What is Flash Fiction?
Flash Fiction is a style of fiction, designed to be brief. Most have a word count of between 100-1000 words, or even less (for example, six-word stories). They can encompass any form, genre or personal style - so long as they're short!
To get the creative cogs turning, here are some examples from here on DA:
IntegrityI’ve never turned down a job. Professional integrity, and all that. But even so, when I saw the name in the file, I cringed. At some point in every man’s career, he gets that job he knows is going to make or break his name.
I’d been using this name for a while now, and it had started to get a decent rep behind it. People knew me. Not my face, obviously. I was smart enough to use wigs and contacts; prosthetics, if I had to. A face was too damn valuable, and not so easy to change. Especially if you didn’t go in for all that cosmetic surgery stuff.
But names? Names were easy. Names were shoes that you could slip on and off as needed.
This name was one I’d had long enough that it had moulded to fit, like a pair of hard wearing boots that weren’t so much pretty, as reliable. So I took the job, because integrity is all we’ve got, in the end.
I packed up my gear and went to the address. The client had already said where they wanted it to go down, and
SW: To Whom it May ConcernPrince on vacation.
Rescued myself.
- Princess
Mechanical DeathEven mechanical things can live.
It stirred, steel tendons and synthetic muscles twanging like sad music in the cold silent dark. In turn, the dark hissed back, a noiseless sound from the furthest depths of blackest space. The thing with the tendons of steel and the skinless hide glistening with oil twitched and spasmed and trembled, the mess of electric synapses it called a mind confused by the notion of life.
It felt. And what it felt confused it, for it had never felt before and it did not know what it was to feel. It felt cold and hot at the same time, two extremes of temperature that at a point became inseparable with each other. It felt and heard and saw a world that it did not understand. For it had never lived before now.
The mechanical pump at the center of its being fluttered uncertainly, a chaotic interruption of a carefully timed rhythm: Thump flutter thump click whiiiine. The hissing noiseless dark writhed in its corners of blackest black and waited.
What is this
Inspector Wolf The old lady was dead. I could smell it before I even got into the house. The whole place reeked of adrenaline, sweat, fear, copper and steel. He’d dropped her right in her living room. Chopped and chopped until she stopped moving. But I could tell I was getting close. This had been done in a hurry, and the killer didn’t have the time to clean up after himself like he usually did.
Across the room, the phone rang. The shrill sound set my teeth to grinding, but I ignored it. Instead I followed the killer’s bloody footprints into the back bedroom. He’d climbed out the window. If I hurried, I could catch up to him and end this disgusting spree he was on.
Then the answering machine kicked in. “Hi, Gramma! It’s Red. Sorry I’m running late. I kind of lost track of time. But don’t worry. I packed the picnic and I’m heading out the door right now. Love you.”
She’d been expec
The Competition
So here's where you guys come in. Every Friday in the Month of June (2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd) we'll post a new prompt. You'll have the week to create a piece of flash fiction that reflects the week's prompt. As the rounds go by, we'll announce who won each prompt in following journals. If you win one round, you can enter following ones, and still be in the draw to win.
How to Join
To enter, simply reply to the challenge's journal linking us to your finished piece. It's that easy!
Prizes
Now, for the fun part. The winner of each week will receive:
- 500 Points, courtesy of ObsydianDreamer
- 50 Points, courtesy of MagicalJoey
- Features from MagicalJoey and ObsydianDreamer
Runner up prizes may be awarded as well. If you're able to donate a prize, please let us now!
This years contest will be judged by neurotype-on-discord, BeccaJS, and ObsydianDreamer, based on grammar, spelling, how well the piece meets the prompt, and creativity.
Looking forward to seeing your entries!
Judging
This years contest will be judged by neurotype-on-discord, BeccaJS, and ObsydianDreamer, based on grammar, spelling, how well the piece meets the prompt, and creativity.
Looking forward to seeing your entries!