The Bay Area Writers League used to have two write-in events a week. The events centered around a prompt word that the Zoom meeting host selected. We participants would go off and write for an hour and then return to read the results to the group.
I love this kind of format. Give me a word, give me a prompt, and my imagination hits the gas pedal. Many of the stories I came up with during the 30 Stories in 30 Days – NaNoWriMo project came from those write-in events. I would write the story, making sure to finish 10 or so minutes before we were due back, and quickly read through and edit. Reading to the group was the second edit – it’s so helpful to read your work aloud because you find where you’ve made mistakes and where the story and or language glitches. Whether or not I’m working on something bigger, like the novel I just published or its sequel, it’s always helpful to write flash fiction stories this way.
The write-in events recently ended for various reasons and I wasn’t ready to dive into the bigger effort of the sequel being a little burned out from all the work to get the first novel out the door. But then I received my Authors Publish newsletter. There were all sorts of opportunities for submitting Halloween content. Paid and not paid. They all have different rules. There were a couple of other opportunities that arose as well. My library has a writer group that called for a Halloween story – winner picked by the group. I liked that idea. They’re read anonymously and I really like that.
For the last two weeks I’ve worked on three different stories to submit to various contests. One story is titled, “The Last Hike”. Another is called “Blood Moon”. And one I’m sending off tomorrow is titled, “Energy”. The last two are ghost stories, sort-of. I started another one, too, which is only about 1/4 done. It’s called, “Nothing to Fear but Fear.” Deadlines loom large, this last one may not make a cut.
I’m not counting on any of them being prize winners. For me it’s been a fabulous replacement for the write-ins. I think it’s important to keep pushing yourself when you’re an indy writer. It’s very easy to get down, wonder why the hell bother, and do something else instead. If you care about writing, really care about producing and constantly getting better, look for challenges.
We’re coming up on the seasons for all sorts of story telling. Have fun.