#NYCMidnight Flash Fiction Competition: Yup, I'm Back In It

After a year long hiatus in which I did not do as much writing as I liked and freelance consumed my life (kinda still does in a way with other things) I took a break from the NYCMidnight competitions to save some pennies and copyedit psychology supplements. Fun? Sure, why not. But, seeing as how the flash fiction challenge was coming in I decided to enter for the early deadline and will again be in it for at least two rounds in the flash fiction competition which commences tonight at exactly midnight.

So, my next post will be my entry in the first round and we'll see what I get in terms of genre, location, and object prompts. The last time I entered the flash fiction competition I got science fiction and horror along with some random a** objects (for the horror it was mouthwash). I got a higher rating on the horror, which I was not a fan of, than the science fiction one which I thought was amazing. Just goes to show you never know what the judges will like.

From the time I get my prompts I will have two days to complete the story and must submit by the end of the weekend (before midnight, specifically 11:59pm). After the first two rounds highest scores will advance to the third round and so on to the fourth.

Wish me luck! I always enjoy the NYCMidnight competitions for the camaraderie on Twitter (hair pulling, b****ing about genres, panicking galore) and have met some really cool people through the competition and read some amazing work. It's a fun twist at writing something outside your comfort zone and seeing what you're capable of. Having done the short story and flash fiction competitions before I've learned I can do romantic comedy and horror as well as other genres. Just because you write in one doesn't mean you have to be relegated to it. If your aim is to write a good story that'll come through.

Good luck to all who do the competition and I look forward to reading your pieces and complaining about mine on Twitter right along with you.

Second (Write) Campaigner Challenge

Well, I just blew the first challenge but I am up for the second dog-gone-it! Rachael Harrie's Fourth Platform Campaign boasts some challenges and the latest one is to write a flash fiction/short story or poem based around an image prompt. You can read and vote for entrants at Rachael's blog here.

Here's the image I chose...

...and here's the flash fiction piece I produced in 200 words entitled (for the moment) "Boom."

Let me tell you a story...

Once upon a time a boom created the world. Beasts roamed and acted on instinct, something everyone has, no matter what you’ve heard. Time passed, a crash, and man arrived living alongside the beasts. It was chaotic but not so much that One looking down would be concerned. Civilization was coming into itself.

Fast forward as man walks erect, animals conceal themselves, and the world becomes stone. Serenity breaks. Differences are found, not embraced. Beliefs are not in line, skin pallor is too dark, and what was once so beautiful about them was now what held man against one another.

And so the land cracked and nations developed, wars began, machinery made the sky as dark as the newly cemented ground. Man oppressed man (and woman) to retain “purity” all in the name of a holy being who watched and waited hoping for things to right itself without taking a hand.

It seemed better, but it wasn’t, not really. Creation begot humanity. It begot nature. It begot what was once good about the world.

Once upon a time a boom created the world and a boom would destroy it so life could begin anew.