So it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog post, but unlike previous hiatuses, I have sustained the writing, on and off. I am now demanding the time of myself to stop and write, even if it is only a few hundred words at a time.
Flash fiction has been a boon in this regard, allowing me to get some ideas completed and polished, so I have something to show for my efforts, though I have also been working on longer forms, and am brimming with more ideas than I have been in a long time.
In recent weeks, I have found a certain form of flash quite inspiring, namely
www.adhocfiction.com, a project running alongside the Bath Flash Fiction Award. Each week, a new round opens with a key word, which must be present in a piece of flash of 150 words or less.
It is early days, and I have had no recognisable success, but it is a good exercise to focus the mind and pit your writing against others interested in the form. I only wish there were some indication of how each piece was received, rather than just the winner. but I suspect this is logistically problematic.
If you're here and don't know about it, do have a read of the ebook on the site - it is free to access, and updates each week - there are some excellent stories on there, so vote for whichever you enjoy. (And hopefully mine will be one of them!)
My first attempt, 'The Long Walk Home', was rushed off in a single day, as I nearly missed the deadline. I didn't expect anything of it, and was proved right, but I have included this on the site as a little update of my writing output, even though it kind of kills it for future publication.
Here's to continued submissions, rejections and maybe some glimmers of approval over the next few weeks and months. Who knows?
Flash fiction has been a boon in this regard, allowing me to get some ideas completed and polished, so I have something to show for my efforts, though I have also been working on longer forms, and am brimming with more ideas than I have been in a long time.
In recent weeks, I have found a certain form of flash quite inspiring, namely
www.adhocfiction.com, a project running alongside the Bath Flash Fiction Award. Each week, a new round opens with a key word, which must be present in a piece of flash of 150 words or less.
It is early days, and I have had no recognisable success, but it is a good exercise to focus the mind and pit your writing against others interested in the form. I only wish there were some indication of how each piece was received, rather than just the winner. but I suspect this is logistically problematic.
If you're here and don't know about it, do have a read of the ebook on the site - it is free to access, and updates each week - there are some excellent stories on there, so vote for whichever you enjoy. (And hopefully mine will be one of them!)
My first attempt, 'The Long Walk Home', was rushed off in a single day, as I nearly missed the deadline. I didn't expect anything of it, and was proved right, but I have included this on the site as a little update of my writing output, even though it kind of kills it for future publication.
Here's to continued submissions, rejections and maybe some glimmers of approval over the next few weeks and months. Who knows?