Howdy folks! I've spend the last few years writing long works of fiction. With my schedule, most of my writing time is spent working on these projects. I live, breathe, and dream about Tiffany Watson and Jeb Rolles and Starr Bishop and Christian Evergood, but sometimes, I need a break from my reality.
I also wanted to expand my writing horizon and start submitting short stories. I worked on a piece in September, stuck it in the file, and essentially forgot about it until SCBWI friend G.G. Silverman unveiled her new website back in November.
Check her out: http://www.ggsilverman.com/blog/
And as I surfed her website, I happened upon her WOW First Place Story, The House of Butterflies.
I reacted accordingly. "Wow, that's great for G.G., but what's WOW?" It's another one of those Writer Acronyms again, isn't it?!?!
WOW: Women on Writing
After reading her amazing story, I thought to myself, "Hmm, maybe I should enter that story I worked on in September?" And so, I pulled up my file and reworked it into Flash Fiction.
Flash Fiction is a style of writing REALLY short stories.
In 250-750 words, you need to create a scene that immerses the reader in your reality. Every single word counts--and believe me, you realize how often we toss words around that we don't need and how often we repeat certain words. Flash Fiction opened my eyes to the vital importance of EVERY word.
I cut my 1,500 word story in half. Yep, that's right half. It wasn't easy. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. On November 21, I entered the WOW Flash Fiction Contest. I advanced through the various rounds--a mini celebration to be sure, but then I didn't hear anything for a few weeks, so I figured I didn't make the final cut...Oh well, c'est la vie.
Ha! Saturday night I received the official email announcing the winners, so I scrolled down the page and saw my name and my picture as the 3rd Place Winner for the Fall 2013 Flash Fiction Contest!!!
Woo hoo! Happy Dance with me!!
To read Deadly Cocktail, here's the link to WOW:
http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/59-FE1-Fall13Contest.html
Read it and tell me what you think.
The next round is open. Try it out. You might just find you love Flash Fiction too.
Write on,
Kim
I also wanted to expand my writing horizon and start submitting short stories. I worked on a piece in September, stuck it in the file, and essentially forgot about it until SCBWI friend G.G. Silverman unveiled her new website back in November.
Check her out: http://www.ggsilverman.com/blog/
And as I surfed her website, I happened upon her WOW First Place Story, The House of Butterflies.
I reacted accordingly. "Wow, that's great for G.G., but what's WOW?" It's another one of those Writer Acronyms again, isn't it?!?!
WOW: Women on Writing
After reading her amazing story, I thought to myself, "Hmm, maybe I should enter that story I worked on in September?" And so, I pulled up my file and reworked it into Flash Fiction.
Flash Fiction is a style of writing REALLY short stories.
In 250-750 words, you need to create a scene that immerses the reader in your reality. Every single word counts--and believe me, you realize how often we toss words around that we don't need and how often we repeat certain words. Flash Fiction opened my eyes to the vital importance of EVERY word.
I cut my 1,500 word story in half. Yep, that's right half. It wasn't easy. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. On November 21, I entered the WOW Flash Fiction Contest. I advanced through the various rounds--a mini celebration to be sure, but then I didn't hear anything for a few weeks, so I figured I didn't make the final cut...Oh well, c'est la vie.
Ha! Saturday night I received the official email announcing the winners, so I scrolled down the page and saw my name and my picture as the 3rd Place Winner for the Fall 2013 Flash Fiction Contest!!!
Woo hoo! Happy Dance with me!!
To read Deadly Cocktail, here's the link to WOW:
http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/59-FE1-Fall13Contest.html
Read it and tell me what you think.
The next round is open. Try it out. You might just find you love Flash Fiction too.
Write on,
Kim
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