Micro Fiction Challenge: Sinecure
Posted by David Duhr in 
Oh to be a sinecure. To work “a paid office or post involving minimal duties” is the American dream, innit?
(The word can also mean “an ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls.” Do with that what you will.)
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a piece of flash fiction using the word sinecure. As always, keep your story to 25 words or less, write it out in the comments section below, click “Notify” to keep abreast of your competition, and feel free to use a pseudonym if you’re shy. We’ll announce the winner in this space next week, and we’ll give a shout-out to our favorites on Facebook and Twitter.
Our previous Challenge, “piquant,” brought some fun infighting and colorful prose. Let’s keep up the good work, gang.
This week’s winner earns a prize package of books from Mulholland’s list of thrillers, including several from the popular Aussie crime writer Michael Robotham.
And make sure to catch up on past Micro Fiction Challenges to find out what makes a good winner.
This isn’t a story, but I’d posit that Bartleby (you know, the scrivener?) might be the most important sinecure in the history of the U.S. (Bartleby, or some Senator.)
After 4 years of information studies, Martha attained the ultimate sinecure: Staff Librarian. Dream fulfilled, she hadn’t anticipated her ultimate nemesis: the Ebook.
Unbeknownst to his employer, Martin’s position was a sinecure. This wasn’t a sin; it was a way of getting paid to be a poet.
No time for this: gotta get to the Texas Statehouse and watch the sinecures at play! You know, cutting funding, shitting on women, et fucking cetera.
She’d been tricked into sinecure. Her boss turned his two-faced head but kept one eye on her and the other on her HR file.
A sinecurist wanting an easy career, Rob entered the low-stakes world of mustache grooming and lived his dream—
until the mustachioed hipsters moved to town…
Agoraphobia offered him a sinecure; like Flannery O’Connor, he’d live in the boonies, observe life from a distance, and write like a god.
I vote for Martin Barkley’s! I can’t top that!
Gideon scribbled SINECURE on the office wall in blood as the world went dark. His partner had to look it up before calling the cops.
Barney’s toes gripped the granite. “Sinecurism is overrated,” he said. He left his penthouse, whistling as he headed down to greet the doorman.
The WriteByNight sinecures malingered like rantipoles, but eventually their fey duende led them to post the results of this challenge, before we all self-defenstrated.
I thought of a way to make my story stronger, and two words shorter! Is it legal to change it after-the-fact? If so, here it is. If not, use the first one!
Barney’s toes gripped the granite. “Sinecurism,” he said. He left his penthouse, whistling as he headed down to greet the doorman.
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We (finally) posted the results of this puppy. Take a peek, gang: https://www.writebynight.net/news-events/sinecure-results/
[…] previous challenge, sinecure, was pretty fun, so let’s keep it rollin’. And make sure to catch up on past Micro […]
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