the contest, and the results are clear: I suck at this theme.

One is a revenge-fuck in response to a prank. The other is a case of punned meanings of "face painting" and "palm reading."

 

[PennameWombat]

I have no interest in pranks nor April Fool's Day itself, but rereading the announcement, it says "deception" can be a valid theme. I had a story in mind that fits around that, but doesn't touch on pranks or have anything to do with the first day of April.

But, as it was late, I'm still not finished and not sure I'll manage in time. Ah, well.