Hi all, and welcome back to Flashes of Inspiration, my bi-weekly flash fiction contest here at The Fine-toothed Comb. It’s been a busy week for me. Right now I’m ploughing my way through several short stories and a chunky novel, all for structural review. A convention has been announced, which I’ll be taking part in in various different panelly and workshoppy ways like some kind of pro. Oh, and I’m gradually losing the war against yoghurt. (Don’t ask.)
Anyway, enough about me. This is my forum for bringing creative people together in friendly competition. All I’m after is 400 words of imaginative prose or poetry, using the above image for inspiration. Literal interpretations are fine, as are figurative, tonal, and thematic. Whatever floats your dream-boat. I’ve been setting some specific challenges of late to try to push my own writing a bit. This week, let’s try making our narratives sound like they were written in a bygone era.
In addition, I have 3 key words that must be used in your piece in some way, shape, or form. These are:
Seminal
Ferocity
Pyjamas
So make of those what you will…
You know, there’s something almost puzzle-like about doing these little bits of flash fiction. It’s a pleasant way to pass the time, jigging words and concepts around in a tiny space to try to make something magical. I’m looking forward to having another go. I hope you’ll join me.
When you’ve finished it, email your entry along to me at dion@thefinetoothed.com with the subject Flashes #13. The deadline is midnight (GMT) on Thursday 19th September 2019. I’ll post the entries up on the site a day or two afterwards and – if enough folk enter to warrant it – announcing a winner. Once in a while there’ll be a prize on offer for these competitions, so keep your eyes open.
In the meantime, keep writing!