But the skills I picked up writing flash fiction were invaluable.

If it weren’t for the heroics of bloggers and community builders like Charli Mills, I might never have been brave enough to pick up the proverbial pen and grit my way through 70,000 words.

February sees the launch of the first flash fiction anthology from Charli’s writing community: The Rough Writers over at The Carrot Ranch. I am both humbled and deeply honored to have been part of that anthology.

Check out the anthology here:

Anthology USA

Anthology UK

Here are 5 reasons why you probably ought to be writing Flash Fiction:

REASON ONE & TWO – COMMUNITY & FEEDBACK

Writers have a reputation for being lone wolves. We stay hidden with our laptop-BFF’s in the inky depths of midnight, caffeined up to our eyeballs and no clue whether the feverish word dump we just spewed was pure genius or pure bollocks.

No writer is a lone wolf. We might like the wolfy-island metaphor, but let’s be honest. We’re all as insecure and in need of friendly faces and like-minded pals as each other.

The blog world is filled with heroes like Charli who devote inordinate amounts of time to creating a safe space for writers to join in with writing prompts and be a part of something bigger than their own blogish or bookish world. I’ve made a number of friends through Charli’s 99-word challenge, some of whom, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at the Annual Bloggers Bash in London.

The other benefit of joining a community is the feedback you get. There is nothing that develops your writing faster than feedback on the bits you’ve done well and the bits that need sharpening. Whether it be a sentence that evoked an emotion, or a piece of flash that’s got legs to build a longer story. When we lock ourselves away, half the battle is getting enough objectivity to know what we’ve done well and what needs development.  

Flash fiction communities can be your go-to source for growing and building on your writing skills.

Besides, wolves live in packs.

Just saying.

REASON THREE – BREVITY 

Sometimes the most powerful stories are those told in just a sentence. A tagline that punches you in the gut and makes you buy a book. The love story that ends with a full stop. The snippet you catch of an anecdote that makes you know you’ve felt that pain.

Brevity doesn’t mean poor quality. In fact, it means just the opposite.

Einstein once said that ‘if you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, then you don’t really understand it yourself.’ It’s the same with writing. You don’t need long, flowery prose to tug on your reader’s heartstrings, just a few little words will do the job nicely. Check out some of the six words stories highlighted on the HuffPost. 

I even ran a writespiration challenge some time ago using the same principle, and I’m sure Ali and Sarah won’t mind me reposting their entries:

‘Aliens dissect humans. Discover no heart.’ By Sarah Brentyn

‘In my dreams, I am alive.’ by Ali Isaac

Brevity, which is the point of flash fiction, forces you to be creative with words, to think outside the box and to push your little grey scratchers outside their comfort zones, and that’s where the fun really begins.

REASON FOUR – BETTER SENTENCES  

If you only have 99 words or so to play with, then being creative with words isn’t the only benefit you’ll see. You’re forced to remove any toe-fluff and self-indulgent ramblings, and that gives you cleaner, bolder sentences.

Many of the lessons I learned from my writing coach article Getting Jiggy with the Nitty Gritty – Improving Your Sentences, come from the tricks I’ve picked up forcing myself into smaller and smaller word count boxes.

Instead of writing things like:

But then, as I reached out for the glass of wine, my head pounded as if warning of the hangover the morning might bring.

You’re forced to condense and write clean like this:

I reached for the glass of wine, my head pounding – a warning of the hangover to come.

It says the same thing, but better. That’s what flash fiction does, and when you go back to writing full-length novels, the effect is cumulative. All your sentences are that much cleaner, bolder, packed with tit-punching power words.

REASON FIVE – SHOW DON’T TELL

Show don’t tell is like the old granny Ethel of writing rules: stubborn, rigid and brutally correct. With flash, that skill is even harder to achieve because showing can involve more words, more senses, and more description of actions. But that’s exactly why ‘showing’ in flash is even more important to practice. And practice makes perfect my pretties.

When you only have 99 words, there’s no space to ‘filter’ as a writer. Which means you have to remove pesky words like ‘I thought’, ‘ I felt’, ‘I saw’.

They’re unnecessary, they tell instead of showing, and they’re a waste of words.

Flash taught me to change my sentences from this:

Somewhere in the darkness behind me, I thought I heard twigs crunch underfoot.

to this:

Somewhere in the darkness behind me, twigs crunched underfoot.

***

What lessons have you learned from flash fiction? Let me know in the comments below.

Oh, and don’t forget, you can grab your copy of the brand new anthology here:

Anthology USA

Anthology UK

***

Thirty writers began with 99 words and forged literary feats. Vol. 1 explores the literary art of flash fiction, beginning with the earliest compilations at Carrot Ranch and later pieces based on a new flash fiction prompt. This is not your typical anthology. It continues with longer stories extended from the original 99-word format and essays on how flash fiction supports memoir writing. Based on the experiences at Carrot Ranch, the concluding section of Vol. 1 offers tips to other groups interested in using the flash fiction format to build a literary community.

Charli Mills, Series Editor, Publisher & Lead Buckaroo
Sarah Brentyn, Editor & Contributor

***

Back Cover

Witness great feats of literary art from daring writers around the world: stories crafted in 99 words.

Flash fiction is a literary prompt, form, and tool that unites writers in word play. This creative craft hones a writer’s skills to write tight stories and explore longer works. It’s literary art in thoughtful bites, and the collective stories in this anthology provide an entertaining read for busy modern readers.

Writers approach the prompts for their 99-word flash with creative diversity. Each of the twelve chapters in Part One features quick, thought-provoking flash fiction. Later sections include responses to a new flash fiction prompt, extended stories from the original 99-word format, and essays from memoir writers working in flash fiction. A final section includes tips on how to use flash fiction in classrooms, book clubs, and writers groups.

CarrotRanch.com is an online literary community where writers can practice craft the way musicians jam. Vol. 1 includes the earliest writings by these global literary artists at Carrot Ranch. Just as Buffalo Bill Cody once showcased the world’s most daring riding, this anthology highlights the best literary feats from The Congress of Rough Writers.

***

Charli Mills, a born buckaroo, is the award-winning goat-tying champion of a forgotten 1970s rodeo. Now she wrangles words with the Rough Writers & Friends at CarrotRanch.com.

Married to a former US Army Ranger, Charli Mills is “true grit” but no John Wayne. She writes about the veteran spouse experience and gives voice to women and others marginalized in history, especially on frontiers. Her novel, Miracle of Ducks, explores the courage of military spouses and their interdependency upon community when their soldiers deploy. It publishes in 2018.

In 2014 Charli founded an imaginary place called Carrot Ranch where real literary artists could gather. As lead buckaroo, she’s crafted and compiled enough flash fiction to understand its value. She developed the Congress of the Rough Writers to collaborate with flash fiction writers from around the world.

Charli hosts a literary community at Carrot Ranch with weekly Flash Fiction Challenges open to all writers. 99 words, no more, no less. The community hosts an annual Flash Fiction Rodeo in October and awards eight cash prizes in different categories. Her mission as a literary artist is to make literary art more accessible, one flash fiction at a time.

***

The Congress of the Rough Writers (contributors):

Anthony Amore, Rhode Island, USA; Georgia Bell, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Sacha Black, England, UK; Sarah Brentyn, USA; Norah Colvin, Brisbane, Qld, AU; Pete Fanning, Virginia, USA; C. Jai Ferry, Midwest, USA; Rebecca Glaessner, Melbourne, Vic, AU; Anne Goodwin, England, UK; Luccia Gray, Spain; Urszula Humienik, Poland; Ruchira Khanna, California, USA; Larry LaForge, Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Geoff Le Pard, Dulwich South London, UK; Jeanne Belisle Lombardo, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Sherri Matthews, Somerset, UK; Allison Mills, Houghton, Michigan, USA; Charli Mills, Hancock, Michigan, USA; Paula Moyer, Lauderdale, Minnesota, USA; JulesPaige, Pennsylvania, USA; Amber Prince, North Texas, USA; Lisa Reiter, UK; Ann Edall-Robson, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada; Christina Rose, Oregon, USA; Roger Shipp, Virginia, USA; Kate Spencer, British Columbia, Canada; Sarah Unsicker, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Irene Waters, Noosaville, Qld, AU; Sarrah J. Woods, Charleston, West Virginia, USA; Susan Zutautas, Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

The post 5 Reasons Why Flash Fiction Makes You A Better Writer #amwriting #MondayBlogs @Charli_Mills appeared first on Sacha Black.

Of course, the challenges wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t for the dedication of you guys. I wanted to thank you so much to everyone for participating. Especially those who either joined in every single challenge, or who joined in the majority, there are plenty of you and I can’t name everyone but a few thank yous to:

Ritu, Judy, Willow, Reena, Pens, You Can Always Start Now, LadyLeeManila, Neel, and Jane.

I love reading your entries and I wish that I could continue to run this challenge. But as you know, some weeks ago, I had to stop the weekly round ups. As a full time worker bee, I only get a couple of hours an evening to write, so I took the sad decision to stop the round ups as sometimes they would take 3 or 4 hours to do. I think this was the right decision because it’s meant I’ve ended this year having published three books and with a fourth nearing completion of it’s first draft.

After nearly five years of prompts, I’ve decided not to continue the writespiration series on a weekly basis. I started them because I wanted to join in, and because I wanted to read others work and be a part of the community. While that much remains true, I would like to read more of your novels so I can support you by leaving reviews. About half the books I’ve read this year were written by Indies, and I intend to continue that trend into 2018.

I’ve also decided to publish a writing prompts/writers ‘unblocking’ book. While I can’t continue the weekly prompts, I can turn my knowledge of writing, prompts, inspiration, how to keep those words pumping out ‘know how’ as well as tips on how ‘not’ to get blocked into a novel. So I will. But more on that another time.

So this is it. It’s not good bye, but it is ta-ta for now.

Thank you all, so much for such a wonderful year of prompts, flash and 52 words.

As always your, final challenge is to write your story in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments (which are open) or on a blog post and use a ping back.

This week share the last 52 words you wrote on your current WIP.

So long, and thanks for all the words :p

The post Writespiration #147 52 Weeks in 52 Words WEEK 52!! appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

Write about the night you spent in a cemetery 

The post Writespiration #146 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 51 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

Write about how Santa ended up on the naughty list.

The post Writespiration #145 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 50 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

This week I want you to write about what lays behind a waterfall.

The post Writespiration #144 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 49 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

This week I want you to write a story including these words:

jugs, bamboo, nostril and frozen.

The post Writespiration #143 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 48 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

This week your story needs to include the following phrase:

“I don’t believe you.”

The post Writespiration #142 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 47 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Hilarious – that awkward moment you realize you left the content totally blank in a writing prompt. FAIL.

Let’s put it down to launch week chaos, thanks to Ritu for noticing! and with that in mind… let’s use the prompt

THE LAUNCH

Remember only use 52 words! And although the comments aren’t open at the moment, you should be able to use a pingback.

The post Writespiration #141 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 46 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

Write a day in the life of a pair of shoes – your protagonist IS the shoes.

The post Writespiration #140 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 45 appeared first on Sacha Black.

Your challenge is to write your story using the weekly theme/prompt and write it in just 52 words…. EXACTLY, no more, no less.

Submit your entries in the comments or on a blog post and I post them the following week with the new prompt. You have until Sunday to enter.

This week I want you to write about the day you accidentally squeezed someone’s boob!

The post Writespiration #139 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 44 appeared first on Sacha Black.