The Murder Room
A call for collaborators to Chalkboard’s upcoming asynchronous collaboration
Crime fiction has always been one of the most popular genres. Some like sarcastic detectives, some prefer the more intellectual/pseudo-intellectual approach and some, the bumbling ones who discover everything by accident. But the centre of all of it is a murder and the people who witness its solving.
Imagine if multiple writers took the same set of people, described them in their own style and wrote a murder mystery. It would be like seeing a reflection in a series of fun-house mirrors, each reflection a new facet for readers to admire. That’s what we want to do here.
How it will work
Write a murder story in 1500 words or more. Any story, any backstory is acceptable as long as there is a murder and you utilise all the characters listed. Other than that, just go for it!
Remember, this is not a series. This is a set of stand-alone stories with the only common thread being the names of the characters.
If you would like to participate in this challenge, please leave a note in the comments confirming your participation. Once you are done with your story and if you are already a writer at Chalkboard, please submit your draft as usual. If you would like to be added as a writer, please leave a note in the comments and you will be added. If you would like feedback from the Chalkboard Editors prior to publishing, please submit earlier drafts with a note at the top, saying “TK for feedback.”
If you have any questions, please leave a note in the comments and I will revert.
The Characters
- Teresa Williams — has OCD, fashionista, ultra-feminine
- Claire Samson — loves rugby, copywriter, whiskey-drinker
- Kirsten Fourier — loves Game of Thrones, dancer, party-girl
- Thomas Kendall — murder victim
- Riley Strauss — detective
The Rules
- Thomas Kendall must be the murder victim.
- You must use all characters. You can add as many new characters as you want.
- For the three women, three key characteristics have been provided. You must use at least one.
- The story must be a minimum of 1500 words.
- The story must be accompanied by an image with attribution.
- The story must be tagged with “The Murder Room”
- At the end of the story, please add
This story is part of the Murder Room project on Chalkboard. - The challenge will end on May 25th. All stories will be published on May 31st.
And that’s it! Happy writing!
