(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Write On! The Con is On [1] ['Thom Hartmann', 'Nanny Ogg'] Date: 2026-08-20 Good evening, writers. I love stories about con artists. The Sting. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. White Collar. Leverage. But I hate it when good people get conned. I was reading an article on Writer Beware, “A Narrow Escape from an Impersonation Scam,” and it got me thinking. https://writerbeware.blog/2026/08/14/guest-post-a-narrow-escape-from-an-impersonation-scam/ We’ve highlighted content from WriterBeware and PredatorsAndEditors every since the days of SenSho. So I wanted to link to this engaging first-person tale of nearly being taken in by a scammer, and I decided to tie it to tonight’s challenge. First of all, be careful out there. If you publish anything, you may very well be approached by unsavory characters like the ones Victoria Straus and Denise Beck-Clark talk about in the linked article. And the worst part is, these scoundrels are using the names of real agents and editors to try to hoodwink writers and defraud them of their money. So what makes a good con? The first thing is, the target. In The Sting, the bad guy deserves to get taken down. Ditto for all the marks on Leverage, which is a confidence version of The Equalizer or The A Team, where a group of con artists with a particular set of skills help the downtrodden to defeat the rich, powerful, and shady characters who have taken advantage of them. Our heroes aren’t ripping off Social Security money from the elderly, they’re getting even on behalf of the worthy who’ve been wronged. That brings us to the next element of the caper: the caperers! Who is cooler than Neal Caffrey on White Collar? Maybe Parker on Leverage… maybe. Our con artists have to be fun to watch, fun to hang out with, just an all-around riot. The last element of a great con is the heist aspect: the challenge has to seem insurmountable, and yet our heroes have to surmount it. And probably run into trouble and have to think on their feet, along the way. Which brings us to: Tonight’s Challenge: Write a scene where some cool cats pull off a clever con. Maybe they aren’t exactly what you’d expect in a con artist. Use characters of your own or some of our stock characters. Try to keep it to a few hundred words and engage at least three senses. OR Write about a character who is the intended victim of a rotten scoundrel, and show them avoiding getting taken in, or getting saved in the nick of time. Or tell us your own thoughts about scams, hoaxes, and any personal experiences you’ve had. Write On! m.f. Calendar as currently known: Aug 20 WO dconrad – – – – – – FWIP dconrad Aug 27 WO __________ – – – – – – – FWIP sagesource Sept 3 WO Aashirs nani – – – – – – FWIP dconrad Sept 10 WO ______________ – – – – – – FWIP sagesource Sept 17 WO ______________ – – – – – – FWIP ____________ Sept 24 WO ______________ – – – – – – FWIP ____________ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/20/800087161/community/w/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/