Several of us have started our own, self-hosted, flash fiction challenge over at a website we’re calling Obsidian Flash. It’s on a forum behind a password, so that anything you write and submit is considered unpublished. Registration is quick, free, and pretty painless.
Here’s why you should do it, especially if you haven’t been writing for a while:
- Challenges like this are great for stimulating creativity.
- You don’t have the time to critique yourself.
- You’ll get helpful feedback from published authors and editors like myself, Donna Munro, Anton Cancre, and more.
The next challenge is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. The prompt will go up this Friday at 8pm EST. You’ll have twice as much time to write as normal.
Go sign up now at https://obsidianflash.com/forum and we’ll see you writing this weekend!
Here are the rules:
- All stories should be complete, written and posted within
24(48 THIS WEEKEND) hours of the prompt being posted, and can be anywhere
from one sentence to 1,000 words in length. Typically the prompt is
posted by 8pm EST on Friday, and stories are posted by 8pm EST on
Saturday. BUT BECAUSE I’M THE FLASHMASTER, and it’s Memorial Day Weekend, you’ve got 48 hours! Stories are due on 8pm EST on SUNDAY -
You may choose to write your story in any genre.
3.
Your story must be built around the restrictions—words, themes, photo
prompts, word limits, etc.—provided by the Flashmaster at the beginning
of the challenge.
- Once the participants’ work is posted, the
voting and comment session begins and continues until all votes are in.
Time limit for voting will be determined on the spot, depending on how
many people finish the challenge. Typically this is within 24 hours of
the end of the writing portion, or 8pm EST on Sunday. But because it’s Memorial Day Weekend, the critique is due on 8pm on MONDAY.
5.
The winner becomes Flashmaster and chooses the prompt(s) for the next
contest. Also, you get all the Internet Bragging Points you think you
can get away with.