NOWW Flash Fiction Contest...

​Summer is often a time when writers take a break and enjoy the great outdoors for a while. But you don’t want to stop writing altogether! That’s why NOWW has launched a new contest that will keep you writing.
 
The NOWW Flash Fiction challenge is now accepting short short story entries of 500 words or fewer. Not only is it a relatively light and breezy summer writing exercise, the top three stories will earn cash prizes and publication in our blog this fall.
 
What’s Flash Fiction?
 
Flash fiction stories are, well, short. Sometimes called ‘micro-stories’, ‘postcard stories’ (if a postcard is part of the contest)—or ‘short short stories’—flash fiction challenges the writer to fit a complete story into very few words. While there isn’t a paint-by-numbers formula for flash fiction, there is a certain art to it. It’s not about trying to squish a 3,000-word story into 500 words.
 
Here are a few links to help you get a better idea of the craft—and to get the creative juices flowing:
 
http://flashfictiononline.com/main/ (Example pieces)
https://www.hysteriauk.co.uk/2017/04/07/starting-flash-alex-reece-abbott/  (A UK contest with tips from the judges about how to write flash fiction)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/14/how-to-write-flash-fiction (Another how-to written by David Gaffney)
 
The Rules:

• Free entry (you have to be a NOWW member—sign up here, if you’re not a member: http://www.nowwwriters.ca/join-noww.html)
• One submission per person
• Your story must be 500 words or less
• The contest is blind: please do not put your name on the story
• Instead, please include a cover page with your name, email, phone number, title of your story and word length
• Email to admin@nowwwriters.ca with “Flash Fiction Contest” in the subject line (mailed submissions will not be accepted)
• Deadline is midnight August 31, 2017 (Eastern Time)

 
Two members of the NOWW board will judge the contest.
 
Never tried flash fiction? Now is the time to give it a try. You have two months to write—and edit—500 words.  That’s about seven or eight words a day!
 
By the way, this blog post is 363 words. 

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